The exclusion of women from synodal debate is a papal decision, reaffirming their exclusion from "holy orders," meaning the clergy. It's well known that the Pope does not wish to "clericalise" women.

Instead, he prefers to rely on the common priesthood of the faithful, which allows the laity, both men and women, to participate in the church's mission by virtue of their baptism.

Yet, why didn't he balance these two humiliating decisions with positive steps for women?

It leaves the impression that women matter little in the Pope's mind and, likely, in the minds of the entire Roman Magisterium, which remains entangled in the controversies surrounding the Fiducia Supplicans declaration on homosexuality.

Faced with opposing pressures, Pope Francis seems content to steer cautiously—one stroke to the left, another to the right, and the Church drifts on.

But behind these subtle strategies lies half of humanity. How are they regarded?

Difficult integration into the church

The second surprise is why it's so challenging to advance the integration of women into the church. It's unsurprising that a "worldly" institution resists change; gender corporatism and privilege preservation are powerful forces.

"The Church of Christ is not the world; it should embody fraternity and sisterhood."

But the Church of Christ is not the world; it should embody fraternity and sisterhood.

Jesus never relegated women to subservience and invisibility. He wanted them to be as free as men.

In his Church, "an expert in humanity," we should hear the cry: "Beloved sisters, the doors of the Church are wide open to you. Let's build the Kingdom together!"

Clergy's fear

Yet, this is not the case. For over a millennium, women have frightened the clergy, who keep them at a distance and demonize them, as they are seen as a threat to their vow of chastity.

Additionally, the all-male clergy has fostered an exaggerated masculinity of God—a flawed but deeply rooted concept that makes it hard to see a woman as representing Christ.

Over time, gender roles have solidified, with men on one side and women on the other.

To justify this, Rome has emphasised the concept of "difference," which assigns women the "vocation" of being wives and mothers, further excluding them from holy orders.

This establishes an ontological inequality that is utterly foreign to the spirit of Jesus.

Clearly, the church adheres more to worldly corporatism than to gospel teachings. By deeming women as "lesser" than men, is the church making Catholic women the last colony of the Western world?

Faced with this risk, isn't it surprising that the Magisterium isn't rushing to end this apartheid?

In God's eyes

The third surprise concerns us, the women: Why do we tolerate this situation? Do we have so little self-esteem and so little regard for ourselves? Do we hold no value in God's eyes?

In a land of human rights, in an institution that should be a model of emancipation, are we willing to be eternally relegated to the sidelines?

As 16th-century French political theorist Étienne La Boétie reminds us, are we complicit in voluntary servitude?

Let's not believe that by bowing down, we gain humility, as some chaplains still whisper to nuns: "Through your submission, you silently share in the sufferings of the Lord Jesus."

No, this false humility is nothing but laziness, fear disguised as virtue. Ignoring the talents given by the Creator is like the attitude of the unfaithful steward, whom the master rebuked for not investing his gifts.

"Our talents are the Creator's gifts, not our own... Self-esteem is, first and foremost, an appreciation for God's creative act."

Our talents are the Creator's gifts, not our own.

By devaluing ourselves, the steward also showed disrespect for his master: "I knew you were a harsh master." Is this how we speak of God? Self-esteem is, first and foremost, an appreciation for God's creative act.

"I am wonderfully made," says the psalmist. How could we not do everything to honoUr that?

Dignity of women

Yes, the Church's paternalistic stance toward women may seem gentle and, to some, even comforting.

Finally, stepping away from conflict, hoping to resolve tensions by accepting a secondary role… But this does nothing for self-esteem.

Sure, the dignity of women is affirmed—but only in Heaven.

Sure, compliments abound—sometimes excessively—but they lack practical implications. Sure, responsibilities are offered—but as far from the heart of pastoral ministry as possible. Are we gullible enough to fall for this?

So, what do we want? The quiet charm of patriarchal conservatism or the freedom of the Gospel? If we want our Church to be faithful to Jesus' message, then the cause of women is an urgent issue for every Catholic.

• First published in La Croix International
• Anne Soupa (pictured) is a French theologian, writer, and co-founder of the Comite de la jupe. After Cardinal Barbarin's resignation in 2020, she submitted her candidacy for the office of Archbishop of Lyon.

Confronted by a group of students and faculty over "the invisibility of women" in his encyclical Laudato si', "Christian ecofeminism," and the role of women in the Church, Francis was challenged as rarely before, especially from the left.

The Pope tried to rise above it, displaying his usual warmth, simplicity, and good humour.

But no sooner had he stepped off the stage than the university's president issued a statement expressing "her incomprehension and disapproval of the position on women's role in the Church and society."

So what exactly did the Pope say that was so shocking? In truth, not much. For Francis, "a woman is a daughter, sister, mother. Just as I am a son, brother, father."

It's a broad enough definition for everyone to find their place.

He reminded the audience that "it's relationships that express our being in the image of God, men and women together, not separately." This is essentially a paraphrase of Genesis.

He emphasised that "women and men are persons, not individuals" and that they are "called to love and to be loved."

In short, it was a sermon in clichés.

However, the Pope may not fully grasp how deeply our culture believes that each person defines their own origin, purpose, and standards.

Contrary to what he preaches and hopes for, the individual has overtaken the concept of the person.

Those who advocate for intersectional struggles may agree with his notion that "everything is connected"—racism, sexism, poverty, the ecological crisis - but they cannot accept that men and women should be defined by their relationships with one another.

A society where gender issues are increasingly central

So, what's the solution to this disconnect?

