The opening paragraph establishes that its authors were invited to speak a message of hope and courage to the women in the church, and that they do so both from their particular perspective and "in a universal vision faithful to our catholic tradition."
The seventh paragraph deplores anything, in any setting, that treats "women or men as less than fully human" and pledges instead to support "the heritage of biblical justice that mandates that all persons share in right relationship with each other, with the cosmos and with the Creator."
In the final paragraph, the authors resolve to "look for the holy in unexpected places and persons," and to "continue an energetic dialogue," and they extend an invitation to others "of all traditions to join us in imagining the great shalom of God."
[1][5] Instead of a charter, these women produced The Madeleva Manifesto: A Message of Hope and Courage, which was proclaimed in English by Benedictine sister Joan Chittister and in Spanish by Jeanette Rodriguez at the concluding public session on April 29, the feast of St. Catherine of Siena, a laywoman who became a Doctor of the Church.
She notes that the group began from a conviction that "advocacy for the full humanity of women within a Christian context is a Gospel value," a point elaborated upon that weekend by Sandra Schneiders in her 2000 Madeleva Lecture.
[5] Dreyer reported that many who attended the retreat identified with Schneiders' description of Gospel feminism, which she defined as viewing Christ "as the model of one who gave his life for others without losing himself, who belonged to yet transcended his Jewish tradition, who mediated the particularity of his life and situation and the universality of his concern and who lived the tension between a radical subversion of the social, political and religious status quo and absolute refusal of violence as a means to its demise.
[5] The editors of America described it as "by any standard a prophetic document, at once hopeful and challenging, measured and bold" and endorsed the Manifesto's request to reimagine the role of women in order to "empower all Catholics for fuller service and discipleship.
[8] Schneiders also stated that if transmitted successfully to the next generation, this feminist vision would influence the future because it emphasized "full humanity for all persons and right relations among all creatures".
[5] It was cited by a pastoral associate, reflecting as a Catholic female Generation Xer, as confirmation that women "must be respected as leaders and given public roles in the church.