For the second year in a row, Ulrike Göken-Huismann was one of twelve women in twelve different locations who took part in a nationwide action called "Preachers' Day".

"Our goal is to make it clear that women can preach and can do it well," says Göken-Huismann, who has two children.

"The Church is missing out on a lot by not allowing us to do it. In fact, it's a missed opportunity! There is a wealth of talent among women that needs to be tapped into," she insists.

"The apostles were not all men."

"The feast of St. Junia on this Monday is decisive," said Marianne Arndt, a Ward official who preached at a mass in Cologne.

"Junia was definitely a female apostle who was mistaken for a man for a long time," Göken-Huismann points out.

"Fortunately, thanks to new translations, it has become clear that she was a woman. With our event — 12 Women, 12 Places, 12 Homilies' — we want to show that not all apostles were men," the theologian adds.

"We say: If it is the case that there were also outstanding female apostles, why are women only allowed to be emergency stoppers for priests? We want to take our rightful place in the Church," Arndt added.

Altar servers, lecturers and communion helpers were also only approved by Rome many years later. "I think we have to move forward so as not to lose the women in our Catholic Church," warned Arndt.

"We have to get away from the concentration of power in the male church."

Göken-Huismann is convinced that women will be able to become priests one day. But, she knows that "the road will be long."

"We're taking it one step at a time," she says.

"These various actions reflect a growing dissatisfaction on the part of the faithful," says Michael Seewald, a teacher of theology at the University of Münster.

"These protest movements are supported by a majority of the country's Catholics. The opponents have very good contacts with Rome and are making their voices heard. But they are a small group," he notes.

"It would be possible to find solutions at the regional level and to leave room for maneuvering on the ground for these issues," Seewald believes.

"But I don't know if Rome is ready for that. Rome is looking at the German synodal path very sceptically. It has sent negative messages on the four topics of discussion there. It is difficult to be very optimistic," Seewald admits.

But women preachers like Ulrike Göken-Huismann remain hopeful and optimistic. Their new slogan is, "Stay in the Church! Demand change!"

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"We women want to see genuine change in our Church. We want to contribute and have our say. We want women and men, on equal footing, to follow their calling in harmony and move forward in the same direction: that of Jesus Christ, who asked us all to bring his message of love to the world," the parishioners say.

They want women in the German Catholic church "not to step foot in a church" to wear white, and to stop "all voluntary service" from 11 to 18 May.

"We will celebrate Mass outside, in front of the church," they say in their campaign.

The idea of striking began during a monthly meeting focusing on the papal encyclical Laudato si'.

"We were dejected by the revelations of sexual assault committed by priests and by the persistent exclusion of women, which is one source of the problem,"Elisabeth Kötter says.

They - along with other women - decided to go on strike.

Their campaign is called "Maria 2.0," and its logo is an image of a woman with her mouth taped shut.

"We wanted to give some direction to the increasing and longstanding unease that we've all felt," Ruth Koch says.

Thanks to social media, the call quickly spread across the diocese. Around fifty visitors left messages of support on the women's Facebook page:

"Finally! A practical campaign, we've waited a long time for this!" "Let's not keep quiet anymore, this is urgent."

Among the supporters were both women and men of all ages.

The Catholic Women's Association of Germany (KFD) has guaranteed its support.

Organisers confirm Bishop Franz-Josef Overbeck and his vicar general, Father Klaus Pfeffer, are following the Facebook page.

"The call is also aimed at all those who have suffered at the hands of the Church and have left," Kötter says.

The organisers have written to Pope Francis. They gave the letter to Cardinal Reinhard Marx to pass on to the pope at the summit on sexual abuse last month.

The women want a change in the sexual moral code that is in keeping "with the reality of human life," for the lifting of mandatory celibacy for priests and for women's access to all ministries.

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• La Croix
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