There are two possible paths—two dead ends, really. One option is to double down on appeasement, which only accelerates the very secularisation the Church seeks to prevent.

A soft Catholicism is a silent Catholicism. It will always be criticised for something until it becomes nothing at all—and even after that.

The other option, retreating into a defensive identity, leads to a different kind of marginalisation. The Church would become a small, pious society, a sect as closed off as it is esoteric, muttering truths that only make sense within its own bubble.

In the history of Christianity, one thing has remained constant over 2,000 years: there's no mission without witness, but no evangelisation without cultural engagement.

While the faith should never be watered down, the language of the times must always be taken seriously.

A Pope can no longer assert, as Francis did somewhat nonchalantly, that:

"women are more important than men, but it's ugly when a woman wants to be like a man" or that "women are about fruitful acceptance, care, vital devotion," or that "the Church is a woman," or even that "women are at the heart of the salvation event," citing Mary.

These clichés do not address the fundamental questions of younger generations.

In a society where gender issues are increasingly central and where male dominance over women is being questioned everywhere, the incident in Louvain should serve as a wake-up call.

Thinking about women the way St. John Paul II did is no longer possible; we must now think with women.

The Magisterium must listen, and theology must humbly return to the drawing board.

• Jean-Pierre Denis, a veteran journalist and editor, is the publisher of La Croix International.
• Article first published in La Croix

That is what Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich (pictured), the relator general for next October's synod, said in this exclusive interview with America's Vatican correspondent.

He emphasised the importance of the working document's attention to affirming and promoting the role of women in the Church in the 21st century and said, "If women do not feel comfortable in the Church, we have failed our living as Christians."

He explained that "synodality is the path the church has to follow in order to fight the polarisation" that exists in the Church and world today by seeking to harmonise differences.

Cardinal Hollerich presented the instrumentum laboris together with Cardinal Mario Grech, the secretary general of the synod, at a press conference in the Vatican on July 9.

I sat down with him afterward at the office of the synod's secretariat on Via della Conciliazione.

Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich

The Luxembourg-born cardinal, who will turn 66 in August, is a member of the Japanese province of the Jesuits.

He lived in Japan from 1985-89 and again from 1994 to 2011, when Benedict XVI appointed him to be archbishop of Luxembourg.

Pope Francis made him a cardinal in 2019, named him relator general for the synod in 2021 and appointed him to his council of nine cardinal advisors in 2023.

He is one of the most influential figures at the October synod, together with Cardinal Grech. As relator general, he will deliver the keynote address to the synod's opening plenary assembly in October and will preside over the drafting of its final text. Read more

• Gerard O'Connell is America's Vatican correspondent and author of The Election of Pope Francis: An Inside Story of the Conclave That Changed History.

Their vision continues despite Pope Francis saying a very public 'No' to the idea as recently as last week's CBS News interview.

No way

During the CBS interview, Francis said he is not open to the possibility of ordaining women deacons.

He clarified his stance saying "Women have always had, I would say, the function of deaconesses without being deacons, right?

"Women are of great service as women, not as ministers, as ministers in this regard, within the holy orders" said Francis, referring to the sacrament of ordination.

Disappointment

"I was quite devastated to see his response" said Kate McElwee, executive director of the Women's Ordination Conference.

The Conference also advocates for women's ordination as priests and bishops - which Francis has also clearly vetoed.

But McElwee said she is surprised Francis refused to ordain women to the diaconate.

"It's a very sad day when a powerful man like a pope tells a young girl that she can't, or will never be equal in their own church and will never be able to follow their call from God" McElwee says.

Some have a vocation to become ordained deacons, she believes.

Further study

Although Francis is against ordaining women deacons, he wants the idea of women deacons of the non-ordained variety considered in a synodal way.

At present, the issue of women deacons has been assigned to one of 10 study groups examining controversial issues.

The groups will report at the October 2024 meeting of the Synod on Synodality, and again in July 2025.

Women must be heard

Women's participation in the life and mission of the Church faces significant challenges.

Canonical and institutional reform is needed and better representation in leadership roles should be possible, the Catholic Church in Ireland told the synodal assembly in Rome last October.

Ireland's newly completed summary report says while the people appreciate the growing recognition of women's valuable contributions to the Church, more is needed.

Denying women ordination to the priesthood and the permanent diaconate is an ongoing concern.

"That these ministries are not open to women is seen by some as limiting their opportunities for leadership and decision-making roles, perpetuating a model of co-responsibility that is not fully inclusive" the summary states.

While some women feel very empowered in the Church today and valued for the roles they hold, change is sought.

"It was clear in the contributions that if women's voices are not heard at higher levels, nothing will change" the report says.

Source

• The Tablet
• Religion News Service

As I talked with my sister about the proposals, I expressed a desire to gather with women who were not in my close circle to hear their perspectives.

She immediately thought of some of her friends and women in her parish, which is two hours away from where I live.

Without our frequent conversations, she doubted she would have heard much about the synod and suspected the same would be true for them.

They might be interested in learning more and engaging in a "conversation in the Spirit."

Conversing with the spirit

Two weeks later, 12 women, ages 16 to 68, gathered in my sister's living room to learn a bit about the current synod and how women's participation and leadership continues to surface.

After a brief introduction to the synod, we engaged in a "conversation in the Spirit" focused on their experience of church and their desires for the church.

As the sharing unfolded, it was clear that the church is both home and a place in which they long to be more at home.

Several women shared experiences of being treated as an afterthought, noting that over the years, their participation has been invited only when there aren't enough men to fill roles.

Others shared that they feel like women do the bulk of the work in the parish community.

