Fordham recently hosted its second annual Catholic Women Speak event, which highlights conversations surrounding Catholic women and their experiences. The event hosted a variety of speakers from Fordham and other universities.
Three Fordham undergraduates, Lauryn Sweeney, FCRH ’25, Mollie Clark, FCRH ’26 and AnnaMarie Pacione, FCRH ’26, co-created the event. They worked alongside Carol Gibney, director of Campus Ministry solidarity and leadership.
“[The students] did a really wonderful job of leading the conference on all levels,” said Gibney. “[It was great] to watch them step into the role with competence, intelligence and with keen eyes for detail and to do so joyfully,” she continued.
Last year, the event hosted around 40 attendees, and this year, the number went above 100. The organizers had to move from McShane Room 311 to a larger space in the McShane Great Hall.
Natalia Imperatori-Lee, FCRH ’98, Ph.D., a professor of feminist theology at Manhattan College, was the keynote speaker and kicked off the event with her lecture “Do We Still Need Feminist Theology?”
“Feminist theology shows us all the ways in which religion can be a force for good in the world even if we don’t have a lot of evidence for it being used that way,” said Imperatori-Lee. “I wanted to be setting the tone for the day [by saying] ‘this is still relevant, this is still important,’ and I wanted to support the initiative of the undergraduates who were working so hard.”
The keynote speaker from the event last year told attendees to read Imperatori-Lee’s book “Women in the Church: From Devils Gateway to Discipleship.”
“After reading this book and watching Imperatori-Lee’s 2024 Madeleva Lecture at St. Mary’s College, which is the Catholic Feminist lecture each year, we were inspired by her work and wanted her to speak to our community, especially considering she is an FCRH alum,” said Sweeney.
The student organizers aimed to include more diversity in their discussions this year.
“We definitely hit more of the intersection of different social justice issues. Like sexism is intrinsically connected to racism and to homophobia and to hurt for the earth,” said Pacione. “And so this year, instead of just uplifting women’s voices and stories, which we obviously did, we also did so through the lens of justice issues.”
The event had attendees from Fordham and local high schools, as well as viewers from all over the country online. The group has been working with other Catholic groups to spread awareness for the event.
“We attended the IFTJ [Ignatian Family Teach-in for Justice] last October, and there were a couple of groups that were tabling, and AnnaMarie very thoughtfully began to give out some fliers and information about it there,” said Gibney.
The event concluded with a women-led communion service. Last year, the event ended with a Mass. However, the organizers wanted to prioritize women’s voices, so they moved to the chapel in the University Church basement for this year.
“I never dreamed that there would be this liturgy in the Chapel of Our Lady that was just totally organized by and for non-men,” said Imperatori-Lee. “And it was awesome.”
Former Fordham professor Maureen O’Connell, Ph.D., preached at the service.
“At the very end, we had everyone bless each other; we thought that was going to be like five seconds of people talking to the people around them,” said Pacione. “But instead, it burst into everyone blessing each other and people laughing and people crying and everyone standing and applauding, and it was a pure moment of true elation.”
The group plans to reach out to everyone who attended as they begin discussions for next year’s event.
“Very few things have given me hope for the Church lately, but this really does,” said Imperatori-Lee. “It gives me hope for Fordham, it gives me hope for the church, it gives me hope for the future of theology. It was one of the most hopeful days I think I’ve had in a really long time. It was really special.”
