BackCouncil of Australasian Catholics (CAC)
(formally Australasian Catholic Coalition for Church Reform)
and Garratt Publishing present
WOMEN IN THE CHURCH
Webinar
Thursday 5 March 2026
This webinar featured Sally Douglas, Kate Fogarty, and Claire Victory, who, with their qualifications and experience, were well-placed to provide an insider critique of the church they love – particularly regarding the status of women.
Being actively engaged in the Church, they are keenly aware of both the opportunities available for supporting life-giving spiritualities and the effects of discrimination. Everyone benefited from their sharing of their experience-grounded perspectives on women in the Church.
A broad range of issues was discussed, including the issues that women faced in the early Church, as well as presenting ideas about the sort of Church they would like to see today. A Church that accepts women as equal members, that is humble, welcomes all as members of the Body of Christ, resists self-aggrandisement, plus much more!
A recording of the event is available to view below.
SPEAKERS
Sally Douglas
Sally is a Senior Lecturer in New Testament Studies within the University of Divinity, Melbourne, a Uniting Church Minister, a theologian, and an author. She engages with New Testament texts, the work of early church authors, and with Womanist and Feminist readings, as she attends to minimised sources and contemporary questions of theology. Her recent publications include Rewilding Prayer: God Beyond Gender, Faith Beyond Formulas (2025); Jesus Sophia: Returning to Woman Wisdom in the Bible, Practice and Prayer (2023); and Newborn Babies and Nursing Jesus (1 Peter 2.2-3): The Petrine Metaphor’s Disruption of Patriarchal Renderings of God and the Child – Biblical Theology Bulletin.
Kate Fogarty
Kate is currently the Director of Catholic Education for the Diocese of Sandhurst in Victoria. Her previous roles have included 9 years as Principal of Assumption College Kilmore, and St Joseph’s College Echuca. She has qualifications in Education, Theology and Management and strongly believes that all students, wherever they are, deserve the best education possible.
Claire Victory
Claire is an employment lawyer working in industrial relations roles, acting for employers, workers, insurers and union members. She was the first female president of the St Vincent de Paul Society, Australia and is currently the one of the regional presidents of SVdP in South Australia.
MODERATOR
Kevin Liston
Kevin is Co-chair, CAC (Formerly, ACCCR). He recently said,
‘There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.’ (Gal 3: 28).
The aspiration for equality goes back to the beginning. Will we see it in this generation? In the meantime, women are increasingly the energy and drivers of Church evolution in this change of era.
RECORDING
