Each year we celebrate International Women’s Day, but if it is to mean anything, we must empower women to find and have their voices heard, writes Congregational Leader Sister Catherine McCahill.

International Women’s Day on 8 March has been celebrated, ignored or overshadowed – the verb depends, I am sure, on each woman’s context.

In Australia, various events, broadcasts and activities were reported. My Good Samaritan Sisters in Bacolod in the Philippines told me of the Open Day at the Good Samaritan Outreach Center, a day for women with free pedicures, manicures, massages, haircuts and photos. This was a day of pampering for women who have little of this world’s goods and are rarely noticed.

A pastoral letter to mark International Women’s Day was penned by Bishop Michael Morrissey, Bishop Delegate for Women on the Australian Bishops Commission for Evangelisation, Laity and Ministry.

Mostly, however, in the public sphere and in the media, the day was overshadowed by the tragedies of war, aggression, loss of life and violence. In the Australian media, the war waged by the United States and Israel against Iran takes centre stage. Next, we hear and see Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates and their neighbours. Ukraine and Gaza have been relegated in the public space, and countries like Sudan are rarely mentioned.

This International Women’s Day, I have been reflecting on the plight of women and children in all these countries. Few will argue with my claim that it is the women and children who suffer most in war, whether from direct harm, or loss or displacement or economic insecurity, or disease or lack of education.

Where are their voices?

The instigators of all these wars are men. Men start them and brag about them. Yes, I say “brag” intentionally because that is my experience of the voices that I hear from the United States and Israel that rarely, if ever, admit the damage perpetrated on the women and children.

The good intentions of International Women’s Day evaporate under the hot air of vengeance and brutality.

I received several invitations to events associated with the day but I was otherwise engaged. On 6 March we celebrated the funeral of one of our Good Samaritan Sisters, Sister Pam Pullen, and on 8 March the memorial of a former Sister, Bernice Moore. Born only a year apart in nearby suburbs of Sydney, these two women changed the lives of countless girls and women in significant ways. Neither had a public platform but their dedication and service spoke volumes.

Pam successfully completed her Leaving Certificate in 1947 and began work as a laboratory assistant with the CSIRO. I wonder if she had many female colleagues. Pam did not really talk about that aspect of her work much. In 1964, she gained a Science degree with First Class Honours, along with the University Medal for Physics from Sydney University. I have no doubt that not many women proceeded her on that podium. Indeed, reflecting on a similar achievement in 2023, Alice Jeffery commented that, “Winning the university medal as a woman in physics is also a particular privilege. Physics still has a way to go in achieving gender parity and I’m proud to be a woman in this field working to that end.”

The next 20 years of Pam’s life were spent in secondary schools teaching science to girls. How fortunate were those girls. Pam did not tell them of her achievements, but she did “tell” them by her actions, her good teaching and her encouragement that girls can do anything. Before the days of interventions to promote girls in science or later STEM, Pam was doing just that.

Bernice spent 25 years as teacher and principal in various states of Australia. “A woman of strong conviction, sharp intellect and a famously no-nonsense approach, Bernice was known as a trailblazer and a passionate advocate for education — particularly for young women.” (Posted by Good Counsel College, Innisfail on Facebook on 12 January 2026)

After leaving the Congregation, Bernice was a founding member of WATAC (Women and the Australian Church). With 15 years as national president and later full-time coordinator in NSW, Bernice is remembered for her unmeasurable influence “on the movement for gender equality and justice in the Australian Church”.

Women, some or many, in the Australia Catholic Church may wonder if Bernice’s voice was lost in the male-dominated halls of ecclesiastic structures and failed to reach the rooms where real decisions are made. I don’t know, but I do know that Bernice did not lose hope. Many women (and some men) continue to be inspired by her legacy.

Just days after her memorial, on 10 March the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith published The Participation of women in the life and leadership of the Church. The opening paragraphs have encouraged me to delve further, to persevere in reading to the end. Rare among Vatican documents, this one recognises the “discomfit” that many women experience in the Church. Personally, “discomfit” seems too polite, but I respect the intent to be inclusive.

The fact that across the world, women feel disengaged, no longer participate and have left the Church is clearly and honestly acknowledged. The causes are also articulated without defensiveness:

In the first place, there exists within the contemporary ecclesial mentality a certain pattern of thought and behaviour identifiable as “clericalism” or “machismo.” These attitudes concern a management of power and speech that creates distrust and, not least, distance among women. (#4)

When will our voice be heard, I wonder. Yes, women’s voices have been heard and acknowledged here but who will read this, who will speak?

A much younger and more naïve me hoped that one day women might be ordained in my Church. I certainly hoped that women would be allowed to preach, including during the celebration of Eucharist on Sundays. Since then, I have endured far too many pointless, poorly prepared and theologically unsound homilies. I have other sources of nourishment and ongoing opportunities to break open the Word of God, but I lament for those around in the pews who return each Sunday to what is less than satisfactory.

Of course, there have been homilies that I have heard which have enriched, challenged and nourished my relationship with God and God’s people.

There is a story told in the Gospels of Mark and Matthew, at the beginning of the passion narrative, of an unnamed woman who interrupts Jesus’ meal with his disciples just days before his death and anoints his head with expensive ointment. Interestingly, both evangelists put this claim on the lips of Jesus: “Truly I tell you, wherever the good news is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in remembrance of her.”

For many years, I taught Scripture (or Religious Education). After asking the students to read the Gospel of Mark, I would ask them, “What part of Jesus’ body did a woman anoint?” Rarely were the first few responses correct.

This woman did not speak words, but her actions spoke clearly; she knew, and her actions symbolised the meaning of Jesus’ death. He is King and Lord on the cross. Her actions have been remembered but, unlike the male disciples, we do not know her name. I wonder if much has changed in the past 2000 years.

So, if International Women’s Day means anything, we must empower women to find and have their voices heard. We must amplify the women’s voices from Iran, Lebanon, Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan. We must make sure that girls are heard in our classrooms, in our families, in our sporting clubs. We must make sure that their mothers are not silenced by violence or poverty or any form of discrimination.

May the girls and young women in the pews (there are not many) not lose hope that their voices are heard, not only by God but by those who have authority in their Church.