Solidarity letter to WOW
We, the European Society of Women in Theological Research (ESWTR) are a European association of women theologians from different religions and faiths such as Christianity, Islam and Judaism. Within the Christian tradition we represent denominations such as Protestant, Anglican, Old Catholic, Orthodox and Roman-Catholic. At our ninth conference we affirm our solidarity with the aims of the first WOW conference in Dublin, 29 June - 1 July 2001, in which a number of our members have taken part. The aims of WOW consist in realizing human rights for women in the churches and the admission of women to all the various church ministries.
We are a society of persons who pursue theology each in accord with her own religious tradition. As women from different denominations, churches and religions we reject every form of exclusion of women whether through language, liturgy, orders or theology. As scholars of theology we regard with alarm the personnel procedures in colleges and universities by which women candidates are not considered due to their feminist competence or because of their support for women's ordination. Some have been denied the nihil obstat at Catholic theological faculties without knowing the grounds on which their careers were ended.
We are convinced that churches and religions cannot carry out their mission in the world with credibility unless they cease to regard the gifts, charisms and competencies of women with suspicion. Churches are communities of women and men, and it is their task to make this self-understanding structurally visible.
Salzburg, 22nd of August 2001
