The top US cardinal (pictured) says meaningful dialogue is stifled because so many people enter conversations with their minds already made up.

"One of the things that would foster better listening skills among young people - among all of us - is don't enter a conversation with a conclusion" he says.

He passed on that sentiment to those at his Arlington, Virginia presentation "A Listening Church in a Divided Nation".

"If you come with a conclusion, you're not going to be open to what people have to say" Gregory told his audience. "Before I condemn you, let me try to understand you."

Personal attacks

Conversation often morphed into what Gregory describes as "personal attacks".

"We have to learn how to focus on the issue and not the person. It seems to me that one of the reasons that we're in such a divisive stance is that we've shifted our focus in many cases from questions of opinion etc. etc. to personal attack."

He calls his own Archdiocese of Washington "the epicentre of division".

"Now, with social media, whatever was suggested Monday morning at ten o'clock is broadcast everyplace including insulting things about families or their lives" he told his audience.

"It's infected our Church."

Synod on Synodality different

Gregory says there was no such level of attack last year at the Synod on Synodality assembly in Rome.

"We sat at those tables and we got to know each other and speak to each other and talk about the issues that were important to us as Catholics" Gregory says.

Cardinal Wilton Gregory of Washington is the first African American cardinal in the United States.

• La Croix

One of them was Sydney's Professor Renée Köhler-Ryan, National Head of the School of Philosophy and Theology at the University of Notre Dame Australia.

On her return from Rome—and after some quality time with her husband and five children, from whom she was separated for a month—she told The Catholic Weekly that after the first assembly a broader range of Catholic women's views and priorities were explored, beyond ordination.

"It is an obvious fact that most women in the church have no interest in being priests, and have no interest in being deacons. Statistically," Prof Köhler-Ryan said.

"Many women, when surveyed, think in principle as a matter of feminist justice that option should be available to them.

"But for the most part they themselves are not interested. So, it's at a very abstract level, almost.

"The question is then, ‘What is it that women in the church need? What do they need from the church?'

"That was where my statements to the [synod press conference on 17 October] came out:

‘What women want will be different because every woman is different.'"

Women are often carers and mothers, and that work needs to be respected, Prof Köhler-Ryan added.

It was a positive development that mothers and grandmothers were acknowledged as the ones who pass on faith to their children and grandchildren.

"But how often do we actually hear that from the pulpit or elsewhere?" she asked.

"Catholic employers should really have this on their radar, so that a parent's right to be with their child—to be with them in their formative years—should never be undermined.

"No woman, or man, should be made to feel lesser because they've made the choice to be there with their children."

The alternative is to give into a "very secular agenda" that wants to see roles within the church from a democratic, rather than complementary, perspective—one that insists women cannot be truly "equal in baptism" until they are ordained to the priesthood.

This perspective had knock-on effects throughout the synod, including in the language used in the synod's final synthesis document.

"What I noticed in the synthesis document especially, was that the church was referred to ‘it' as if it's somewhat neutral, rather than she or her; the church is a mother," Prof Köhler-Ryan said.

"When we lose that sense of the motherhood of the church, we lose the sense of the nuptial mystery of the priesthood in relationship to the church as well."

Spending time away from her family was difficult, and Prof Köhler-Ryan said it was "absolutely essential" that she went to Rome with her husband's "absolute support."

Yet the synod's organisation "would lead one to believe there's not an appreciation of what it takes for a layperson with a young family to go away for four weeks," a frustration she shared with other parent-delegates in Rome.

Nevertheless, these lay voters with families brought the presence of the "domestic church" to the consultations, Prof Köhler-Ryan said.

"When a member of a religious congregation walks into the room, you have a sense it's almost like they've brought the whole order into the room, the whole charism," she said.

"It needs to be appreciated that when a lay member who is married with kids walks into a room, they're coming from that ethos of the domestic church. It's always there, in the back of their mind."

Yet she also said that while lay women were in focus, "the male lay voice still needs to be tapped into more."

"We know that lay men are missing to a very great extent from the pews, and we need to figure out what's going on there, and bring that up as a point of conversation more than we do."

With the synod at its halfway point, and the synthesis document available to the church, Prof Köhler-Ryan said there was more discernment and conversation to come—including on the authority of the synod, now non-bishop voting members have been included.

"The rest of the world seems to be looking on, with some exceptions, thinking: ‘This synod needs to make some decisions, needs to make them now, so that the church can be brought up to the 21st century and we can all go back to being outraged about something else.'"

"But what is actually the case is that the synod cannot change church teaching, that's not going to be an automatic outcome of a synod.

"And the synod can't make the Catholic Church cease to be the Catholic Church.

"And the synod cannot change that fundamental relationship between the Bishop of Rome as pope with his bishops, and with the universal church."

• Adam Wesselinoff is Deputy Editor of the Catholic Weekly.
• First published in The Catholic Weekly

I anticipate that the secretariat for the synod and the synod office of the [U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops] will be sending some resource material for us to use with our people during this interim.

When you read the interim document, you will find it raises thoughtful questions of pastoral and theological import.

Some might say that contentious questions are raised. I can say that many difficult issues were raised, but they were not discussed in a contentious way. This in itself is remarkable.

At its most basic, the term synodality describes a properly ecclesial style that prioritises regular conversational interactions among the people of God as decisions are made for the sake of the mission the Lord gave to the church.

The "Conversation in the Spirit" method utilised during our local gatherings and at the Synod of Bishops this last October is one effective way to promote this aim. This does not preclude the development of other conversational methods.

Conversation, as the Latin root suggests, implies more than talking and listening.

It involves sharing a way and a style of life, a style of communal life described succinctly by St. Paul in Galatians 5:22, marked by love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.

This wider sense of the word [conversation] as a way of life is echoed in [the third part of Summa Theologiae] when St. Thomas asks about the Conversatio Christi.

He speaks this way when referring to the Lord's habitual manner of life.

St. Thomas notes how the Lord Jesus intentionally moved and spoke easily among the people so as to instill in us confidence to approach Him, and through our approach receive the mercy he offers for the salvation of us sinners.

This grace of approachability inaugurates the grace of the Kingdom (Summa Theologiae III, q. 40, a. 1).

This is his conversatio. We could say the conversations of the synod are for the sake of building up an ethos, the conversatio of communion and confidence in the accessibility of Christ as He manifests himself in the church.

Our mission is meant to mirror his. The point is accessibility to Christ. The endeavor, we pray, is to be animated by the Spirit, who purifies and elevates our conversatio in every way.

In its primary instantiation, the synodal Conversatio Christi is local and particular. You cannot really listen to, or speak with, or share an ethos with people in general.

In the church, though, the particular life of the community, our conversatio, can bear the sacramental imprint of the whole.

Thus, in its flesh and blood particularity, the local is already a manifestation of the Catholic mystery, since the Catholicity of the church is sacramentally embodied in each community gathered around the local bishop, celebrating the Eucharist, living and often dying in witness to the faith in Christ we profess together.

St. Ignatius of Antioch witnesses to this, and "Lumen Gentium" explicates it. Communio lived in the conversatio is already an expression of the mission of the church, since we are called to be an anticipatory sign of the tribes, nations and tongues gathered around the heavenly throne of the Lamb who was slain.

During the gathering in Rome, great attention was given to how our sense of mission can flow more cohesively from the communion that baptism generates.

For example, many local churches seem at times to experience a disconnect between the church as communion and the church as evangelising mission; and between the evangelising mission and our public witness of charity and social justice; and between the public witness of charity and justice, and the eschatological horizon that the redemption anticipates.

How can we better manifest the cohesiveness of the mystery we live?

