Join us in Building a Civilization of Love

Our goal is to continue a conversation with our Bishops on paid family leave in the Catholic Church. By donating to our investigative reporting, joining us in prayer, and spreading the word, we aim to build a civilization of love.

Our 2022 petition collected signatures from all 50 states.

What does this tell us?

Paid Leave is a real pain point for parents in the church.

Many parents lack adequate paid leave and would like to see change.

Dioceses and catholic companies listened.

Changes we've seen since the petition / report

Archdiocese of Denver became the fifth U.S. Diocese on record to offer a 12-week, fully paid maternity leave in April 2022. Additionally they now offer 6 week fully paid paternity leave.

The Diocese of St. Augustine announced a two-week leave for adoptive and biological parents in April 2022.

Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee announced a new paid parental leave policy for all diocesan employees in May 2022.

Catholic publisher Ascension Press announced a new 12-week paid maternity leave policy in July 2023.

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Much remains to be done to prevent discrimination against those who have chosen to be wives and mothers…This is a matter of justice but also of necessity…It will force systems to be redesigned in a way which favors the pro-cesses of humanization which mark the "civilization of love."

Pope St. John Paul II
Letter to Women, 1995

Why are we doing this? 

only 4 of 176

Only 4 of 176 Dioceses in the United States offer twelve weeks of fully paid maternity leave

only 31 of 176

Only 31 of 176 Dioceses in the United States offer fully paid parental leave policies

roughly 1 in 4

Nationally, an estimated 1 in 4 mothers return to work only 2 weeks after giving birth

Go behind the scenes with our podcast mini-series

Hear more insights about the research, the issue that inspired the petition, and join the conversation about how to better support women working for the Church.

We believe the Church cares about women; we believe the Church cares about families. We don’t have all the answers, but we can’t wait any longer to get the conversation started. FemCatholic is building the platform for women and for the Church to enter into dialogue that will lead to meaningful change."

Samantha Povlock
Founder, FemCatholic
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