Pope Francis and cardinals accused of ignoring calls to give women greater leadership roles

Catholic women whose hopes of ordination were dashed at a recent worldwide synod in Rome are being urged to go on strike from church duties in protest at inertia on a reform that many now see as not only just but also inevitable.

Catholic Women Strike: Global Witness for Equality was launched this month and is calling on women who are regular churchgoers, who work for the church on a voluntary basis or who have paid jobs with Catholic organisations to withhold their labour through Lent next year (5 March to 20 April). “We believe the time is ripe to demand what is right … Instead of waiting for a papal ‘yes’, we issue forth our ‘no’ to the systems of misogyny, sexism and patriarchy,” says the campaign’s website.