Aims and Objectives

The Catherine of Siena Institute promotes the rightful position of women in Society and Church.

We do this by

• spreading correct information
• unmasking rationalisations and religious legitimations that justify prejudice
• sympathetic communication with people within the thought patterns they understand
• supporting individuals and groups who wrestle with the effects of discrimination
• promoting academic research regarding women and church

Dismantling the cycle of prejudice

For more than 1500 years, Church leaders legitimised slavery as an institution actually willed by God. As late as in 1866 the Holy Office, precursor of the present Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, stated in a decree signed by Pope Pius IX that “slaves can be sold, bought, exchanged or given by divine law”. Reasons were given from scripture, tradition and the magisterium! Bishops, theologians and Catholic abolitionists who protested were branded as dissenters and even heretics. Now the Church admits, in the words of the Second Vatican Council, that “every form of slavery is contrary to God’s intent”.

The exclusion of women from the ordained ministries is a similar age-old prejudice, legitimised by Church authority and rationalised in medieval theology. We have to break the vicious cycle by exposing the roots of the prejudice and the mistaken judgments of Church leaders.

Principles

The St. Catherine of Siena Network focuses especially on promoting the rightful position for women within the context of religion, religious institutions and Churches.

1. We aim to implement the vision of the Second Vatican Council (1963-1965), which set out a new path for the Roman Catholic Church. The Council recognised that the women of our time demand full equality ‘in law and in fact’, and it approved of this demand. (Gaudium et Spes § 9 & 26).

2. Prejudice and discrimination against women has also left its scars on other Christian Churches. We aim at supporting all efforts to eradicate such discrimination and to ensure that women can take their rightful place in all responsibilities, offices and ministries according to the full extent of their Christian dignity and calling.

3. We aim to achieve our objectives by an efficient use of the modern means of communication, by writing, publishing, producing and preparing, or supervising the writing, publication, production or preparation of literary works, audio visuals and media presentations that will promote the recognition of women’s rights.
In particular, we will support projects that reach out to a wide spectrum of people by means of the Internet.

4. Through the information we provide we hope to exert a positive influence on all decision makers in the Christian Churches, and specifically in the Roman Catholic Church, such as: bishops, priests, members of religious orders and institutes, lay leaders in parishes and institutions.

5. The information provided by us in favour of womens’ rights will be targeted in a special way at all individuals and institutions that play a key role in the formation of public opinion: journalists, editors, radio and TV presenters, research personal in production companies, writers and producers.

6. We will aim at making important texts available, at no cost to them, to both staff and students of the major educational institutions. These will include colleges, high schools, adult formation institutes, seminaries, novitiates and on-line universities.