Without them, no parish would function. They prepare ceremonies, care for the churches, and accompany the grieving.
And yet, in the Catholic Church, they remain shut out of decision-making, leadership, and the altar.
Now, for the first time, Catholic women across France are going on strike.
"Fasting from sexism"
“Catholic woman on strike,” reads the small badge pinned to Mathilde’s coat. She wears it alongside another that reads “Fasting from sexism.”
The 32-year-old lawyer and regular churchgoer based in Paris has had enough and decided to join the movement.
“The idea is really to protest, during these 40 days of Lent, to express a deep incomprehension about the place of women in the Church today,” she said.
At first, she boycotted Mass entirely. “But then I thought, I’ll go but I’ll wear the badge and try to get discussions going," she told Euronews.
The movement, which started on 5 March and will continue until 17 April, is taking place during Lent — the 40 days of reflection and sacrifice leading up to Easter.
The protest is spearheaded in France by Le Comité de la Jupe — the Skirt Committee — a feminist Catholic association that has campaigned since 2009 for greater gender equality within the Church.
According to the organisation, women carry out nearly 80 per cent of essential work in parishes.
Others are finding different ways to take part — from praying outside church walls to refusing to donate money or simply stepping back from unpaid duties.
"In addition to the strictly male governance, you have a reality on the ground where women are everywhere. Churches are full of women, whether parishioners, or volunteers, or in the pulpit. They're everywhere, but they have this glass ceiling, meaning they can't access certain responsibilities," explained Adéline, the co-president of the Skirt Committee.
In France alone, the Skirt Committee says it now counts over 300 active members — and growing.
The French association has joined an international movement launched by the US-based Women’s Ordination Conference, an organisation fighting for the ordination of women deacons, priests and bishops in the Catholic Church.
“It’s a kind of emergency response to decades of inaction,” Adéline told Euronews.
“There have been working groups, commissions, reports — and nothing changes. So this strike is a cry of urgency: stop talking, stop writing documents. Let’s act.”
"There’s a real fear of losing power"
So far, the official response from the bishops has been radio silence.
While there have been small signs of progress — notably the appointment of the first female governor of the Vatican City State— activists say it is not enough.
Even after the devastating 2022 report by France’s Independent Commission on Sexual Abuse in the Church (CIASE), which called for greater female representation in church leadership, little has moved.
But inside the institution, some like Antoine Guggenheim are voicing their support.
"When I first heard about the movement, I thought: what a great idea! When you're an activist, you have to come up with ideas that make an impact," said the Paris-based Catholic priest.
“But it's true that when I talk about these issues with other priests, it’s complicated. There’s a real fear of losing power. And opinions are very divided," he told Euronews.
For many women, that perspective is precisely what the Church needs.
“We’re not trying to take anything away,” said Caroline, a longtime parish volunteer who helps prepare ceremonies.
“We just want to show that there’s nothing to fear in moving forward. We all have a place."