These two experiences are not mutually exclusive. There was joy, laughter, and pain palpable in the room and a deep desire for more.

Language counts

The synthesis report reads:

"There is a need to ensure that liturgical texts and church documents are more attentive to the use of language that takes into equal consideration both men and women, and also includes a range of words, images and narratives that draw more widely on women's experience."

Drawing on this proposal, I asked those gathered about their experiences of the language and images used in the liturgy.

What difference would it make to them if they were more inclusive?

Most were unsure how to answer.

I suggested inclusive language for humanity, which came up organically in our first round of sharing.

I offered the possibility of expanding our images of God, for instance praying with the variety of images offered in scripture and tradition.

I asked about the lectionary and the possibility of incorporating more narratives that include women.

After painting these as possibilities, we listened to one another's perspectives.

One by one, we shared.

I heard pain over the fact that we pray "God came for us men and for our salvation."

I heard curiosity about praying with expanded images of God, images that draw on relationship, like Hagar's name for God in Genesis, the "Living One Who Sees Me."

I heard an understanding that God is neither male nor female and yet a deep familiarity and comfort with God as he.

I heard openness to translations of God language that might use fewer pronouns.

I heard a hunger for more scriptural texts that have women protagonists. I heard a thirst for more women saints to be highlighted.

Underneath it all, I heard a desire to be seen, to be valued, to be invited to participate as women and human beings.

Inclusive liturgy

In this circle, my role was facilitator and listener.

I love the church deeply, as do the women gathered in my sister's living room. And I long to feel more at home in the church.

In my own heart, I feel the pain of knowing that sometimes when our liturgical prayers and church documents say "men," they mean humanity.

But sometimes, they mean what they say—men.

It is exhausting to remind myself that, mostly, "men" means me too. Except when it doesn't.

Last summer, as I eagerly read an official English language document from the synod, I paused in gratitude when I realised that the inclusive language of the text was how it was intended to be written.

I was not reading an inclusive language translation. The church intended my inclusion, and so I was included in pronouns and in the phrase "brothers and sisters." I felt seen.

I also feel seen and nourished by God's Word in scripture and delight in texts that include women.

I long to hear more of these narratives at Sunday Mass.

As a co-convener of the Catholic Women's Preaching Circle, I notice that often women preachers will choose texts that center women.

I encounter women who are in our sacred texts but whose stories are often unfamiliar. They, too, are protagonists, and together we lift them up, and I am lifted up.

As I continue to reflect on this synodal proposal, I am mindful that liturgy, language, and story shape us.

They form us.

How we choose to speak about ourselves and one another and the stories we choose to tell are reflections of what we believe is important and worth keeping alive.

Those choices shape who we will become.

As we expand our language for God and humanity and as we expand the images and scriptural texts we use, not only will women feel more seen and heard by those very texts.

The language, images, and texts will truly shape the people of God to more fully and truly see and hear women. Read more

Kelly Adamson is Director of Residence Life Ministry at the University of Dayton.

Leadership positions within the Church are important, a pre-International Women's Day gathering near the Vatican said.

"It's so important that the Catholic Church be engaged in this issue, not just internally but also externally given the contribution they make in the education sphere and the health care sphere" says Chiara Porro, Australia's ambassador to the Holy See.

Porro agrees the Vatican has taken significant steps forward during her four years in Rome. Catholic women have been appointed to many high-ranking Vatican positions.

There are now 40 women ambassadors to the Vatican - and they often talk about the issue of women's influence.

"We come all over the world. We support each other, we share ideas, we network" she says.

Porro works closely with the International Union of Superiors General.

Besides highlighting their work, especially with the poor, the Union also works with women of other faiths, she says.

Interfaith effort

Last week the Australian, French and Netherlands embassies sponsored and attended a "Women Sowing Seeds of Peace and Cultivating Encounter" conference.

Attendees were Christian, Jewish, Buddhist and Hindu female faith leaders.

"When we talk about interfaith dialogue, when we talk about religious leaders coming together. We find that a lot of the religions around the world are led by men, so it's really important to bring female faith leaders together" Porro says.

One day at the conference was set aside for women theologians, experts and leaders to discuss female leadership. Here, ordained missionary and theologian Maeve Louise Heaney questioned Catholic theology that attempts to "essentialise" women.

"They speak of complementarity and name the contribution of women as essentially different to that of men, pitching love, spirituality and nurturing against authority, leadership and intellect."

Catholics should reconsider their idea of God and the Holy Spirit as neither male nor female.

Survey

A 2022 Catholic Women Speak survey of 17,200 women in 104 countries found two-thirds of Catholic women support "radical reform".

Almost 30 percent said they would consider leaving the Church if women aren't given more prominence.

Heaney is encouraged by the Synod on Synodality which will hold its second session at the Vatican in October. The Vatican is already discussing allowing women to be ordained as deacons, she says.

"What if we allowed spaces for women to preach? Under the authority of the bishop, in collaboration with the parish priest, with the proper formation like all the rest of the ministry. You might find that the issue of priesthood changes in colour if we have different kinds of leadership."

Patience needed

While many women want change and while Catholic charity Caritas is urging its 162 affiliated Catholic charities to create spaces for women's leadership dialogue, Pope Francis is not on board.

He continues to use language that reinforces the role of women as mothers and caregivers.

"The Church is female" he says. Women have a "unique capacity for compassion" that allows them "to bring love where love is lacking, and humanity where human beings are searching to find their true identity."

• Religion News Service

"Today we still have a lot to do to promote women. There are still many areas where women continue to be discriminated against," said Gabriella Gambino, a professor of bioethics and undersecretary of the Vatican Department for Laity, Family and Life.