Thus, the third section of the interim report asks about synodal approaches to formation, and about the church's pastoral structures governing participation in various aspects of ecclesial life.

All of this leads to reflection — and will ultimately lead to decisions — about how the conversatio can be promoted within the structures of the church's life to encourage a more conscious engagement in the mission in all its variously related aspects.

The whole body has many gifts to put to the service of the mission. That the laity, by virtue of baptism, have an indispensable role in the mission of the church is not in doubt.

The questions are about how co-responsibility can be encouraged and facilitated in a way that respects the doctrinal principles that undergird ecclesial life and sound pastoral practice. Structure alone, of course, cannot ensure a Christian way of life and mission shared and promoted in common; for without the Spirit, the letter is dead.

As we read the interim report of the synod, we can hear the many issues that the local churches grapple with globally.

The synod offers us a Catholic way to do so faithfully, realistically, prayerfully, thoughtfully and charitably. We have a lot of work to do, but we, together with our people, need to be actively involved in the conversation.

Finally, I want to close by giving special thanks to all of our U.S. delegates for their witness, and good humor. They "done us proud", as we say in Texas. We all learned a lot, and we laughed a lot. And I thank God for the friendships fostered during our time together.

• Bishop Daniel E. Flores is the Bishop of Brownsville in Texas, which is the largest diocese in the United States.
• First published in America Magazine. Republished with Bishop Flores's permission.

Those Catholic bishops even include those theologians that have enthusiastically welcomed his pontificate as a much-awaited turn in the orientation of Church teaching for a more dialogical relationship with the world and the "existential peripheries".

The Jesuit pope's anti-elitism keeps a him at a safe distance from academic theologians. But, at times, he has issued important statements about theology's role in the Church.

Some notable examples include his letter in 2015 to the Grand Chancellor of the Catholic University of Argentina.

There are also his publication in 2017 of Veritatis Gaudium, the apostolic constitution on ecclesiastical universities and faculties; and his address in 2019 to the Pontifical Theological Faculty of Southern Italy.

Three days after the conclusion of the Synod assembly's first session, Francis also issued Ad theologiam promovendam, a "motu proprio" to approve the new statutes of the Pontifical Academy of Theology.

The document was issued in Italian (no translations available yet) and is technically concerned with an academy that functions like a Vatican-based theological "think tank".

But in reality, the text is aimed at the whole Church - theologians and all believers.

A "courageous cultural revolution"

Francis calls for a "courageous cultural revolution": a more contextual theology that not only teaches the People of God, but also learns from them. It is a theology that is less abstract and more pastoral.

The pope says theology must develop "in a culture of dialogue and encounter between different traditions and different branches of knowledge, between different Christian confessions and different religions, openly discussing with everyone, believers and non-believers".

These encouragements are in line with the usual characterisation of Francis as a progressive pope, one who is bringing about a more welcoming and dialogical Church.

But there is also another aspect of Francis' view of theology that is repeated in Ad theologiam promovendam, which constitutes a real and different kind of test for our theology today.

The pope defines theology as "true critical knowledge as sapiential knowledge, not abstract and ideological, but spiritual, elaborated on our knees, shaped by adoration and prayer", a knowledge that cannot "forget its sapiential/wisdom dimension".

Francis also encourages theology to be dialogical and transdisciplinary, as well as communal.

"Dialogue with other forms of knowledge evidently presupposes dialogue within the ecclesial community and awareness of the essential synodal and communion dimension of doing theology," he writes.

"The theologian cannot help but experience fraternity and communion firsthand, at the service ofevangelization and to reach everyone's heart [...]

"It is therefore important that there exist places, including institutional ones, in which to live and experience collegiality and theological fraternity."

Challenging "progressives" no less than "conservatives"

This document calls theologians to be more contextual, but it's a contextuality different from the way in which post-Vatican II academic theology has interpreted it.

This is because it implies also a more incarnational, embodied, and testimonial view of a profession that is also a vocation.

"The theologian cannot help but experience fraternity and communion firsthand, at the service of evangelisation and to reach everyone's hearts," Francis says.

But this type of fraternity and communion is very difficult (and even impossible at times) to incorporate in academia, job descriptions for new positions, or evaluations of Catholic theologians' accomplishments.

Those who believe this pontificate has vindicated their view of Catholicism, sometimes have a difficult time seeing that Francis is challenging "progressives" no less than "conservatives".

This is true also for theologians. And the challenge is twofold.

Confronting the technocratic, market-driven institutions

First, the problem of the role of theology today is not just about ideological orientation, "conservative vs. progressive", but also institutional; that is, its mission in the modern technocratic world of knowledge.

Many universities, even Catholic universities with graduate programs of theology, now must operate in a market system.

There are significant differences between system where universities are publicly funded and other mixed system, and different kinds of presence of Catholic theology in public or private, secular or Catholic universities: but all of them operate in a market-driven system of knowledge.

The problem is how to start this "cultural revolution" of theology in such universities. In Francis' view of theology, the heart and the spirit have a very important role.

But our academic systems have become places where technocratic heartlessness and an ultra-pragmatist, transactional view of knowledge are actually rewarded - and our students see and know that.

In this system, which has become highly procedural and bureaucratized, the heart of the matter (in our case, theo-logy as an active love of God seeking a deeper knowledge of God) can easily become empty.

The ongoing shift from a Euro-centered Church to a global one

Second, Francis calls for this "cultural revolution" in the middle of a cataclysmic change in the Church, that is, the transition from a Euro-centered Catholicism to a global Catholicism.

This transition is affecting Euro-Western theology in a particular way.

There is a growing number of students of theology in schools in Europe and North America who come from Africa and Asia, and this is slowly changing the culture in those institutions.

In many institutions of higher education in the Western world there are more international students of theology than non-local students. But they study a Catholic theology that is still largely European and Western.

European and North American schools of theology are trying to hire more professors from Africa and Asia.

The question is how to value their original background, their formation which often took place in Europe or North America, and the multi-cultural Churches in which these schools are located and/or to where the students will go back to for their teaching and ministry.

But the turn of Catholicism toward the global south raises questions also in that global south itself.

"In Africa there is no idea of the importance of theology. They say: 'What's the point of theology if our churches are already full?'" remarked an African theologian at a recent international conference.

European Catholics could ask a similar question, in a very different situation: "Our churches are almost empty. Do we really need people studying theology, or do we need something else?".

Even if theologians embrace the pope's plan, will the universities?

All this is massively changing the culture of Catholic schools of theology in ways that are very profound but rarely articulated in public for reasons of sensitivity of the students and faculty.

This de-Europeanizing and de-Westernizing of Catholic theology has become (or will soon become) a question of survival for important institutions of higher education. They cannot survive only with students of theology coming from Europe or the West.

They need students from the global south.

Francis calls theologians to a "cultural revolution", to "transdisciplinarity", and to a more sapiential and synodal way of doing theology.

Are theologians, individually and collectively, ready and willing to be part of this profound rethinking epistemologically and methodologically?

Today's Catholic theologians are part of a Church where the role of theology is not clear in the eyes of the institution and even Pope Francis himself. We saw this at the first session of the Synod assembly on synodality.

What exactly is the role of theology in a synodal Church? This is a time of shifting expectations from theology - ecclesial, academic, and public expectations.

Moreover, professional theologians work in institutions that are more and more part of a system dominated by technocrats and managers.

If the reorientation the pope has outlined is taken seriously, schools of theology will have to rethink their systems of recruitment, evaluation, and promotion. They will have to re-examine courses and curricula, as well as mission statements.

Even if theologians embrace the reorientation outlined in Ad theologiam promovendam, how will Catholic universities - with their institutional sponsors and donors - allow this? To paraphrase Mao Zedong, this "cultural revolution" for theology will not be a dinner party.

