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The valuable role women play in the Catholic Church may seem to many overshadowed by the emphasis placed on bishops and priests. However, during the Women as Church conference organized by the BBI-TAITE in October 2020, Ms. Louise Zavone and Dr. Trudy Dantis sought to sensitize participants to the many and varied leadership positions that women now occupy within the structures of the Australian Catholic Bishops‘ Conference. (ACBC).
The Bishops’ Conference is the permanent assembly of all bishops in Australia and its purpose is to provide an opportunity for bishops to work together for common pastoral purposes. Such conferences exist in most countries of the world following the promulgation by the Second Vatican Council of Christus Dominus (no.38), who recognized that bishops are often unable to discharge their office properly and fruitfully if they do not work closely with other bishops.
The work of the Bishops’ Conference is extensive and involves an important liaison between the dioceses, commissions, councils and other groups that play a role in the life of the Church in Australia. Such work can only be fruitful if there are solid structures, strong networks and a shared focus on the mission of Christ.
Because bishops are often the face of public announcements of new initiatives or other activities taking place within the Church, this can tend to make invisible the work being done by countless people behind the scenes who ” make things happen â€. In many cases, this work is done by women. In fact, statistics show that the percentage of women involved in both administrative and managerial roles is a microcosm of what is happening more broadly in the Church in Australia.
For several decades now, we have known that women constitute the majority of those who attend Mass and participate in parish ministries. Data from the 2016 National Church Life Survey shows that women occupy 65% ​​of all leadership and ministry roles in parishes. These roles include readers, special ministers of the Eucharist, prayer leaders, youth or discussion groups, members of parish councils, etc. Overall, 42% of women who are part of parish life have a leadership role, compared to 38% of men. Recent data from Catholic dioceses reveals that a significant percentage of women also have roles of president (56%) and members (45%) of pastoral councils and members of safeguarding councils (49%).[1]
The contribution of women is not limited to volunteer roles in parishes. Within the Church, there are over 3,000 organizations employing more than 220,000 people, and 77 percent of these roles are held by women.[2] This is significant compared to Australian society in general, where women make up only 46 percent of the Australian workforce.
In all sectors, the presence of women is widely observed in education, health and care for the elderly. But dioceses and parishes remain places where women make a significant contribution. About 78 percent of all people employed in this part of the Church are women. Overall, in all Church organizations, women contribute not only through administrative roles but also as professionals, where 61 percent of all professional roles are held by women.
Data for the Bishops’ Conference comes from the public report of the Agency for Gender Equality in the Workplace (WGEA). In 2020 overall, there were more women than men employed by the Conference in managerial and non-managerial positions. In management positions, the report found that there were more women than men working as business leaders or CEOs, and as office managers or general managers.
The Bishop Delegate for Marriage and Family, Bishop Michael Kennedy, noted that in the last eight years that he was bishop, all the commissions in which he served, except one, have had a wife as executive secretary. Each has been a professional with specific skills and expertise. In addition to doing the work, each has truly cooperated with the bishops in the work of their Commission to further the mission of the Church. He said he listened to their contributions and sought and heeded their advice. He considers them to be collaborators, just like the other bishops.
“I am happy that the bishops have recognized the genuine contribution these women make to the Church. Quite frankly, without them the ACBC and the Commissions would be a shadow of themselves â€.
It may also surprise some to know that 47% of key counselors to the Bishops’ Conference are women.
Trudy and Louise introduced several women who have made significant contributions to the work of the Episcopal Conference.
Ms. Debra Vermeer is the President of the Australian Catholic Media Council.
Debra says, “I am proud of the role women have played in working with our bishops to bring the voice of the gospel to the public domain. And I am grateful for the opportunities that have been given to me to be a part of it â€.
Ms. Trish Mowbray is the Conference Disability Project Officer and has held this position for 12 years.
Trish thanks the women she has worked with saying that together they have made significant changes in Church attitudes and policies over the past 12 years. She says that “together we have forged the current difficult path of disability inclusion in the hope that we could all, in the future, continue to work together to smooth that path.
Miss Olivia Lee is the Executive Assistant to the Plenary Council Facilitation Team. As a young Fijian-Chinese migrant in her twenties working nationally for the Catholic Church in Australia through the Plenary Council, Olivia said “equality” was the third word introduced in her vocabulary, after ” mom and dad “. . Her father had an amputee and her brother is blind in one eye.
Olivia reflects: “In seeking this equality for who I am and those whose blood I share, I have found acceptance and understanding in many parts of the world, but it is only in the Church that I have found these things with love. It is this love and respect for my being, as well as a courage to trust my youth and my talents, that has shaped my growth as a disciple of God.
Ms. Jenny Brinkworth is Chair of the Anti-Euthanasia Media Working Group, a member of the Australian Catholic Media Council and a member of the Plenary Council Media Committee. Jenny is also director of communications for the Archdiocese of Adelaide, editor-in-chief of The southern Cross and former president of the Australasian Catholic Press Association.
“Through my roles in the national groups convened by ACBC and my involvement in important Church issues as Director of Communications for the Archdiocese of Adelaide, I have had the opportunity to use my skills and experience in media and communications to contribute to the life of the Catholic Church.
“I have always felt that my opinions and contributions are highly valued and I have never seen the genre as a barrier to my voice being heard.”
Sometimes we think women are “invisible†in the Church and their voices are not being heard. The contribution of women to the Episcopal Conference is good news and a sign of hope in our Church.
Click on here to read Louise and Trudy’s full presentation at BBI-TAITE, The Women of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference.
Dr Trudy Dantis is the director of the National Center for Pastoral Research and Louise Zavone is the executive secretary of the Episcopal Commission for Life, Family and Public Commitment, the Episcopal Commission for Christian Unity and Interfaith Dialogue, the Episcopal Panel for Canon Law, the Episcopal Panel for Doctrine and Morals.
This article first appeared in the February 2021 edition of The bridge, the newsletter of the National Evangelization Center. Reproduced with permission.
[1] Trudy Dantis and Stephen Reid. “Australia Governance Survey 2019â€. in Light Forms the Southern Cross: Promoting Co-Responsible Governance in the Catholic Church in Australia. (Australian Catholic Bishops‘ Conference, 2020), p. 171, 176.
[2] Robert Dixon, Jane McMahon, Stephen Reid, George Keryk and Annemarie Atapattu, Our Work Counts: Employers and Employees of the Catholic Church in Australia (Canberra: Australian Catholic Bishops’ Conference, 2017).
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