Activists release pink smoke in protest over Vatican's male-only conclave

The Manila Times

Activists release pink smoke in protest over Vatican's male-only conclave  Advocates for women's ordination release pink smoke from a hill near the Vatican on May 7, 2025, just hours before the start of a male-only conclave to elect a new pontiff. Chanting 'smoke out sexism,' members of the Women’s Ordination Conference (WOC) unleashed plumes of smoke as a 'distress signal' to emphasize that the Church must urgently change its stance on women's ordination. Although Pope Francis expanded the synod in 2023 to include women as full voting members for the first time, women still cannot be ordained to the priesthood or deaconate within the Catholic Church.  REUTERS VIDEO  Subscribe to The Manila Times Channel - https://tmt.ph/YTSubscribe  Visit our website at https://www.manilatimes.net  Follow us:  Facebook - https://tmt.ph/facebook  Instagram - https://tmt.ph/instagram  Twitter - https://tmt.ph/twitter  DailyMotion - https://tmt.ph/dailymotion   Subscribe to our Digital Edition - https://tmt.ph/digital   Check out our Podcasts:  Spotify - https://tmt.ph/spotify  Apple Podcasts - https://tmt.ph/applepodcasts  Amazon Music - https://tmt.ph/amazonmusic  Deezer: https://tmt.ph/deezer Stitcher: https://tmt.ph/stitcher  Tune In: https://tmt.ph/tunein  Soundcloud: https://tmt.ph/soundcloud   #TheManilaTimes #tmtnews #vaticancity  #conclave

Transcript

00:00A male-only conclave is a celebration of patriarchy.

00:10A Catholic church without women has never existed and never will.

00:14Smoke out sexism! Smoke out sexism!

00:19A woman's place is in the conclave. Smoke out sexism!

00:24God calls Catholic women to be deacons and priests. Smoke out sexism!

00:30We are doing this because we know we've got a little window of time

00:33before the cardinals are sequestered inside that Sistine Chapel

00:37with no access to their social media and their phones

00:40that they will see the pink smoke over the Vatican

00:43and they will know that women are sending a clear signal

00:46that they cannot go in with 133 men

00:49deciding the future of the Catholic church without half of that Catholic church.

00:55They are going to talk about all sorts of issues.

00:57They will not talk about the ordination of women and priests.

00:59women priests and the equality of women.

01:02And I think they are for us. We are not allowed in there.

01:05We get arrested. The women's ordination...

01:07There is one man that I know for sure is inclusive of women,

01:12has tried his best to promote as many women as possible,

01:16who harbors a feeling of injustice at the exclusion of women.

01:21But if he ever went far enough to say women should have always been priests

01:28and what we have been doing is perpetuating a lie,

01:31he wouldn't have been made a cardinal

01:33and he wouldn't be sitting with these men now.

01:36This little thing, this little light of mine, I'm going to let it shine,

01:51let it shine, let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.

01:57This is a sin and a scandal. And so we are here, an international group of women's ordination

02:03advocates, lifting up pink smoke as a sign of hope that the church might quickly work to

02:09bring women in as equals in every part of the life of the church.

02:13Smoke can also be considered a distress signal and so our pink smoke is also a sign that the church

02:19needs to change quickly and that this is a really a tipping point moment and many women are looking

02:25at the conclave and the future of the church to see and asking themselves is there a place for me here.

02:30Let it rise, let it rise, let it rise, I'm gonna let it shine.

02:49Let it rise, let it rise.

03:11Let it rise, let it rise.

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