• Massimo Faggioli is currently lecturing at the Catholic University Louvain-la-Neuve in Belgium as the recipient of the "Francqui Chair". You can follow him on X @MassimoFaggioli
• First published in La Croix. Republished with permission.

Cardinal Gerard L. Müller's assessment of the Synod on Synodality, which has just ended, is extremely worrying.

The Daily Compass meets the Prefect Emeritus of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith on the sidelines of the Rome Life Forum, a two-day event organised by LifeSiteNews, where he was a key speaker.

Even from the stage, Cardinal Müller warned that it is pure illusion to think of "modernising the truth of the Gospel with the help of relativistic philosophies or ideologically corrupt anthropologies.

Just look at the local realities where this progressive theology prevails: empty seminaries, the disappearance of monastic life, the abandonment of the faithful.

In Germany, for example, 13 million Catholics have been lost in 50 years, from 33 million in 1968 to 20 million in 2023′.

And, to the Daily Compass, he reiterates:

"The aim of this Synod was to change the hierarchical structure of the Church, taking the Anglican or Protestant Church as a model, but what we see is that synodality destroys collegiality.

Your Eminence, what do you mean by a change in the structure of the Church?

Simply that when the Pope called the laity to participate, he changed the nature of the Synod, which was born instead as an expression of the collegiality of all the bishops with the Pope.

It is not only the Pope who governs the Church, as some admirers of Pope Francis would have it today, but the local bishops also have responsibility for the whole Church. This is why Paul VI, implementing the Second Vatican Council, created the synod.

For some, increasing the role of the laity seems like a simple reform...

...In reality, it ignores the sacrament of Holy Orders, which is not just a function of service, but a direct, special institution of Jesus Christ.

He established the Church with its hierarchy.

Appealing to the universal priesthood of all the faithful is in this case, a way of denying this structure willed by Christ. All the faithful have received the Holy Spirit, but the bishops have received the consecration to govern and sanctify the Church.

If you want to talk to the laity, it's all very well, but there are other instruments, for example the International Theological Commission.

Or you can create other ad hoc institutions, it's not a problem, but the Synod has a different nature and the Pope cannot change the sacramental structure of the Church. You cannot give episcopal authority to someone who is not a bishop.

Is that why you criticised the fact that the Bishops did not wear the cassock during the Synod?

The question of the cassock may seem to be an insignificant detail, but it points to the position I expressed earlier.

Comfort is not a criterion: when I go to a wedding, I don't go dressed as if I were going to the beach; it would be more comfortable, but not appropriate to the circumstances.

A synod, like a council, is a liturgy, a worship of God, not just a meeting. So even the dress says what the Synod has become, a torrent of chatter.

Considering the theme was synodality, what was actually discussed?

After so many discussions, nobody really knows what synodality is.

There was so much talk, there were "moderators" at the tables, who gave the topics day by day by asking questions, but the debate was also very rigid, the time for interventions was limited to three minutes and everything was recorded.

Each participant had a monitor in front of them and every contribution was recorded, even on video.

Then there was this constant 'we have to listen to each other', nobody wanted to play the role of 'troublemaker', in short, there was a taming.

And also for the plenary, many bishops were disappointed, they complained about the low level of the interventions; and then you cannot deal with theological issues with emotions.

Can you give an example?

A testimony comes in, a woman speaks of someone close to her who committed suicide because she was bisexual, and she says that the parish priest had condemned her because of her bisexuality.

And immediately afterwards there's another intervention: you see, it is proof that the Church must change its doctrine. In short, in the end, it is the fault of the Church's doctrine, that is, of God who created man and woman.

How do you deal with issues like that?

Now, the LGBT people are setting themselves up as the true interpreters of the Word of God, but they convey a perverse, false anthropology: they are not interested in individuals, in their salvation, but they instrumentalise people with problems to assert their ideology.

They want to destroy the family and marriage.

In this regard, you have already stated that in the end this Synod only wanted to promote the LGBT agenda and the female diaconate. What gave this impression?

Because much was said about this and very little about the essential themes of the faith, that is, the Incarnation, salvation, redemption, justification, sin, grace, human nature, the ultimate goal of man, the Trinitarian and Eucharistic dimension of the Church , vocations, education.

These are the real challenges, as is the spread of great violence, of those who justify it in the name of God, like the Muslim fundamentalists. Of this nothing, instead so many speeches on homosexuality, and all one-sided.

Besides, look at the guests...

Exactly. Why weren't people invited who were practicing homosexuals and then rediscovered their heterosexuality, and who have written books about their experiences, such as Daniel Mattson (author of Why I Don't Call Myself Gay. How I Reclaimed My Sexual Reality and Found Peace , Cantagalli 2018, ed.)?

There was Father James Martin, he was only there to spread propaganda.

He never spoke of grace and salvation for these people, only that "the Church must accept, the Church must..., must..., must..."

But how can the Bride of Christ be the object of our invectives?

It is not the Church that needs to change, it is we who need to be converted. Continue reading

• Riccardo Cascioli is founder and Editor in Chief of the Nuova Bussola Quotidiana, The Daily Compass and La Brújula Cotidiana.

In his letter to priests, deacons and lay pastoral workers last week, Bishop Karl-Heinz Wiesemann officially sanctioned the blessings.

The same-sex blessings the Speyer diocese gave in the Speyer churches could also be given to remarried couples, he wrote.

At the same time, the ceremony "must differ from a church wedding ceremony in terms of words and signs...".

In addition, it "should explicitly reinforce the love, commitment and mutual responsibility in the couple's relationship as an act of blessing" Weissmann wrote.

Wiesemann says he decide to write the letter after taking into account the German synodal way participants' percent support for the blessings.

The participants endorsed a document calling for "blessing ceremonies for couples who love each other" he says.

The document asked for a "handout" about the blessings to be developed for German dioceses' use.

It should cover "suggested forms for blessing celebrations for various couple situations (remarried couples, same-sex couples, couples after civil marriage)."

Pastoral response

It is "urgently time" for a different perspective "to find a pastoral attitude inspired by the Gospel", Weisemann's letter says.

Many pastors have been practising this "for some time".

This is important, "especially against the background of a long history of deep hurt" he wrote.

"Many couples' prayers for blessing reveal a deep longing to be able to live their lives together under the protection and guidance of God.

"...This is to be taken seriously and points to ... God's presence wherever there is goodness and love.

"Both with regard to believers whose marriages have broken down and who have remarried, and especially with regard to same-sex oriented people, it is urgently time ...

"That's why I campaigned for a reassessment of homosexuality in Church teaching in the synodal way and also voted for the possibility of blessing ceremonies for same-sex couples."

He said he hoped the global synod "can also experience positive development."

Wiesemann's fervent hopes may yet be dashed however.

October's synod on synodality's first session wrap-up report did not mention same-sex blessings or even "LGBT".

Vatican view

In 2021 the Holy See said the Church does not have the power to offer liturgical blessings for same-sex unions.

However, the Pope recently addressed the 'same-sex blessings' topic in response to several dubia cardinals posed ahead of the synod.

It is a matter of pastoral prudence to "properly discern whether there are forms of blessing, requested by one or more people, that do not convey a misconception of marriage" Pope Francis told the cardinals.

"Decisions ... need not be transformed into a norm" he wrote.

His cautionary words may be too late.

Support for same-sex blessings is already established in Belgium.

A matter of choice

Wiesemann says pastors won't be compelled to bless couples.

"... but my request also means that no one who carries out such blessings has to fear sanctions" he stresses.

Until the German bishops' conference completes the handout, Weismann says pastors should refer to an AFK publication called "The celebration of blessings for couples".

