Can a New Era Begin with Us?

The Catholic Church is standing at a precipice. Crippled by a global priest shortage, rocked by generations of scandal, and facing disaffection from younger generations, especially women, it must now decide whether to shrink further into irrelevance or be reborn through reform. In this moment of reckoning, women are not just part of the solution. They are the solution.

Now is the time for women to step forward, not in defiance of the Church, but in fidelity to Christ and the truth of our history. With the emergence of new leadership and growing momentum for inclusion, the question is no longer if women belong in the priesthood, but how soon we will be courageous enough to make it so.

A New Pope, A New Possibility?

Since his election in May 2025, Pope Leo XIV, has taken meaningful steps to elevate women within the Catholic Church’s leadership, building upon the reforms initiated by his predecessor, Pope Francis.  He appointed women to top Vatican posts; two women now lead the Dicastery for Religious Life. That’s a first. He’s kept women in key roles from Pope Francis’s time too, like Sister Raffaella Petrini, now head of the Vatican City Governorate.

It’s progress, yes. But let’s not mistake it for parity. Pope Leo still holds firm against ordaining women, even as deacons. Leadership is one thing, but sacramental equality is another. The truth remains: women were priests, bishops, deacons in our Church’s early history. Hiding that truth is the real scandal.

So I say this: don’t be dazzled by titles alone. Keep your eyes on the altar. The real change will come when women stand there again, called, recognized, and ordained. Not because Rome allows it, but because God already has.

Pope Francis has opened windows long shuttered. While he has not yet embraced the ordination of women to the priesthood, his papacy has been marked by unprecedented conversations around synodality, clericalism, and the roles of women in the Church. Under his leadership, women have been appointed to high-ranking Vatican positions previously reserved for clergy. The very structure of Church governance is being reconsidered.

The ongoing Synod on Synodality has heard thousands of voices from lay people across the world, many of whom have explicitly called for the inclusion of women in ordained ministry. And the Vatican’s willingness to entertain these conversations signals a shift, however incremental, from past rigidity. This isn’t a finish line, but it is a threshold.

The Priest Shortage Is a Crisis, and a Catalyst

Globally, parishes are closing or merging. In some regions, a single priest serves several congregations, rushing through sacraments with little time to offer true pastoral care. The Eucharist, the “source and summit” of our faith, is becoming increasingly inaccessible, not because God has stopped calling people to serve, but because the Church refuses to recognize all who are called.

Women have been serving faithfully in roles of ministry, education, and pastoral care for centuries. They are theologians, chaplains, spiritual directors, and community leaders. And many feel a call, a vocation, to the priesthood that is no less valid than that of their male counterparts. To ignore these vocations is not only unjust; it is unsustainable.

A Return to Our Roots

This is not about inventing something new. It’s about remembering what has been forgotten. As has been documented in my book, Scandal In the Shadows, women were ordained in the early Church. They served as deacons, presbyters, and even bishops. Figures like Theodora Episcopa and Phoebe the deacon are not legends, they are historical fact.

The current resistance to women’s ordination is not rooted in Scripture, but in outdated, patriarchal interpretations of canon law and ancient Roman customs. Even the Pontifical Biblical Commission concluded in 1976 that there is no biblical reason to prohibit the ordination of women.

Now is the time to unearth the truth and resurrect a tradition of equality that honors the fullness of our Catholic heritage.

Why Women? Why Now?

Because the Church needs renewal, and renewal requires courage.

Because the Gospel message is one of liberation, not exclusion.

Because half of the Body of Christ has been silenced and sidelined for too long.

Because the future of the Church depends on its ability to speak to the lived reality of its people, especially women and young adults who are walking away in record numbers.

Because when women preach, pastor, and preside, they bring gifts of empathy, collaboration, and vision that the institutional Church desperately needs.

Because Jesus called women to follow Him, to proclaim the Good News, and to lead, and He still does.

A Call to Catholic Women

If you feel called to priesthood, trust that call. It may not yet be welcomed by the institutional Church, but it is honored by Christ, and it is rooted in history, theology, and truth. There are communities already affirming this call: the Roman Catholic Womenpriests movement, the Women’s Ordination Conference, and countless reform-minded Catholics around the world.

Your vocation is not a threat. It is a lifeline.

Closing the Gap Between Faith and Practice

The current leadership of the Church may not yet be fully aligned with the vision of an inclusive priesthood. But the doors are no longer sealed. The faithful are speaking. The cracks in the walls of exclusion are widening. Pope Francis has urged us to be a Church that listens, that walks together, that leaves no one behind. Let us take him at his word.

Now is the time to speak, to step forward, to lead. The Church of tomorrow depends on the boldness of women today.

“In Christ, there is no male or female.” (Galatians 3:28)
Let us finally live as if we believe it.