The Catholic Network for Women’s Equality (CNWE – Western region) and WATER (Women’s Alliance for Theology, Ethics and Ritual), with Réseau Compassion Network (RCN), the Sisters of Our Lady of the Missions (RNDM) and the Grey Nuns (SGM) are pleased to invite you to a conversation with Elizabeth Davis, RSM and Phyllis Zagano PhD.

Elizabeth Davis, a Sister of Mercy of Newfoundland, will share her experience of the second Synod session in Rome. She was one of fifty-four women among the 365 voting members who participated in the Synod on Synodality at the Vatican.

Phyllis Zagano, an expert on women deacons in the Roman Catholic Church, will focus on the Synod’s discussion about restoring women to the ordained diaconate. She will offer insights into possible ways forward, challenging as they may be.

Register here.

Artist Laura James is a self-taught painter and illustrator whose work transcends boundaries between the sacred and the everyday. Inspired by the richly symbolic and narrative tradition of Ethiopian Christian art, while inviting new, contemporary perspectives, Laura reimagines traditional Christian iconography, infusing it with diverse representations that resonate with people across cultures.

Join the Sisters of St. Joseph Carondelet as Laura shares about her illustrations in The Book of the Gospels, one of her most well-known contributions. In it, she cultivated this visual dialogue that speaks to the timeless desire for spiritual expression and belonging, blending history with modern identity.

Learn more about the artist and view her artwork at laurajamesart.com.

Register here to attend in-person or via livestream. 

Do you desire to express your experience of God in ways that reflect your evolving understanding of self, others, and the world? Do you feel that the world is at an impasse yet desire to do something about our future? Journey-Faith in an Entangled World is a good place to start. Using the metaphor of an Art Exhibit, where your words are paint and paper is your canvas, Nancy Sylvester, IHM, invites you to become an active participant with her as she grapples with integrating her faith experience with contemporary insights from theology, philosophy, science, and psychology. Critical to this synthesis is contemplation and its capacity for transformation both of self and of one’s engagement with the world.

Nancy Sylvester, IHM, founded the Institute for Communal Contemplation and Dialogue in 2002. Prior to that she served in elected leadership positions both within her religious congregation, the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (IHM) of Monroe, MI., and in the Presidency of the national Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR). She served on the staff of Network, a D.C. based Catholic Social Justice Lobby, for fifteen years, ten years as Executive Director. Nancy is a well-known speaker, writer and process facilitator.

Order Here. 

Sullivan Oakley, a doctoral student in clinical psychology at The Wright Institute in Berkeley, California, is currently recruiting participants for a qualitative study exploring experiences of cisgender and transgender women and gender non-conforming individuals who have experienced a calling to Roman Catholic Priesthood. The study aims to amplify the voices of individuals who experience this calling and promote wider visibility, understanding, and dialogue about this experience.

Eligible participants will: Identify as a cisgender or transgender woman or a gender non-conforming (gender queer, non-binary, agender, gender fluid) individual who has experienced a personal call to the Roman Catholic priesthood which they are not eligible to pursue in the institutional Church, be 18 years of age or older, live in the United States, and have fluency in English. 

Interviews will last ~90 minutes and participants will receive a $40 gift certificate. If you or anyone you know might be interested, please contact Sullivan at soakley@wi.edu.