Source

• The Pillar

Cupich told O'Connell about his experience of the meeting and the synod's synthesis document, published Oct. 29.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

O'Connell: What is your overall take on the synthesis document?

Cupich: The document is not as important as the experience that we had. I think the document tries to convey that experience. And it does a good job.

But my hope would be that we are able to take that experience back home and share it with our people because that really is what the synod is about. It's a new way of being Church.

At the same time, the document does call for a codification of synods in the future [being] done along these lines, rather than going back to what we did before.

That's a very important statement, made loud and clear in this document.

We were aware that there are people in the life of the Church and in synod hall who had their doubts about synodality itself as a model for Church life.

There were calls to develop [that model], theologically, so that we're clear about this.

But there was no doubt whatsoever that this is not only a new way that the Church is going to function, but, in fact, [that it is] tapping into the roots of our tradition.

The Church has been synodal from the very beginning. What we're doing is recapturing something that can serve us well in this moment.

O'Connell: You participated in past synods. How has the fact that you have non-bishops voting changed things?

Cupich Instead of having bishops say, "This is what our people are saying," in the old synods, which we tried to do our best to do, we actually had people there.

Young people, elderly people, religious men and women, who, in fact, were on the ground in pastoral ministry, who gave voice in ways that were fresh, were challenging, and in ways that maybe a bishop could not say before.

There was an actual paragraph that was passed overwhelmingly about non-bishops being a part of this: Does it in some way take away from the understanding that it's a Synod of Bishops?

And there was a resounding acceptance that non-bishops should be a part of it because it's not a threat.

It allows the bishops to have that immediate interaction with the voice of the whole church.

That's important. It was pointed out to me that if you look at the votes and you strip away all of the non-bishops who were a part of the synod, the propositions still pass by 75 percent.

O'Connell: But even in this document, they talk about the need to clarify whether this is a Synod of Bishops or an assembly of bishops. Some people raised objections.

Cupich: They did, but I think that there were some propositions that said very clearly that non-bishops should be a part of [the process] going forward in the future.

O'Connell: So you see no going back.

Cupich: I don't think there's a need to go back. We have made some real progress here, and the bishops enjoyed having lay people there.

It wasn't [simply] tolerating it. Maybe there were some voices that had difficulties with it because they wanted it to be all bishops [but] very few.

By and large, the bishops interacted really well with lay people at the tables.

O'Connell: One of the big developments in this document is the role of women in the church.

Cupich: We're talking about a real paradigm shift here.

We recognise the fact that women, de facto, carry the life of the Church, on so many levels, to make it operational on a day-to-day basis.

But I think it's more than recognising that; it's dealing also with how you include women in important decision making, how you place them within the life of the community so that their leadership is regarded, respected and protected.

[The document] talks about different ministries that might be created to do that. I know that there was a lot of discussion about women deacons, and that was not resolved here.

But it was very clear that the assembly called for a study and hopefully that we would have the results by the next [synod meeting]. I imagine it's going to be taken up again.

But it's not only about [making] everything about women deacons.

There has to be another way in which we respect that women bring a particular gift to the life of the church, that if absent, impoverishes the church.

How do we take advantage of their gifts and charisms? That's an agenda that's not complete yet. Continue reading

Churchgoers in Brazil, the world's largest Catholic nation, frankly don't seem to have paid much attention to the whole synodal exercise.

In the opinion of many analysts here, the unique realities of Brazilian culture, and of the Church in the world's largest Catholic nation, may combine to make the synod seem less relevant to their situation.

At the same time, the problems Catholics may identify in the Church tend to be more connected to pastoral perspectives at this point and not so much with doctrinal issues.

"Most Brazilian Catholics who want some kind of transformation have basically a disagreement with their priest's pastoral approach. "They might want him to be more progressive or more traditionalist, depending on each individual's political stance.

"That's not connected to great reforms," said Francisco Borba Ribeiro Neto, director of the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo's Center of Faith and Culture.

Ribeiro Neto emphasised that in Brazilian culture, norms don't define reality.

"Our culture doesn't give much importance to institutional rules, because life goes on not only under them, but also outside them. Brazilians are characterized by malleability," he said.

If norms don't matter so much, there is no special reason why many Brazilians would pay attention to processes designed to debate or reconsider those norms, Ribeiro Neto said.

Indeed, malleability and creativity have been part of ecclesial life in Brazil since colonial times, given that its vast territories historically have been served by far fewer priests than needed.

"If we had enough priests, maybe we would repeat the European church model. But that is not the case," said German-born Bishop emeritus Franz Merkel of Humaitá, located in Amazonas state.

In his diocese, where he worked till 2020, Merkel said that riverside communities had to come up with unusual ideas in order to deal with the lack of priests.

"Those faraway settlements many times are led by women involved in Catechism," he said, suggesting that European and western debates over women's roles in the Church may not seem so urgent in such a context.

The local Church structure was gradually transformed so as to let lay Catholics take part in ecclesial decisions, Merkel said. That was a common process not only in the Amazonian church, but in many regions of the Brazilian countryside.

In the cities, ecclesial life is often connected to Church movements which can operate with significant autonomy, so people already feel they can take part in necessary changes.

Recently, the Archdiocese of São Paulo promoted its synod, said Ribeiro Neto, who took part in it.

"There was no conflict in the whole work. People with more radical views who wished to pass controversial resolutions simply didn't have the power to mobilize the others to follow them," he said.

That seems to be the reality in Brazil as a whole.

Traditionalist groups have been vocal on social media, criticising the Synod on Synodality as a way of setting the ground for unacceptable dogmatic changes, while progressive Catholic groups hailed the promise of a more horizontal and democratic Church.

Yet both sides' capacity to attract ordinary Catholics to their causes seems limited.

"Curiously, both [sides] think that enhancing the participation of lay people is something that can transform the Church. Progressives want it, while traditionalists fear it," said Ribeiro Neto.

Rodrigo Coppe Caldeira, a religious studies professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of Minas Gerais, argued that the debate concerning the Synod in Brazil has been mostly based on moral aspects connected to the pontiff's statements or to the general discussions in Rome.

"Those groups usually select a sentence or two that can be linked to their own agenda and then magnify that element on social media," he told Crux.

As far as the traditionalists are concerned, Caldeira said their ability to galvanise Catholic opinion has been somewhat hampered.

It has been hampered by former President Jair Bolsonaro's electoral defeat in 2022 and scandals related to his administration that have been amplified by the press and by left-wing President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's team.

"At the same time, parts of the Charismatic Catholic Renewal have recently approached traditionalists, something that increased the criticism of Pope Francis," said Caldeira, who studies Catholic conservatism.

Those groups suspect any initiative introduced by Francis, who is seen as one of the leaders of the globalists, he added.

Frederico Viotti, a spokesman for Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira Institute - named after the traditionalist Brazilian Catholic leader who founded the Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property - told Crux that his group repudiates the Synod on Synodality for its "wrongful principles."

"The idea that lay people have a prophetic charisma that makes them able to interpret the Holy Spirit's message not through the hierarchy but from a horizontal perspective is subversive for the Church," Viotti affirmed. Continue reading

• Eduardo Campos Lima holds a degree in journalism and a PhD in literary studies from the University of São Paulo, Brazil. Between 2016 and 2017, he was a Fulbright visiting research student at Columbia University.

Even so, there were those who hoped for forward motion on married priests, women deacons and LGBTQ issues.

They will be disappointed by the final report issued by the synod.

For Francis it was not about the hot-button topics.

It was always about the synodal process, which he hoped would overcome divisions in the Church and recommit us to the mission of Jesus — of proclaiming the gospel of the Father's love and compassion for all of humanity and the earth.

