This panel has been organized with the support of the Asociación Española de Historia Religiosa Contemporánea and the Research Project “Sociedad internacional y europeísmo: la huella de las otras Europas” (PID2021-122750NB- C21/C22)Beginning with the publication of the Women’s Bible by Elizabeth Cady Stanton in 1895 and ending with an ongoing process in the Catholic world as the Synod initiated in 2021, this panel is open to proposals that study the role that women have played as a driving force in different confessions during the twentieth century. Catholic women have presented their own conclusions and demands to the Synod through the Catholic Women’s Council, which reminds us of their role in an institution in which, paradoxically, they have hardly any voice in the decision-making processes. From other realities, far from the hierarchy of the Catholic Church, the study of the role of women in different communities of faith opens up multiple possibilities. Among all the historical or current experiences that could be considered, we include apostolic movements, innovations in education promoted by women’s religious institutions, movements for peace or freedom, theological contributions, or inputs in particularly important events such as the Second Vatican Council. By opening the panel to different religious, linguistic and national contexts, we seek to promote the transnational perspective, the dialogue with specialists from other latitudes, and the study of the historical leadership of women from different perspectives.Session 1Chair: María José Esteban Zuriaga (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid)Speakers:Ángela Pérez del Puerto (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid), Mantillas, courtship and mass: 1930s Spain interpreted through the American Protestant eyes of Ruth CranstonJosé Ramón Rodríguez Lago (Universidad de Vigo), Believing women and the spirit of Globalism (1930-1950)Natalia Núñez Bargueño (Universidad de Castilla-la Mancha), Revisiting the legacy of Catholic lay women in the pre-conciliar years: a new research field or a new perspective?Session 2Chair: Natalia Núñez Bargueño (Universidad de Castilla-la Mancha)Speakers:Chidiebere Obiora Nnabugwu (KU Leuven), World poverty at Vatican II: the contributions of Barbara WardIsaak Deman (KU Leuven / Australian Catholic University), The Suggestions of Catholic Women and Female Congregations during the Third Intersession and Fourth Session on De Educatione Christiana (1965)Anass El-Hasnaoui (Al-Quaraouiyine University), Women in modern Christian theology: parallels and complementarities in Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza’s Feminism and Hans Küng’s EcumenismSession 3Chair: Charles Mercier (Université de Bordeaux)Speakers:Verónica García Martín (Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha), Breaking down prejudices: Spanish women religious on the road to conciliar renewalClaire Maligot (Université de Reims Champagne-Ardenne), «Humble» Female Actors of Discrete (?) Change: Catholic Women in Jewish-Christian relations (1950s- 1970s)Session 4Chair: Ángela Pérez del Puerto (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid)Speakers:Raffaella Perin (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore), Women at Vatican Radio in the 1950s Italian SocietyMaría José Esteban Zuriaga (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid), Catholic migrant women fighting for their rights through lay apostolate (Europe, 1950’s-1970’s)Edurne Yániz Berrio (Universidad Pública de Navarra-Nafarroako Unibertsitate Publikoa), The Women’s Catholic Action as agents of social change in the promotion of women in Spain and Navarre (1957-1971)Session 5Chair: Verónica García Martín (Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha)Speakers:Charles Mercier (Université de Bordeaux), Breaking through the Stained Glass Ceiling During John Paul II’s Pontificate? Women, Feminism and World Youth DaysJuliette Masquelier (Université Libre de Bruxelles), Women’s movements of specialized Catholic Action as places of agency and adaptation to social and religious change (Belgium, 1960-1990)