Final Awards Round: May 2012
Three organizations received a total of $17,700 in grants in the final round of Emily & Rosemary Fund awards:
8th Day Center for Justice was awarded $7,000 to continue its work to change oppressive systems and to serve as a critical alternative voice to those systems. A collaborative of six Catholic religious congregations, 8th Day has a history of honoring the call of conscience, supporting women’s equality, and creating spaces for dialogue on issues of justice.
The Jesus House Renewal Center, a lay-run and lay-supported retreat center in Delaware, received a $2,700 grant to help sustain operations. The Center offers spiritually enriching programs for adults through spiritual direction, retreats and seminars. The local diocese used to hold retreats there for its deacons and seminarians but after the Center allowed VOTF to hold a meeting on-premises, the bishop pressured the coordinators of these two groups to cancel their retreat at Jesus House.
A coalition hosting a gathering for women activits and academics was granted $8,000 to help defray costs. The coalition of CTA and WATER (Women’s Alliance for Theology, Ethics, and Ritual) invited 20 women to meet in Maryland on July 8-11, 2012, and consider these topics:
- An overview of the current Catholic landscape as seen and shaped by feminist Catholics.
- An in-depth look at the signal issues for feminist Catholics and how they have reshaped the community.
- Feminist theological and social analysis that will shed new light on the issues and problems at hand.
- New strategic alliances and coalitions as the work of transforming Catholicism unfolds.