If anything, movement on LGBTQ issues was reversed, as can be seen by the fact that the synod refused to even use the term LGBTQ in their report, even though the Vatican and the pope now use the term in their documents.

The 40-page report shows that power in the Church, at least in the synod, has moved from the Global North (Europe and the United States) to the Global South (especially Africa).

Africans were able to insert into the report pastoral concern for those in polygamous marriages but fought tooth and nail to keep any reference to LGBTQ Catholics out of the report.

They were joined by Polish bishops and others in opposition to what they termed "LGBTQ ideology." Many of their comments at the synod would be considered homophobic in the Global North.

The patriarch of Syria even stormed out of the synod rather than sit with someone who had opposing views on the matter. You wonder if they ever knowingly had a conversation with a gay person.

The treatment of LGBTQ issues in the synod's working paper, or Instrumentum Laboris, was better than in the final report. The report did not even describe the debate in the synod.

On the other hand, the synod did not close discussion of LGBTQ issues or use language like "intrinsically disordered."

Rather, it says, "Certain issues, such as those relating to matters of identity and sexuality … are controversial not only in society, but also in the Church, because they raise new questions."

One gay advocate responded, "Have they been asleep for the last 50 years to think these are new questions?"

The report continues on a slightly open note: "Sometimes the anthropological categories we have developed are not able to grasp the complexity of the elements emerging from experience or knowledge in the sciences and require greater precision and further study.

"It is important to take the time required for this reflection and to invest our best energies in it, without giving in to simplistic judgements that hurt individuals and the Body of the Church."

Although this leaves the question open for discussion, the general impression given is, "We have the right answers, we just don't know how to communicate them."

"I'm disappointed not only that LGBTQ were excised," Jesuit Father James Martin, who ministers to the LGBTQ+ community and was handpicked as a delegate by Pope Francis, told The Washington Post.

"But also that the discussions we had, which were passionate on both sides, were not reflected in the final document."

The discussion of women deacons neither advanced nor set back the issue. Rather the report describes the state of the question, which was not changed by the synod:

Different positions have been expressed regarding women's access to the diaconal ministry.

For some, this step would be unacceptable because they consider it a discontinuity with Tradition. For others, however, opening access for women to the diaconate would restore the practice of the Early Church.

Others still, discern it as an appropriate and necessary response to the signs of the times, faithful to the Tradition, and one that would find an echo in the hearts of many who seek new energy and vitality in the Church.

Some express concern that the request speaks of a worrying anthropological confusion, which, if granted, would marry the Church to the spirit of the age.

Again the role of the African members was important here.

While the Synod on the Amazon favored women deacons, the African church does not have many deacons at all. Catechists play a much more important role in Africa.

It is no wonder that there is little interest in women deacons in Africa where there are few male deacons. Women in Africa are dealing with patriarchy and clericalism on a larger scale.

Surprisingly, the possibility of having married priests got less attention at the synod than women deacons. One delegate told me that only three interventions discussed optional celibacy. Others said it never came up in their small groups.

Here all the synod could say was: "Different opinions have been expressed about priestly celibacy.

"Its value is appreciated by all as richly prophetic and a profound witness to Christ; some ask, however, whether its appropriateness, theologically, for priestly ministry should necessarily translate into a disciplinary obligation in the Latin Church, above all in ecclesial and cultural contexts that make it more difficult.

"This discussion is not new but requires further consideration."

If after a month that is all they can say, why did they bother?

This brings us back to Pope Francis' view of the synod as a way of overcoming divisions and modeling how decisions should be made in the Church.

For almost all the synod members, the experience was positive. The conversations in the Spirit at roundtables of about 10 members were especially good.

At first, some bishops were not used to being told by a laywoman that their four minutes were up and they had to stop talking.

But most accepted the process and learned how to participate in a setting where bishops, priests, religious and laymen and women were all listened to with respect.

The problem now is how to repeat that experience around the globe in the year of consultation prior to the next session of the synod in October 2024.

Few people are going to read the 40-page document.

Pastors need a simple set of instructions on how to continue the conversation in their parishes. Hopefully, the Synod Secretariat will come up with a simple roadmap for the interim discussions.

In addition, there are lots of interesting and important items in the report about refugees, migrants, human trafficking and poor people.

It recognised the need to foster peace and protect the earth. It stressed the importance of ecumenism and interreligious cooperation.

It argued for the Church to be more synodal, and expressed a desire for better formation of clergy and laity, as well as the "need to make liturgical language more accessible to the faithful and more embodied in the diversity of cultures."

Every bishop and pastor should be able to find something in the 40 pages to discuss with his community.

Attempting to write a 40-page document in the last week of the synod was a mistake, especially when dealing with a multicultural international group of 364 members. Over a thousand amendments were offered to the first draft.

The official text was Italian with an interim English translation, which I used in this column.

No other translation was available, which left Spanish speakers out in the cold.

The solution was to read the entire 40 pages to the assembly with simultaneous translations before the report was voted on paragraph by paragraph. No one knows when the official translations will be published.

In his homily at the synod's concluding Mass, Pope Francis acknowledged that the work of the synod is not done.

"Today we do not see the full fruit of this process, but with farsightedness we look to the horizon opening up before us," he said.

"The Lord will guide us and help us to be a more synodal and missional Church, a Church that adores God and serves the women and men of our time, going forth to bring to everyone the consoling joy of the Gospel."

Now that the first session of the synod is over, the ball is in everyone else's court. We are invited to continue the conversation in the Spirit.

Those like me who are impatient for change need to remember the words of Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich who described the Church as "the people of God, walking through history, with Christ in her midst."

"It is only normal that there is a group walking at his right, another at his left, while some run ahead and others lag behind," explained Hollerich.

"When each of these groups looks at Christ our Lord, together with him they cannot help but see the group that is doing the opposite: those walking on the right will see those walking on the left, those running ahead will see those lagging behind.

"In other words, the so-called progressive cannot look at Christ without seeing the so-called conservatives with him and vice versa. Nevertheless, the important thing is not the group to which we seem to belong but walking with Christ within his Church."

Let's keep walking toward the horizon.

• The Rev. Thomas J. Reese, a Jesuit priest, is a Senior Analyst at RNS. Previously he was a columnist at the National Catholic Reporter (2015-17) and an associate editor (1978-85) and editor in chief (1998-2005) at America magazine.
• First published in Religion News Service. Republished with permission.

At the heart of Müller's concerns lies the worry that some changes, in his view, conflict with established Scripture and Tradition.

Müller specifically cited the potential acceptance of homosexuality, the ordination of women as priests and a fundamental shift in Church governance as developments that raise serious questions.

Another significant concern he raised was the lack of freedom for bishops to express their views.

The synodal meeting, as he described it, appeared to be tightly controlled and manipulated.

A small group of keynote speakers dominated the discussions, leaving little room for a more diverse range of theological perspectives.

"In the former synods, all the bishops in the plenary could speak about what they wanted.

"Now everything is led, it is pre-organised and it is difficult to speak in the plenary because only a short time is given and, according to the rules, you can speak only once, and only for three minutes", complained Müller.

Lack of theological discussions

Furthermore, while there was an emphasis on the role of the Holy Spirit throughout the synod.

Müller argued that it seemed as if the voices of the Holy Spirit were represented solely by those who were invited to speak.

This approach, he suggested, did not allow for the valuable insights of bishops who possessed a deep understanding of theology.

Müller also lamented the lack of profound theological discussions during the synod.

He noted a shift away from focusing on Jesus Christ and divine Revelation, which he deemed vital components of any theological dialogue within the Church.

One notable point of contention was the canonical legitimacy of the Vatican Synod.

