Catholic Feminists Release Pink Smoke Over The Vatican In Protest Of Male-Only Conclave
A group of self-described “Feminist Catholics” released clouds of pink smoke into the sky on a hill overlooking the Vatican on Wednesday, protesting the lack of female involvement in the choosing of a new pope and calling for the Church to reconsider its ban on women’s ordination.
The demonstration, timed just hours before an all-male conclave to select a new pope, was led by activists from the Women’s Ordination Conference (WOC).
Founded in 1975, they are the “oldest and largest organization working to ordain women as deacons, priests, & bishops into an inclusive and accountable Roman Catholic Church.”
Chanting “smoke out sexism,” the protesters aimed to send a “distress signal” to the Roman Catholic Church’s leadership, urging immediate action on gender equality in the priesthood. Kate McElwee, WOC’s executive director, described the moment as pivotal:
This is really a tipping point moment and many women are looking at the conclave and the future of the Church and asking themselves, is there a place for me here?”
As the pink smoke billowed, 133 cardinals from 70 nations gathered in the Sistine Chapel to elect the next pontiff. Miriam Duignan, executive director of the Wijngaards Institute for Catholic Research and Women’s Ordination Worldwide, emphasized the protest’s timing:
“We know we have got a little window of time before the cardinals are sequestered inside that Sistine Chapel with no access to their social media and their phones. They will see the pink smoke over the Vatican and they will know that women are sending a clear signal that they cannot go in with 133 men deciding the future of the Catholic Church without half of that Catholic Church,”
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They held their own conclave and elected Katy Perry, right? Jay Dyer called it. Lol.