Gambino appeared at a press event on Wednesday (Feb. 28) in Rome to promote "Women in the Church: Builders of Humanity," a conference scheduled for March 7 and 8 at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross.

The conference will focus on the lives and legacies of 10 female saints, who despite the challenges of their times and cultures left a meaningful mark in the church.

Among better-known canonized women such as Mother Teresa and Elizabeth Ann Seton, the conference is examining the life of Sister Josephine Bakhita, the first Black woman to be made a saint, who championed victims of human trafficking.

The conference is meant "to put the lives of these women within the context of the concrete lives of men and women of our time," Gambino explained.

The conference is a collaboration by several Catholic institutions and universities along with foreign embassies to the Holy See, which are represented today by a record number of women ambassadors.

The 20 or so ambassadors are connected through an informal WhatsApp group created during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Gambino holds to a different kind of feminism from the one many other women and even other academics espouse.

The mother of five believes that womanhood and motherhood are intrinsically tied and that men must be seen as needing support along with women. "In the church, this is called co-responsibility," she said.

Starting with Pope John Paul II and increasingly under Pope Francis, women have been acquiring more relevance in the church and currently hold many important Vatican offices.

Last October, at a summit of bishops and lay people at the Vatican to discuss the most pressing topics facing the church, the question of female roles was front and centre.

While some Catholic women propose that women be allowed to become priests or at least the lesser ordained order of deacon, others seek alternative ways to promote women in the church.

"It's about living out the baptismal vocation to the fullest," Gambino said, which entails "adopting within the church a new paradigm that is capable of understanding the female condition and can lead to the creation of roles for women in the church, especially at the local level, where they are often neglected."

"The issue is how to get men interested in addressing the question of female leadership," said Cristina Reyes, academic vice rector of the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, across the Tiber River from the Vatican. "That seems like a real challenge to me," she said.

Changing the church culture toward women, the leaders of the conference seemed to recognize, was a slow process.

Of the academic institutions participating in the conference, including the Catholic University of Avila, the Pontifical Urbanian University, the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum and Pontifical Theological Faculty Teresianum, all within a few miles of St Peter's Basilica, few have women deans. But Lorella Congiunti, who teaches at the Pontifical Urbanian University, said a growing number of female professors and students are already changing the face of Catholic education.

"Governing or being a rector is not the most important thing," Congiunti said.

"What matters is working alongside the students. It's a fundamental relationship that is built into universities."

Congiunti said that just standing behind a desk and teaching the numerous students and priests, often from African countries, who come to learn at her university can have a lasting impact on how they will perceive women in the future.

"One time, a priest from Asia told me, ‘You are the first woman I see speaking about philosophy.' He probably came from a context where women don't study," said Congiunti. "This is very important."

• Claire Giangravé - Vatican Correspondent RNS. First published in RNS. Republished with permission.

Before the 1970s, head coverings were required for women during Mass, just as men were required to remove their hats out of reverence for Christ.

I grew up with the long veil," says Mary Kossey, 68. "I'd always known that. That was our tradition."

However, following the Second Vatican Council, Kossey remembers changes to the types of head coverings and the mass itself.

More than 50 years later, most female heads in the pews remain uncovered. But the practice of veiling is far from obsolete, as women of all ages are electing to wear them — with many reasons of their own. Read more

Older women want reform, but younger Catholic women are more conservative. They want the rules on sex, contraception and the priesthood to remain as they are.

About the study

The study surveyed 17,200 Catholic women from 104 countries; 1769 came from Australia.

The authors say the generational differences in attitudes could come from life experience, migration, or the more conservative Church which younger people have experienced.

"There has been a push back towards conservatism [in Australian Catholicism]" says one of the authors.

"I think that's been impactful for young adults in the church."

She also notes that women of all ages expressed disappointment, frustration and challenge with the Church.

"[There was] a feeling that some women's voices weren't heard in the church. That was across age."

This comes as Pope Francis leads a discussion about whether women should have a greater role in church governance and ceremonies.

While women being ordained as priests seems out of the question, Francis has not ruled out the diaconate.

Study results

74 percent of Australian Catholic women want reform, while an average of 84 percent of Catholic women internationally want change.

The authors defined conservatism as adherence to Catholic doctrine and the embrace of traditionalism.

The desire for a more traditional approach was driven by younger women, the study found.

While 74 percent of respondents supported reform, only 44 percent were aged 18-40; 87 percent of 56-70 year olds want reform, as do 94 percent of over 70s.

Survey comments show differences in what reform means.

Older women want the Church and its teachings to change.

However, the authors noted "there was a smaller, younger cohort of respondents who rejected any modernisation of the church and understood reform as a return to orthodoxy and tradition, including the traditional Latin mass."

Fewer than a third of under 40s supported inclusion of women at all levels of the Church or the suggestion of female preachers and priests.

Sex, contraception, divorce

Allowing more freedom of choice on sex and contraception was rejected by two in three of those under 40; the 41 to 55s were about half-half, but the 56 pluses backed the idea enthusiastically.

Young Catholic women were less supportive of remarriage after divorce.

Older women talked about being shunned as divorcees, especially if there had been violence in their marriage.

All agree

All women agreed the misuse of power by male clerics was damaging the church.

They also agree leaders must do more to address abuse.

The Church institution was not doing enough to address the cover-up of sexual abuse.

The generational difference

One report author thinks life experience could influence older and younger women's views.

The survey may have attracted more young women who were highly engaged in the Church, rather than those who might be alienated from it, she suggests.

