Women's power in the church: preacher inner day demands equality!

Women's power in the church: preacher inner day demands equality!

On April 30, 2025, the time has come again: The Catholic Women's Community of Germany (KFD) is organizing the nationwide preacher day for the sixth time. According to Diocese of Speyer Equality of women within the church. Especially on the day of commemoration of the Apostles Junia, who falls on May 17th, a strong sign of the rights of women in the church is set.

As part of the preacher day, several services are planned in the Diocese of Speyer. On this special weekend, a total of almost 70 women will preach nationwide. The dates and places for the services are as follows:

• Thursday, May 8th: 3 p.m. - St. Philipp, Zeller Hauptstraße 24, 67308 Zellertal, preacher: Stefanie Müller.
• Thursday, May 15th: 7:00 p.m. - St. Laurentius, Kirchgarten, 66497 Contwig, preacher: Monika Schmidt.
• Sunday, May 18: 10.30 a.m. - St. Maria, Marienring 4, 76829 Landau, preacher: Bärbel Grimm.

reactions to a cancellation from Rome

Despite a cancellation from the Vatican, which was expressed in a letter from Cardinal Arthur Roche, the prefect of the liturgy castery, the KFD holds on to its appointment. The letter clarifies that laypersons are not allowed to lead the Eucharist, even if the contribution to lay people to good sermons is recognized. Nevertheless, the KFD sees a strong commitment to the equality of women in its work and hopes that the preacher inner day will contribute to the implementation of the resolutions of the synodal path, even if the lay preaching is rejected by Rome, such as katholisch.de reported.

The renewed mention of the apostles Junia, which is mentioned in Paul in the Roman letter, is particularly remarkable. This began to be translated as a man, but has also been recognized as a woman since the revised translation of 2016. Junia symbolizes the often invisible fate of women in a world dominated by men.

A look at the synodal path

The recently decided text of the synodal path entitled "Annunciation of the gospel by laiors in the word and sacrament" asks the bishops to develop a particular standard that has an official approval of laypersons on the sermon in the Eucharist. However, such a regulation requires the approval of the Holy Chair. These developments are in the context of the broader discussion about the role of women in the Catholic Church. The bishops and laypersons in Germany are increasingly demanding an approval of women to women, as can be seen from the results of the synodal meeting, in which 92% of the delegates and 82% of the bishops support corresponding reform ideas. A report by katholisch.de thus underlines the historical character of these efforts.

The KFD expects that the preacher inner day will continue to serve as a platform in order to point out the underrepresentation of women in pastoral care and to promote changes. The synodal process has shown that there is a strong desire for gender justice within the church.

For more information about the KFD preacher day, interested parties can visit the website preacherinnenag.de