Women Shaping the Future of the Church [Videos]

If you're interested in the role of women in the Church, we have some interesting videos to share with you.

Over the past few months, we’ve had the chance to participate in two powerful conferences—one in person and one online—both centered on women in the Church today.

In March, Sr. Theresa Aletheia spoke at True Genius: The Mission of Women in Church and Culture, a conference at the University of Notre Dame.

Her talk, The Role of Women’s Genius in Church Reform, explored how women’s gifts are essential to reform in the Church. You can watch the talk below. (Just note that the video of her speaking begins a few minutes in.)

You can also find the links to all the other talks from the conference here.

All of the talks and panels are interesting but we particularly enjoyed the following talks:

We also had the opportunity to attend—virtually—the International Safeguarding Conference at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome: Women of Faith, Women of Strength. Before the conference, we were honored to be part of a US discussion group that contributed feedback that was discussed at the conference. In our working group, we discussed the abuse of women within society and church, women as perpetrators and bystanders of abuse (in institutional contexts and the Church), the role of women in the development of safeguarding measures, and gender-related aspects in safeguarding.

We were unable to attend the conference in person but we did attend online and learned a great deal. The entire conference was filled with powerful, thought-provoking talks from women from around the world. If you have time, we highly recommend diving into all of them—they’re rich with insight and deeply moving.

But if your time is limited, Sr. Nimala Nazareth’s talk, “Abuse of Women in the Church” is compelling and courageous:

We also recommend Sara Larson’s talk, “Accompanying Survivors of Abuse by Catholic Leaders.” As the founder and executive director of Awake, a U.S. nonprofit committed to confronting the full reality of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, Sara speaks with both compassion and clarity. Her insights on walking alongside survivors are not only deeply moving, but also incredibly practical for anyone who wants to support survivors.

We also recommend Maria Teresa Compote Grau’s talk, “Violence Against Adult Women.”

If you are interested in watching the other talks from the conference, you can find all the videos here.

As we have reflected on these conferences—from Notre Dame to Rome—we have been encouraged by these women’s courage. We see the Spirit moving in women who are advocating for justice, healing, and a more authentic witness to the Gospel.

We are grateful for their voices.