She also noted religious orders attracting young women seem to be those which continue to wear a habit, despite a ruling against them in Vatican II. Numbers are growing.

Source

• Sydney Morning Herald

The Church has a duty to accompany gay people on a personal path of spirituality, providing that accompaniment is within the framework of the Catholic Church rules, he told reporters on the plane returning to Rome from World Youth Day (WYD) in Portugal.

He made the comment after a reporter reminded him that during WYD he said the Church was open to "everyone, everyone, everyone".

The reporter challenged the sense of that statement about openness when some Catholics, like women and gay people, did not have the same rights and could not receive some sacraments.

That comment seemed to refer to women not being allowed to receive the sacrament of Holy Orders to become priests of the Catholic Church.

It also referenced same-sex couples not being allowed to contract marriage, which is also a sacrament.

"The Church is open to everyone but there are laws that regulate life inside the church," Francis explained to the reporter.

"According to the legislation, they cannot partake in (some) sacraments. This does not mean that it is closed. Each person encounters God in their own way inside the Church."

Ministers in the Catholic Church must accompany everyone with the patience and love of a mother. That includes those who don't conform to the rules, he explained.

Church law

The Catholic Church teaches that women cannot become priests because Jesus chose only men as his apostles.

Neither does the Church allow same-sex marriage or blessings for same-sex couples. Same-sex attraction is not sinful but same-sex acts are, it teaches.

However, Francis supports civil legislation giving same-sex couples rights in areas such as pensions, health insurance and inheritance.

A welcoming Church for everyone

During one WYD event, Francis said the Church has room for everyone - "including those who make mistakes, who fall or struggle".

He then led the crowd in a chant of "Todos, todos, todos!" (Everyone, everyone, everyone!).

"Who among us has not made a moral error at some point in their lives?" he asked.

Since the start of his papacy 10 years ago, Francis has consistently tried to make the Catholic Church more welcoming and less condemning.

He has sought to welcome all people, including members of the LGBT community, while not changing Church teachings which urge people with same-sex attraction to be chaste.

While pushing through a series of reforms, Francis has constantly walked a delicate line between appealing to more liberal believers and upsetting conservatives.

Among these reforms, he has given more roles to women, particularly in high-ranking Vatican positions.

Pope rejuvenated

On the plane, the Pope said he was rejuvenated by what he had seen at WYD Portugal.

About 1.5 million people attended his closing Mass at a park in Lisbon on Sunday.

Francis said he was impressed with both the size of the crowds at WYD and their behaviour.

He also told reporters who asked after his health, that he has been well since his surgery for an abdominal hernia in June.

Source

• US News

But when 99% of Catholic churches have a male preacher this Sunday in a world where 50% of the Catholic population are women, it's time for our daughters and granddaughters — and sons and grandsons — to see us naming out loud a problem we've endured quietly in our hearts.

What seemed normalised to my devout Catholic Cuban grandmothers, and became uncomfortable for my mother and has become unacceptable for me, is now unbearable for my nieces and many of our daughters.

This will have untold consequences for the future of Catholic ministries.

According to a report by the Pew Research Center, as of 2022, 43% of Hispanic adults identify as Catholic, down from 67% in 2010.

In my work listening to older Hispanic/Latino Catholics in Miami, Los Angeles, New York and elsewhere, I often hear how their children and grandchildren have become disengaged from their families' long-standing, multigenerational Catholic faith.

The loss of family unity feels enormous.

I co-direct Discerning Deacons, a project inviting Catholics to consider women's inclusion in the permanent diaconate — an order that already includes married men ordained to serve in the life of the church.

We launched our effort because young Catholics have only ever lived in a church reckoning with the clergy sex-abuse crisis.

They see other professional fields taking steps to recognize women in visible leadership roles — athletics, government, academics, medicine, business — and wonder why their religious institutions will not.

These challenges have not escaped my own family.

After my niece Carolina was confirmed as a teenager, she begged her parents not to obligate her to keep going to Mass.

My niece found it increasingly painful and unbearable to walk into a church where only men preached.

"I can't find God in church when I'm feeling so angry and rejected," Carolina told her mother.

"They haven't set up a space to welcome me the way I believe God would welcome me."

The family was faced with rethinking Sundays.

Ultimately, they agreed that Carolina would choose a spiritual book that interested her to keep nurturing her soul, which was important to her parents, and on the way to Mass, they would drop her off at Starbucks.

After they picked her up, they would engage in a faith conversation.

Today, Carolina is living out her faith by building a community that is more inclusive and welcoming — much like what Jesus did. Continue reading

• Ellie Hidalgo is a parishioner at Our Lady of Divine Providence Church in Miami, Florida and is co-director of Discerning Deacons, a project that engages Catholics in the active discernment of our Church about women and the diaconate.

My dear friend MC and I meet at a cozy cafe in Detroi. There we splurge for a delicious drink (and, OK, maybe a sweet treat too).

We begin our time by unpacking our lives.

We share our hearts about current joys, sorrows and everything in between.

We talk about dating and marriage, work and careers. We discuss things we are reading that are inviting us to grow, our struggles with the church — and where we find hope anew

This holy time blesses me in more ways than I can describe.

Part of the reason MC and I meet with such frequency is that we have created an intimate little book club.

We discuss Catholic Women Preach: Raising Voices, Renewing the Church by Elizabeth Donnelly and a wide assortment of incredible female voices.

It is both life-giving and challenging. It bears fruitful conversations for us as friends and as two laywomen willing to ask deep questions. We consider what we believe, what we struggle with and where we find our place in the church.

Catholic Women Preach meets a sacred yearning.

