Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
organization in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
dedicated to the promotion of
social justice
Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has often referred to the process of ensuring that individuals fu ...
. Founded in 1970 as the National Assembly of Women Religious, it changed its name in 1982 to denote the full inclusion of
laity
In religious organizations, the laity () consists of all members who are not part of the clergy, usually including any non-ordained members of religious orders, e.g. a nun or a lay brother.
In both religious and wider secular usage, a layperson ...
. The founding president was
Ethne Kennedy Ethne Kennedy (November 13, 1921 – March 13, 2005) was an American religious worker and activist.
Kennedy was the daughter of parents who had emigrated to the United States from Ireland early in the twentieth century; among her siblings was the l ...
; other founding members included
Marjorie Tuite Marjorie Tuite, OP (October 15, 1922 – June 28, 1986)
By 1975 the organization had 103 diocesan council members and direct ties to tens of thousands of religious sisters, as well as some clergy and laity as associates; it counted some 3,500 sisters in its grassroots. Its publications included the newsletter ''Probe'' and books promoting a response to the
Second Vatican Council
The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st Catholic ecumenical councils, ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions) ...
among Catholic women; the organization also produced materials related to justice education. Justice was a driving force behind meetings and activities of the Assembly; significant leaders besides Kennedy included Marjorie Tuite and Judy Vaughan. The organization's activities included mobilizing thousands of women during the 1970s to develop justice ministry workshops around the United States. The group held a national conference in 1989, and later in its life partnered with the United Way to do more work in the broader community.
The Assembly disbanded in 1995 due to financial concerns; even so its influence can be felt in other organizations established by its members, including
NETWORK
Network, networking and networked may refer to:
Science and technology
* Network theory, the study of graphs as a representation of relations between discrete objects
* Network science, an academic field that studies complex networks
Mathematics
...
and the
Women's Ordination Conference
The Women's Ordination Conference is an organization in the United States that works to ordain women as deacons, priests, and bishops in the Catholic Church.
Founded in 1975, the conference was seeded from an idea the year before, when Mary B. Ly ...
. A collection of the Assembly's records is held by the library of the
University of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...