The cardinal questioned whether it could truly be considered a Synod of Bishops when the laity was granted voting rights.

This was a significant departure from the traditional model, which, he argued, made it more akin to an Anglican-style synodal meeting.

Sources

National Catholic Register

CathNews New Zealand

19-year-old Wyatt Olivas, an American student, half-jokingly drafted a letter explaining to his professors that he needed to recover from his work at the Vatican before resuming classes.

With a smile, the Pope agreed to sign, writing "Francis" in his tiny handwriting. It's true, you are important," Francis told him.

Olivas thanked him for inviting him and thus giving a voice to that group of young people who - as he had mentioned in interviews before the event in Rome - often feel somewhat cut off from decision-making in the Church.

Olivas is a student at the University of Wyoming in Laramie, a missionary at the Catholic youth programme Totus Tuus, and a catechist in his home diocese of Cheyenne,

He was supposed to leave Rome on Monday, October 30th, arriving in the USA early Tuesday morning. But his lecture room is a three-hour drive away, and the potential for snow on the roads made the drive uncertain. Read more

The Synod's sceptics, who are not numerous but have been vocal, are questioning the status of the assembly: how can it be a Synod of Bishops if it includes non-bishop voting members?

By questioning its authority, however, they make it easier to distance themselves from any reforms it adopts.

I raised this issue with the Dominican Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, perhaps the most respected theologian in the Church's hierarchy.

He studied under Joseph Ratzinger - later Pope Benedict XVI - before becoming a university professor and was the editor of the Catechism before being appointed the Archbishop of Vienna. He has attended many Synods.

Did he think the inclusion of laypeople diminished the Synod's status?

"I can't see the problem," he said at a press briefing. "It remains an episcopal Synod, with the real participation of non-bishops."

Cardinal Schönborn agreed it has been "enlarged", but the nature of the Synod has not changed.

He pointed out that lay experts had made important contributions to Synods in the past. There was a stronger connection with lay people, but he saw this as a "positive" thing.

Several bishops have taken to the Synod floor to ask about the nature of the Synod's structure and authority.

Furthermore, the Archbishop of Sydney, Anthony Fisher — a Dominican, like Cardinal Schönborn — raised the point in an interview with the Catholic News Agency: "What is its [the Synod's] authority? …

"Is it trying to be the bishops like the gathering of the apostles? Or is it trying to be the gathering of all the baptised?" he said.

"I think we need to do probably a lot more thinking about, well, what does all that mean ecclesiologically, canonically, practically?"

The Tablet understands that Cardinal Mario Grech, the secretary-general of the Synod office, responded to those questioning the structure and authority of the body on the Synod hall. Continue reading

• Christopher Lamb is a British journalist who is the Rome Correspondent for The Tablet Catholic newspaper.

This includes the women who trust "the holy, faithful people of God" and remain faithful even when their pastors act like dictators.

"I like to think of the church as the simple and humble people who walk in the presence of the Lord — the faithful people of God" Francis told the synod assembly.

Pope speaks of infallibility

In a rare intervention as the assembly was nearing its conclusion, Francis told members to trust the faithful.

They should trust the fidelity of the people they listened to during their preparation for the synod over the past two years.

"One of the characteristics of this faithful people is its - yes, it is infallible in 'credendo'" - in belief, as the Second Vatican Council taught, Francis said.

"I explain it this way: When you want to know 'what' Holy Mother Church believes, go to the magisterium because it is in charge of teaching it to you, but when you want to know 'how' the Church believes, go to the faithful people."

Francis then shared the "story or legend" of the fifth-century Council of Ephesus.

Crowds lined the streets shouting to the bishops "Mother of God."

They demanded the bishops declare as dogma "that truth which they already possessed as the people of God" Francis said.

"Some say that they had sticks in their hands and showed them to the bishops.

"I do not know if it is history or legend, but the image is valid."

"The faithful people, the holy faithful people of God" have a soul, a conscience and a way of seeing reality, Francis explained.

Women pass on the flame

All the cardinals and bishops at the synod come from the faithful people of God, Francis said. They received the faith from those people - usually through their mothers and grandmothers.

"And here I would like to emphasise that, among God's holy and faithful people, faith is transmitted in dialect and generally in a feminine dialect.

"This is not only because the Church is mother and it is precisely women who best reflect her."

It is also because "it is women who know how to hope, know how to discover the resources of the church and of the faithful people, who take risks beyond the limit, perhaps with fear but courageously."

He reminded the assembly that it was the women disciples who at dawn "approach a tomb with the intuition - not yet hope - that there may be some life."

Disfiguring the face of the Church

Francis spoke of damage that can be wrought when ministers overstep in their service and mistreat the people of God.

They "disfigure the face of the Church with chauvinistic and dictatorial attitudes" the pope said.

This happens when despite ongoing service, commitment and fidelity, Catholic women often face exclusion, rejection and mistreatment.

"Clericalism is a whip, it is a scourge, it is a form of worldliness that defiles and damages the face of the Lord's bride" the Church, Francis said. "It enslaves God's holy and faithful people."

Source

• NCR Online

We are eager to know what the synod will decide on specific issues like blessing gay couples, ordaining women as deacons or priests and authorising married priests.

Spoiler alert: The synod will not decide on these topics this month; it will call for further prayer, conversation and research on controversial topics in preparation for the second session of the synod in October 2024.

Rather than focusing on these topics, Francis wants to overcome the polarisation in the church so it can be a true sign and instrument of communion with God and with humanity.

He wants the people of God to fulfill their responsibility to announce to the world the Good News of the Gospel, the love and mercy of God toward all humanity and indeed all creation. He wants the entire church to become synodal.

The synod is not an academic conference on the theology of synodality; it is an experience of synodality.

It is like the difference between a conference to discuss prayer and going on retreat to pray. It is the difference between talking about love and being in love.

As a result, no document will convey the result of the synod. It will not be enough to read any document that comes from the synod; Catholics must experience the synod, must do synod.

The best place to do this is in your parish.

Some of the African participants at the synod report that they are already doing it.

They have small Christian communities that meet weekly to converse about the Sunday Scriptures. They pray together and share their reflections.

This provides the groundwork for a synodal parish.

Cardinal Christoph Schonborn of Vienna acknowledged that the European church is lagging behind on such practices.

Every parish in America can have its own synodal experience by adapting the synodal process as described in "Methodology for the working groups," published by the general secretary of the synod.

The process begins with prayer.

In Rome, the synod members began with an ecumenical prayer service followed by a three-day retreat and an opening Mass.

While a three-day retreat is impractical for most U.S. parishes, they might benefit from the talks given by Timothy Radcliff during the retreat.

In any case, praying together is essential to the process.

Like the members of the synod, parishioners should be divided into groups of 10 members sitting at round tables.

In addition, at the synod, there was an experienced facilitator to guide the members of each group in the process.

The facilitator's job is not to impose his or her views on the group but to be an impartial moderator who encourages respectful listening and makes sure everyone is able to participate.

Each group also chooses a secretary to draft a report of the group's discussions.

The actual work of the small groups involves "conversation in the Spirit" on the question they want to discern.

The question could be a decision facing the parish or any of the topics (Communion, Mission, Participation) outlined in the synod working paper or Instrumentum Laboris.

Perhaps most fruitful would be reflection on the questions that come out of the first session of the synod, which ends this week.

At the synod, the question for consideration was laid out for the groups in a talk before they began their conversations in the Spirit. Something similar could be done for a parish discernment.

Before meeting in small groups, each participant is asked to prayerfully prepare his or her own contribution to the question "by entrusting oneself to the Father, conversing in prayer with the Lord Jesus and listening to the Holy Spirit."