This is to have and hear women's voices in the church through the unique perspective of their preaching.

This book was born from the good work of organizations like FutureChurch and Catholic Women Preach.

They answer a call to lift up the voices of women in the church.

This is one of the primary themes emerging from the synod on synodality called forth by Pope Francis. The timing of this is not a coincidence.

The book is based on the Lectionary of the Sunday readings in Cycle A.

That is the current cycle of the liturgical year. Every week a different female writer, theologian or teacher breaks open the Scripture readings. She shares her own wisdom and perspective, while connecting to the current world we live in.

No topic is taboo for these women; they face it all head-on with a grace and honesty that invites the reader to make connections to their own lives.

I look forward to reading it each Sunday morning with my cup of coffee as I reflect on the Scriptures before going to Mass. My own copy is dog-eared and marked up.

These voices have become my companions in my spiritual walk, and I feel grateful for them.

Each woman featured in this volume is in many ways a "spiritual midwife".

She is birthing something new and necessary into the world. Midwives support women in the middle of the birthing process — encouraging and supportive, they help bring about a new reality: a baby. In the same way, these women are bringing about a new reality through their teaching words.

In hope, we trust that these spiritual mothers, midwives and teachers will help bring about change and reform when it comes to women's roles in the Catholic Church.

• Patty Breen is a writer, storyteller, improv actor and lay minister based in the metro Detroit area. With over a decade of ministerial experience, she is currently serving as a ministry formation manager for Ascension Michigan.

Women resent their lack of decision-making power and want to follow their consciences on sex and contraception.

They think the Church should be more inclusive of the diverse and the divorced.

Women also want to be allowed to preach, they dislike priests promoting political agendas and are concerned about a lack of transparency in Church governance.

Australian researchers led the global study - the largest in the Church's over 2000-year history. Their findings were presented at the Vatican on Wednesday - International Women's Day.

"There was this underlying sense of hurt, and certainly this feeling of being voiceless and ignored," one of the co-authors (both pictured) said.

"These are not women on the edge. These are women in the Church. Being Catholic is important to them, and they are struggling."

The survey report's other co-author says women's enthusiasm for the survey showed "they're really sick of it.

"They want to be there, but they're sick of not being able to contribute. In their secular lives, they can do so much more."

The study surveyed 17,200 women from 140 countries.

It is a timely piece of work, as Pope Francis leads the Church in a discussion about whether women should have a greater role in its governance and ceremonies.

Francis has ruled out the possibility of female priests. However, the deaconate (a deacon is someone who assists priests during mass and can preach the homily) is a possibility.

The female ambassadors to the Holy See to whom McEwan presented the findings on Wednesday included Australia's representative, Chiara Porro, who helped organise the presentation.

The first woman ever to be allowed to vote with the Vatican's synod of bishops, Sister Nathalie Becquart, has also been briefed on the research.

Hungry for reform - the stats

• 84 per cent of women supported reform in the Church; two-thirds wanted radical reform.
• Almost three in 10 said there would be no place for them without radical reform.
• Almost eight in 10 agreed women should be fully included at all levels of Church leadership.
• Over three-quarters agreed women should be able to give the homily, a commentary on the Gospel during services.
• Two-thirds said women should be eligible for the priesthood.
• Over four in five said LGBTQ people should be included in all activities.
• Just over half strongly agreed same-sex couples were entitled to a religious marriage.
• Seven in 10 said remarriage should be allowed after civil divorce.
• Three-quarters agreed that women should have freedom of conscience about their sexual and reproductive decisions.
• There was significant concern about abuses of power and spiritual harm, particularly by male clerics.

What women say

"I cling on to the church by my fingernails."

"I'm ashamed of my Church when I see only men in procession."

"Women do much of the work in the Church, but get no recognition or say."

"It's still the largest religion in the world. It's hugely important we understand it. The Church itself hasn't been interested in studying its own population."

Sources

• SMH
• ABC

Held on International Women's Day, the event at Auckland's St Patrick's Cathedral plaza included a display of well-worn pink shoes.

The event was timed to coincide with midday Mass.

'Be the Change' invited Auckland Catholic bishop Steve Lowe to attend; however, he was unavailable. It also extended an invitation to Dean of the Cathedral, Fr Chris Denham, who, last year, attended in place of Lowe.

"Be the Change' seeks to change the Church by allowing gender equality at all levels of the Church.

By encouraging the Church leadership to enlarge the space of the Church's tent and be more inclusive of women, the group invites the Vatican to walk its own talk.

As well as the pink shoes, the women also pitched a small tent with a sign reading, "Enlarge the space of your tent."

"Enlarge the space of your tent" is the title of a recently released Vatican document for the next phase of Pope Francis' synodal process.

The group says the phrase, "Enlarge the space of your tent," promotes a profound re-appropriation of the common dignity of all the baptised, starting with a desire of radical inclusion where no one is excluded.

In 2022, 'Be the Change' conducted similar events in Auckland and Wellington.

"A vibrant church requires a synodal structure in which all members share full equality by right of their baptism," say the women.

"We chose International Women's Day because we stand with our sisters across the world who seek justice and equality, not only in Church life, but in a multitude of areas of their lives."

Also at the event, 'Be the Change' women gave out key rings, each with a little pink resin shoe, which they say is a tangible reminder of the journey for justice and equality for women in the Church.

'Be the Change' says it has created its own faith community that is helping bring justice, equality and an inclusive Catholic Church.

Core to the group's beliefs is exploring how women can be part of the governance role of the Church and, to this end, it will stand alongside women who feel called to leadership and ordained ministry.

