Nairobi, 06 September, 2025 / 6:29 pm (ACI Africa).
Realizing ordination of women will not achieve “full equality” in the Church, Catholic theologian in Kenya has said.
In her keynote speech during the opening of the second African Women Theologian Conference in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi on September 2, Prof. Philomena Mwaura advocated instead for greater efforts to establish values, principles, and structures that promote an ecclesiology that nurtures and affirms women’s diverse gifts while fostering inclusivity.
“Women and men have been calling for the ordination of women in the hope that this would put an end to sexism in the Church. But they have realized that even where women are ordained, like in Protestant churches, they still do not achieve strategic and full equality in the household of God,” she said.
Prof. Mwaura warned that women risk continued marginalization if they “continue to accept and operate within their structures of ministry, instead of exploring alternative patterns and styles based on egalitarian and not patriarchal hierarchical approaches.”
She advocated for a “praxis of inclusive wholeness” that creates an ecclesial environment of “discipleship of equals,” where “all members, men, women, youth, and children, can participate in dignity and respect.”