When the group meets, going around the table, each person has four minutes to speak from his or her own experience and prayer.

This is more about sharing experiences than articulating arguments.

Jesuit Brother Ian Cribb, who has led many communal discernments, suggests each participant begin by saying, "In my prayer, I …" The group listens attentively to each participant but does not immediately respond.

The group then pauses for a few minutes of silent prayer and reflection.

This reflection is not followed by debate. Nor is it the time to add what you did not get a chance to say the first time around.

Rather, "from what others have said, each one shares what has resonated most with him or her or what has aroused the most resistance in him or her, allowing himself or herself to be guided by the Holy Spirit: ‘When listening, did my heart burn within me?'"

Brother Cribb suggests that as they go around the table the second time, each participant's short intervention begin with, "I heard in the group …" or "I was moved by …."

This is followed by another period of silent prayer and reflection.

The group then engages in open "dialogue on the basis of what emerged earlier in order to discern and gather the fruit of the conversation in the Spirit."

At this point participants can say what they will. The purpose is not to force agreement but "to recognise intuitions and convergences; to identify discordances, obstacles and new questions; to allow prophetic voices to emerge."

If multiple groups are involved, then each group reports its work to the others in a plenary session. Everyone should feel represented in the report from their group.

After listening to all the reports, the groups meet again to reflect on what they have heard.

They then distill the fruits of the plenary session and formulate a final report, including proposals for next steps.

Such a process is a far cry from a parish meeting presided over by the pastor who announces and defends his preordained decisions.

It is also different from a meeting where people loudly argue with each other over what is going on in the parish or debate other church topics. Such meetings often lead to more polarisation, not less.

Pope Francis is offering a better way. Are we willing to try it?

• Thomas Reese SJ is a senior analyst at Religion News Service, and a former columnist at National Catholic Reporter, and a former editor-in-chief of the weekly Catholic magazine America. First published in RNS.
• First published in Religion News Service. Republished with permission.

While there's a consensus that women's roles need to be promoted, participants remain divided on how to achieve that goal.

The Vatican's synod, which started on Oct. 4 and goes until Oct. 29, is the result of a two-year-long process engaging Catholics at every level, from faithful at the local parish to continental leaders.

Now, the 364 lay and religious participants present at the synod are poised to address questions ranging from sexual abuse to LGBTQ welcoming to hierarcichal structures.

Few topics have captured the attention of attendants more than the question of women's roles in the church.

Participants were encouraged to maintain the confidentiality of the small working group discussions taking place at the synod.

But speaking to Religion News Service, attendants said the question of the ordination of women remains fairly evenly split, with some bishops leaning against and religious sisters leading the charge in favor.

In many ways, this synod has seen many firsts for women. For the first time a woman, Sr. Nathalie Becquart, is undersecretary of the synod office at the Vatican.

Sister Maria de los Dolores Valencia Gomez, a sister of St. Joseph of Lyon, is the first woman to preside over a synod.

In the months leading up to the summit, the resources of the Women's Ordination Worldwide advocacy group were made available for the first time on the synod website.

A record 54 women are participating, and voting, during the synod. In the past, synod events were exclusively attended by bishops and a few priests who acted as secretaries and writers.

Synod discussions so far have addressed the topics of women's ordination to the priesthood, the female diaconate and the creation of alternative ministries that would allow women to have an equal representation in the traditionally male dominated institution.

Whereas the pope has shut the door to the female priesthood in the past, Francis recently opened an unprecedented opportunity for debate on the topic.

Answering a series of questions, or dubia, sent by conservative prelates regarding the synodal discussions, Francis said there is no "clear and authoritative doctrine" on the question of ordination, and it can be "a subject of study."

Pope Francis created two commissions to study the possibility of the female diaconate, which would allow women to preach at Mass and perform marriages and baptisms but not celebrate the Eucharist or hear confessions.

Opponents fear allowing women to the diaconate would open the door to women being ordained as priests.

Some participants at the synod, and Catholics looking in from the outside, have voiced the possibility of finding alternative roles and ministries for women in the church.

They argue that if the church is going to defeat clericalism, a term used to describe the special status held by Catholic clergy, then the solution is not to ordain more people.

While synod officers, and the pope, have encouraged synod participants to be creative in the search for solutions to the church's woes, there have so far been few inspired solutions to the much-needed promotion of women's roles.

For some synod participants, the solution is already there: allowing women to become priests or deacons. A significant push toward this solution came from the religious sisters within the synod.

A "cohort" of nuns favoring female ordination, and especially women deacons, has formed at the synod, said participants.

The women, mainly from Latin America and some from Europe, are said to have initially bonded because they could all speak Spanish.

Nuns from Italy to India have come forward in recent years to denounce unfair treatment by male clergy who, they claim, often regard them as nothing more than free labour.

Cases of nuns being sexually abused by priests or bishops have also emerged in recent books and reports.

Liberal-minded nuns at the synod have embraced the cause for a women's diaconate with gusto, participants said, with some pushing the envelope further by asking for the elimination of titles reserved for clergy, such as "your eminence" or "your excellency," which promote clericalism.

But to some, the idea of women being allowed to become priests remains beyond the pale.

One synod participant said he felt "violated" by the idea of women priests, while another Eastern Orthodox attendant voiced surprise at the Western "obsession" with female clergy.

The argument that the ordination of women would fill the emptying seminaries of Europe was shot down by representatives from Africa and Asia who take pride in their growing number of priests.

At the tail end of the synod, the question of whether female ordination will make it in the final document remains uncertain, participants said.

The goal of this synod is not to come up with solutions, after all, but to pose questions and foster a feeling of communion.

Attendants will likely vote on an amorphous or scaled-down version of the vibrant debates on women's ordinations that have filled the Vatican halls this month.

For advocates for female ordination who have looked at this event with hope, the result of this first consultation might be disappointing.

For conservatives, the final document might be the latest sign of how this pontificate has exposed the church to an unbridled liberal shift.

Debates are likely to evolve ahead of the second part of the synod, when participants will meet again in October of 2024.

In the end, it will be Pope Francis who will make the final decision on the matter when he publishes the apostolic exhortation born from the synodal discussions.

Francis has so far avoided tackling the complexities of dogma directly, opting for his signature pastoral approach instead.

If gestures speak louder than words under Francis, then his meeting with Sr. Jeannine Gramick (pictured) on Oct. 17 at the Vatican made a clear statement.

The Philadelphia-born nun has called for women to become cardinals and is the founder of New Ways Ministries, a Catholic network promoting the welcome and inclusion of LGBTQ Catholics.

In 1999, she was banned from pastoral work by the Vatican's doctrinal office.

The meeting signaled that the pope is welcoming "not just LGBT people but those who have been shunned by society and the church," Gramick said in an interview with National Catholic Reporter shortly after the audience.

"I think Pope Francis is trying to get us to move forward, to open our eyes and look to the future and to the changes in the world," she added.

• Claire Giangravé is an author at Religion News Service.
• First published in Religion News Service

President Higgins (pictured with Pope Francis) expressed these sentiments after a private audience with the pontiff in the Vatican's library.

"He faces grave difficulties in the institution of which (he) is head. I get a sense of that nearly every time I meet him. But his heart is in the right place" President Higgins told reporters.

Pope Francis is "reaching out to people in the LGBT community" and "those who feel that they haven't been labelled as Catholics" Mr Higgins continued.

Despite these challenges, the President commended the Pope for having a compassionate approach to addressing these issues.

"His heart is open, and he refers to that very often."

Signals of reform

The meeting came as the Vatican held a synod assembly about the church's future that is being closely watched for signals of reform.

Higgins stressed the importance of the ongoing synod and its potential outcomes. He advocated for a thoughtful consideration of the roles of both male and female believers in a changing Church.