"Synod 2024 feedback from people across the world asks to the end of injustice and inequality for women and their inclusion in ordained priesthood and leadership roles in the Catholic Church," say the group.

'Be the Change' Catholic Church Aotearoa is coordinated by Christina Reymer, Jo Ayers, Louise Shanly and Mary Thorne.

Sources

• Supplied
• Be the Change
• Evening Report NZ
• NCR

The diocesan documents were synthesised at a national meeting held in Wellington in June.

The introduction to the national document says participants throughout the country "spoke positively and with love about the place the Church has in their lives.

"They want the Church to be a life-giving and active presence in the world, an outward-looking servant Church; a welcoming, inclusive and transformative presence for individuals and communities.

"They see the synodal process itself being as important as the outcome, because in listening to one another the Holy Spirit is present," the introduction says.

However, this experience was not universal.

"For some people, especially those participating as individuals rather than in groups, the process provided an opportunity to express anger, cynicism, hurt and rejection of the Church due to past experiences.

"The Church was named as a place of alienation and irrelevant, especially in its teaching on human sexuality.

"The responses from those who feel ignored, excluded or who have been deeply hurt made painful reading, but their desire to be part of a welcoming Catholic community was clear.

"Their responses are valued and we are learning from them," say the bishops.

New Zealand's Catholic Bishops Conference (NZCBC) says six themes have emerged from the diocesan phase of the 2023 Synod on Synodality.

These are: inclusion, gathering, leadership, education and formation, mission, and synodality and change.

Points from the six main Aotearoa New Zealand themes:

• Inclusion: We want the Church to be a non-judgmental and safe place of welcome and belonging. Church teaching which excludes some people from the Eucharist is causing pain and hurt. Awareness of those who feel marginalised or excluded can lead to new attitudes and action. Action on inclusion must be part of our synodal journey.
• Gathering: There is great love for the Mass, but also concerns about inclusion and lay participation. A new English translation of the Roman Missal is needed. Homilies must help people to encounter Jesus in the reality of their lives. If lay people are allowed to give homilies, they must have good formation. Small groups for prayer, formation, scripture study and mission to build community are needed.
• Leadership: Collaborative ministry should become the norm, with greater sacramental involvement for lay people. Co-responsible leadership with barriers to lay participation in decision-making removed. Women participate equally in decision-making and have greater participation in liturgical roles.
• Mission: Formation is needed for mission, and help with engaging in mission collectively. Ecumenical activity and interfaith dialogue need to be embraced as part of mission. Shame related to abuse in the Church makes evangelisation difficult. Prophetic leadership is needed in the community on social justice, ecological and bicultural issues. The only public voice of the Church for many is on euthanasia and human sexuality.
• Education and Formation: Further formation is needed for both lay people and clergy in discernment and synodality. There is a need for catechesis in Church teaching. Education and formation in safeguarding is essential for both lay people and clergy. Seminarians' formation should involve more community engagement and include biculturalism and cultural sensitivity. Both clergy and laity need formation in collaborative ministry and co-responsible leadership.
• Synodality and Change: The Synod process is exciting and transformative. We want to bring back those who are missing. Synodality and discernment can help us change while holding on to what is central to our faith. We want to learn to journey together in a synodal way.

The national document has been sent to Rome as part of the Pope's synodal path to the Church's future, which will culminate in the Assembly of the Synod of Bishops in Rome in October next year.

Similar national documents have been compiled by bishops' conferences around the world.

They will be used by the Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops to draft a working document in preparation for the October 2023 synod.

Bishops' conferences will also take part in "continental" gatherings, in New Zealand's case a gathering of Oceania conferences which will include Australia and Pacific island states.

Source

• NZ Catholic Bishops Conference
• National Synod Synthesis

Everyone, including divorced or separated people, LGBT+, migrants and minorities should all feel they belong to Catholic parishes, as should "those who consider themselves ‘cultural Catholics'," it says.

In addition, "images of families used in parish and diocesan literature should represent all family types."

Irish Archbishop Kieran O'Reilly's new pastoral plan particularly emphasises that women must be included in leadership roles as "a priority into the future.

Women must be enabled to fulfil their role in developing the mission of the Church."

The plan asks parishes "to identify minority groups who may feel less welcome or who do not feel they belong and plan events that convey hospitality and welcome."

The new pastoral plan places particular emphasis on the importance of youth in outlining a future for the Church.

"The Church must change, not because of necessity or because of declining vocations and attendance at Masses but because it is the right thing to do. And in doing so, it is the Holy Spirit that is guiding us," says O'Reilly.

"We must step out of the past, embrace the present and move to the future. The model whereby a public attends Mass once a week is not what the Church is about.

"It is and must be about the Church being out in the community rather than the community being in the Church."

Working in partnership with people is an essential component of the future Catholic Church, O'Reilly stresses.

The Church "is changing now and the priest-led Church of the past will need to embrace a partnership approach with people into the future." he says.

Failure to recognise the role of women in the Church is one of "the biggest issues the Church has faced over recent decades," the plan says.

Recognising the need to do something about this, the Archdiocese recently appointed a woman as its Director of Pastoral Planning and Development.

The plan recommends training priests and lay people, as they move towards a new model of co-responsibility.

This will mean "greater participation by people, the use of facilitation skills, greater involvement in decision-making by lay people and the development of the ability to communicate with all parishioners."

While acknowledging "respect for the work which many priests have done in the past", the plan says the new style of Church leadership it advocates "requires a deeper trust in lay people."

"This [partnership] model will need to understand the nature of volunteering. The aim is to have many people doing a little rather than few people doing much."

