When Cardinal McElroy, the bishop of San Diego, proposed in a recent America essay that the church’s ongoing synodal process demonstrates a need to be more welcoming of women and L.G.B.T. people, he set off a wave of criticism from some bishops, priests and lay Catholics who believe the church should continue to defend its Read more
As the Church’s global “synod on synodality” continues, groups of bishops and laity are now staging continental-level discussions of the “Working Document for the Continental Stage,” a synthesis document created by a Vatican-appointed working group. The continental stage’s working document – published by the Vatican in October – is meant to be a summary and Read more
Dozens of Oceania’s Catholic bishops, including four from New Zealand, are in Fiji on a shared mission. The Federation of Catholic Bishops Conferences of Oceania gather together every four years to reflect on and pray about their shared mission in the region. Among those present are representatives from bishops conferences in Australia, Papua New Guinea/Solomon Read more
The German bishops’ conference unveiled the initial results Wednesday of a study measuring global support for the goals of the country’s controversial “synodal way.” The study, co-funded by the bishops’ conference, is gauging the attitude of Catholics around the world toward the four main themes of the German initiative: power, the priesthood, women in the Read more
Every summit of bishops called by Pope Francis has been ripe with expectations about the possible reforms — and novelties — that it might introduce in the over 2,000-year-old institution. The pope’s latest effort, the Synod on Synodality, now underway and continuing through the end of 2024, has already fomented ardent debate on some of Read more
With the calling of a worldwide Synod on Synodality, Pope Francis set in motion the most extensive consultative process the world has ever seen. In recent months, each diocese produced a report on its listening sessions, which were then synthesized by their national episcopal conferences. The conference reports were sent to Rome, where they were Read more
Cardinal Gerhard Müller, the former head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, has called the Synod on Synodality a potential “hostile takeover of the Church of Jesus Christ.” Pope Francis announced last week that he is adding an extra year to the Synod on Synodality. Pope Francis has described it as a Read more
A highly regarded researcher says that most of the questions in an international survey of Catholic women have a bias, leading to a focus on ordination for women, women preachers and LGBTIQ inclusion. University of Western Australia academic Dr Philippa Martyr said while the full report of the international survey contained rich material from the Read more
“Hear the voices of women from around the world.” A newly released Catholic Women’s Council report makes that message clear. A delegation from the Council (CWC) presented the report to Sister Nathalie Becquart in Rome last week. She is the undersecretary at the general secretariat of the Synod of Bishops. The CWC is the umbrella Read more
Women’s role in the Catholic Church is the focus of a New Zealand group working for gender equality in Church leadership. A media release from a group called “Be the Change, Catholic Church, Aotearoa” notes New Zealand women’s suffrage was granted on 19 September 1893, and this month’s anniversary shows the Catholic Church is 129 Read more