President Higgins observed that the Pope is facing a challenging internal battle within the Church to guide it towards reform. However, there seems to be an opportunity for transformation.

The Irish President also highlighted that Pope Francis has reintroduced individuals into the discourse who were previously excluded for far too long. Many people within the Church have been profoundly affected by these exclusions and their voices deserve to be heard.

"Look at the people he has allowed back into the discussion" he continued.

"There are people who have been excluded from the discourse that should have been long, long back and there are people who've been deeply wounded by this."

Sources

The Irish Times

CathNews New Zealand

However, Austrian Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, who was involved in drafting the Catechism of the Catholic Church, has reinforced Church teaching on LGBTQ+ issues.

Speaking at a press briefing during the Synod of Bishops on Synodality, Schönborn stated that the Pope has the prerogative to modify the catechism.

He cited a precedent in Pope Francis' 2018 revision of the Church's stance on the death penalty.

Pope Francis changed the catechism's language to say that capital punishment is "unacceptable".

LGBTQ+ issues have been a major point of interest during this month's Synod of Bishops.

It is one of the most frequently asked about topics alongside other hot-button issues such as women's priestly ordination and the married priesthood.

In terms of whether there will be further changes to the catechism's language, Schönborn said he does not know.

He added that "the pope is the only one who can decide because he's the one who promulgated the catechism."

The cardinal recommended viewing the text holistically, stressing the importance of respecting all individuals despite their sins.

"Human beings always have the right to be respected, even though they sin, which we all do.

"I personally, you, all of you, we all sin, but we are entitled to be respected; we have a right to be respected" Schönborn said.

Global shift in the Church

Cardinal Schönborn pointed out a shift in the Catholic Church's centre from Europe to the global south.

This included regions in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Schönborn said what had struck him throughout the synod process was "the fact that Europe is no longer the main centre of the Church."

He noted the Catholic Church's centre had shifted to the global south including regions in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

He remarked that these regions have more developed continental bishops' conferences and more synodality.

Europe is "lagging behind a bit in the way in which we live synodality among the local churches in Europe. I think we need some stimulus to move forward," Schönborn said.

Sources

Crux

CathNews New Zealand

The Vatican has drawn the faithful from across the globe, including bishops and cardinals, for the month-long synod.

The synod, arising from a comprehensive global consultation of Catholics, addresses pressing issues within the Church including women's ordination and the inclusion of LGBTQ individuals.

The working document guiding discussions at the synod, Instrumentum Laboris, acknowledges the appeals for the female diaconate.

This proposal would permit women to oversee Mass but not administer sacraments such as the Mass and Confession.

"When we received the Instrumentum Laboris we were very hopeful," said Kate McElwee, the executive director of Women's Ordination Worldwide (WOW).

However, women's ordination advocates worry that limiting the discussion to the diaconate, without any mention of the words "ordination" or "ministry," was a way of "constraining the Holy Spirit."

Despite this concern, McElwee believes the event could be "a synod of surprises."

In the lead-up to the synod, the US Bishops' Conference invited McElwee to speak about female ordination to US delegates.

"Invitations from the institutional church are new to our movement and signal a novelty," McElwee said. She added that the synod "not only looks different, but feels different."

During the vigil titled "Let Her Voice Carry," several women shared their deep emotional struggles within the Church. Patrizia Morgante, a member of the Italian group Donne per la Chiesa ("Women for the Church") questioned how Church limitations affected her and other women.

Morgante highlighted a sense of incomplete acceptance and a perception that being a woman was seen as an obstacle to full participation in the Church's life.

"I still believe in the Church," Morgante said in her testimony. "I hope and dream of [a] Church that is a safe space for women and men to express their full vocation as [witnesses] of Jesus."

Sources

Religion News Service

National Catholic Reporter

CathNews New Zealand

Flores (pictured) is a member of the global assembly's preparatory commission.

He says the Synod aims to share Christ and his Gospel more effectively. We can't respond with the Gospel if we don't know the reality people face, he says.

"We can't respond to the air."

He says the synod is designed to teach Catholics to speak with one another - not past one another..

"It's that basic ... Sometimes we're not even addressing the same issues, even though we're using similar words.

"There's a need to hear, think and pray, and hopefully the synod will suggest ... we can integrate certain ways by which respectfully things can be spoken without fear.

"The church can afford to be realistic about what people think - there's no need to be afraid of what people think," Flores says.

"There are voices in the church that are also the voices of our own history, of our own tradition, of our own previous experience — and that too has to be taken into account," he added.

"If we do this right … in our own local churches, we can develop a style of listening and decision-making that involves more hearing from people 'in the trenches,' ..." he says.

Issues of importance to the universal church are being discussed "ultimately so we can be effective in the missionary work of the church," he said.

"The communion of the church is at the heart of it — how we talk to each other, how we work together, how we listen to each other, how we make decisions in the local church and even the universal church" he said.

"There's a way to do that that is uniquely in keeping with the way of Christ, and that's what the synod will be asking about.

"It's really a 'how' question: How can we do this?"

Flores is also leading the US Bishops Conference on the synod process.

Source

• The Florida Catholic

A new book, "The Synodal Process Is a Pandora's Box: 100 Questions and Answers," addresses the "serious situation" brought on by the synod, Cardinal Raymond Burke (pictured, centre) says.

Pope Francis is risking confusion and even schism in leading the upcoming Synod on Synodality in Rome, Burke writes in the book's preface.

"Synodality and its adjective, synodal, have become slogans behind which a revolution is at work to change radically the Church's self-understanding, in accord with a contemporary ideology which denies much of what the Church has always taught and practised," he continues.

It should concern all Catholics "who observe the evident and grave harm" that it has brought on the church.

The word synodality, the cardinal added, is "a term which has no history in the doctrine of the Church and for which there is no reasonable definition."

It leads to "confusion and error and their fruit — indeed schism," he says in the preface.

He backs this view citing the German Synodal Path, where church leaders consulted with lay and religious Catholics in Germany between December 2019 and March 2023.

Female ordination and blessing same-sex couples were among the issues the German consultation explored.

"With the imminent Synod on Synodality, it is rightly to be feared that the same confusion and error and division will be visited upon the universal Church. In fact, it has already begun to happen through the preparation of the Synod at the local level," Burke wrote.

The only way to uncover the "ideology at work" within the Vatican and "undertake true reform," was to turn to the "unchanging and unchangeable doctrine and discipline of the church," Burke's preface says.

He entrusted to the Virgin Mary his prayer that "the grave harm which presently threatens the Church be averted."

The synod on synodality

Francis's aims for the synod are to promote inclusivity, transparency and accountability in the Church.

After three years of world-wide consultations with Catholics, bishops and lay Catholics will gather in Rome in October under the rubric of "Synodality: Communion, Participation and Mission."

Agenda items drawn from concerns Catholics raised in diocesan forums include LGBTQ Catholics' inclusion and female leadership.

Those topics have convinced conservative Catholics that the synod will lead to changes in Catholic doctrine on questions of morality and sexuality.

The authors, the publisher and Burke

Co-authors José Antonio Ureta and Julio Loredo de Izcue are South American scholars and activists.

The publisher Tradition, Family and Property says "despite its potentially revolutionary impact, the debate around this synod has been limited primarily to ‘insiders' and the general public knows little about it."

Burke has long been a vocal opponent of Pope Francis's vision for the church.

He and three other cardinals publicly questioned Francis's decision in "Amoris Laetitia" for divorced and remarried Catholics to receive the Eucharist. Burke has also criticised efforts in the church to promote the welcoming of LGBTQ faithful.

Source

• Religion News Service
• America Magazine