Source

• The Irish Times
• Image: Amazon

According to Novena News, the women's response is a reaction to Francis statement that women do not need to be priests in order to lead in the church.

Novena News reports that many Catholic women remain unhappy that the pontiff has not furthered the cause of women's ordination beyond a 'timid' opening to the study of the possible restoration of the female diaconate.

In a statement November 24, the Womens Ordination Commission (WOC) said it rejected the Pope's "mischaracterisation" of its own movement and others like it "working for a renewed priesthood, free from clericalism and gender discrimination".

They continued.

"Women's exclusion from ordained ministries not only undermines their capacity to make decisions as leaders, but reinforces cultural and social discrimination, and perpetuates structures that subordinate women and can lead to gender-based violence.

"Until the hierarchy starts accusing every man seeking ordination of ‘clericalism', we ask that the pontiff stop projecting the problems and corruption of his male hierarchy onto women longing to serve the Church.

"We urge Pope Francis to listen to women who long for equal recognition of their ministries and an equal place at the church's governing tables".

The WOC closed its reply to Pope Francis inviting him to join them this weekend to celebrate their 45 years witnessing to the "abundant gifts of those working for ordination justice".

The pontiff makes the remarks on the women's ordination movement in a new book he authored with his English-language biographer Austen Ivereigh.

The book entitled 'Let Us Dream: The Path to a Better Future', is to be released December 1.

In it, the pontiff defends himself against accusations that he has not done enough to further the leadership of women in the church.

He argues that he has tried to "create spaces where women can lead, but in ways that allow them to shape the culture, ensuring they are valued, respected, and recognized".

The Pope cites as evidence for his claim the fact that he has appointed a number of women to high Vatican roles, "so that they can influence the Vatican while preserving their independence from it".

Francis also notes that in Catholic dioceses across the world women often serve in leadership positions. These include running Catholic schools or hospital systems, or heading up diocesan departments.

"Perhaps because of clericalism, which is a corruption of the priesthood, many people wrongly believe that Church leadership is exclusively male," the pope states in the book."

"To say they aren't truly leaders because they aren't priests is clericalist and disrespectful," he adds.

Sources

• Novena News
• National Catholic Reporter
• The Tablet

He would like women to "participate more in areas of responsibility in the church."

"Today there is a need to broaden the spaces for a more incisive female presence in the church," he said on October 11, "because in general women are set aside. We must promote the integration of women into places where important decisions are made."

Adding, however, that women leaders in the church must maintain their vocation as laity and not fall into "clericalism."

Pope Francis has made many gestures to give momentum to this desire to give women greater weight in the Church.

"Demands that the legitimate rights of women be respected, based on the firm conviction that men and women are equal in dignity, present the Church with profound and challenging questions which cannot be lightly evaded," he wrote in Evangelii Gaudium.

Fr. Frédéric Fornos S.J., International Director of the Pope's Worldwide Prayer Network, says that since 2013, much has been accomplished, but more needs to be done.

Earlier, Pope Francis reflected on Jesus' parable from the Gospel of Matthew about the king who prepared a wedding feast for his son. When the initially invited guests did not arrive, he sent his messengers out to invite anyone and everyone.

God loves and has prepared a banquet for everyone — "the just and sinners, the good and the bad, the intelligent and the uneducated." Every Christian is called to go out to the highways and byways sharing God's invitation to the feast, Pope Francis said.

"Even those on the margins, even those who are rejected and scorned by society, are considered by God to be worthy of his love," the pope told the crowd gathered in St. Peter's Square to pray with him.

The church as a whole and each of its members, he said, are called to go out to "the geographic and existential peripheries of humanity, those places at the margins, those situations where those who have set up camp are found and where the hopeless remnants of humanity live."

"It is a matter of not settling for comfort and the customary ways of evangelization and witnessing to charity," the pope said, but rather "opening the doors of our hearts and our communities to everyone, because the Gospel is not reserved to a select few."

Sources

• National Catholic Reporter
• Vatican News

Siobhan comes to the role with a strong background in business management.

She is currently the Policy Analyst and Projects Manager for the New Zealand Catholic Education Office, after working in organisational management and executive support in a variety of positions.

Siobhan has a Master of Business Administration degree from Texas State University (San Marcos, TX) and Bachelor of Commerce and Administration degree from Victoria University of Wellington (NZ).

She has had leadership roles in the community, including a recent role as Chair of a local Catholic college board of trustees and a national executive role for a women's advocacy organisation.

Of the appointment, Bishop Charles Drennan, NZCBC Secretary said, "in addition to Siobhan's strong analytical and communication skills, her experience in relationship management and business administration align well with the breadth and nature of this role.

"We welcome Siobhan to the Secretariat team and to our table of Bishops.

"Pivotal to her role is to help manage us and to be our direct link to the numerous Catholic agencies and commissions serving the Church community and our civic community of Aotearoa."

On the announcement of her appointment, Siobhan said, "I'm delighted to be coming into this role and contributing at a national level with a highly respected organisation within the Catholic Church".

Siobhan replaces James van Schie who has taken up a new role as General Manager for the Auckland Diocese.

Source

• Supplied: Amanda Gregan. Ko te Huinga Pihopa o te Hahi Katorika o Aotearoa (NZCBC) The New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference
• bpwnzwome.wordpress.com
• Image: wn.catholic.org.nz

Donna Quinn in Chicago Catholic Women: Its Role in Founding the Catholic Women's Movement and Marian Ronan and Mary O'Brien in Women of Vision: Sixteen Founders of the International Grail Movement are changing this. Read more