It is the women who predominantly do the heavy lifting of Catholic life; they educate, research, facilitate, spiritually nourish and sustain the regular rhythms of Catholic religious practice.

And, yet, the hierarchy of the Curch needs to justify and validate their presence and gifts by writing documents about their irreplaceable charisms or feminine genius, their mystery and mystique, their call to complementarity.

The Church leadership does this because it sees the clamouring for the inclusion of women in its sacramental ministry as both a rupture with theological tradition and as a threat to its universal unity.

So when the issue of women in the diaconate surfaced at last year's first session of the Synod on Synodality, it was not a surprise nor particularly welcomed. But it wasn't banned either.

There was a genuine expectation among many that the subject would resurface during the second session - currently unfolding in Rome. But Pope Francis, fearing its contentiousness would detract from the larger agenda of the synod, sought to defang the matter.

He set up a study group to look at the issue and placed oversight in the hands of fellow Argentine and trusted theologian Victor Manuel "Tucho" Fernandez.

Understandably, many concluded that the Pope was shelving an issue that remains for many Catholics a subject of urgency. But that interpretation, in my view, misreads Francis's intention.

This unique synod constitutes the high point of his papacy; it is establishing a new way of functioning as a Church built on the pillars of deep listening, respectful dialogue and openness to others, a model of social behaviour and governance that could be the Church's gift to a fractious world.

Allowing debates around women and holy orders would compromise what Francis wants the synod to accomplish.

Still, the issue isn't going away. It needs to be addressed fully, transparently and with integrity. Francis's narrative about women and their place in the Church is a potent blend of the platitudinous and the pious. And it is unpersuasive.

So where do we go?

In the 19th century, when the doctrine of papal infallibility was in the process of being formally declared as dogma at the First Vatican Council, there were bishops and thinkers who, though not technically dissenting from the teachings, felt for various reasons that the Council wasn't the right place to handle the matter.

They were called the Inopportunists.

Well, I am an opportunist in that I think the role of women in ordained ministries - deacon and priest - is not best served or aired in the current synod. We need to do some serious institutional scouring beforehand.

The primary concern must remain the scourge of clericalism and how we practically and methodically establish structures that confirm its erasure. Clericalism is a perversion of the priesthood resulting not in a selfless ministry of service but in entitlement. It is an abuse of power. Read more

• Michael W. Higgins is the Basilian Distinguished Fellow of Contemporary Catholic Thought at the University of Toronto's St. Michael's College. His latest book is The Jesuit Disruptor: A Personal Portrait of Pope Francis.

He explains that this way they'll hear different world views from Catholics who come from different countries and cultures or have different life experiences from theirs.

"Perspective is not the enemy of the truth. It's the normal way of the Church. That's why we have four Gospels."

Flores is one of nine people Pope Francis has appointed to serve as president delegates at this year's Synod - just as they did last year.

Listening serves understanding

Flores told a news conference last week that the global pre-synod 2021 and 2022 listening process has helped synod members learn to listen to diverse perspectives.

"The central reality is to be aware that the perspective approaches the same mystery, but from its own context.

"It's important for the rest of the body to hear it, not because we have to kind of pay due to that, but because we don't see as clearly if we don't hear what the local perspective is."

The discipline

Listening is a discipline, Flores says.

"If it were easy for everyone to listen, we would all do it, but obviously we don't."

He explains that the synodal reality into the future will see "a disciplined, patient listening, a perspective that we all need to hear if we are to get the full picture. But what is the picture? The picture is the face of Christ".

The synod's work involves firstly taking all the perspectives offered by the listening sessions from local, diocesan, national and continental meetings.

Then it combines them with the findings of synod members who were at the first assembly to try "to find a cohesive voice".

Rather than one person or one country's voice, it will be the voice of the church, he says.

Jesuit Father Giacomo Costa, special secretary of the synod, said after last year's assembly he recalls how many people were amazed by the diverse experiences of the Church "they would never have imagined".

He says now the task is to "identify convergences, divergences and possibilities".

Women's place

Recognising and strengthening the role of women in the church has been a constant theme since the synod was first mooted.

Synod president delegate, St Joseph Sister Maria de los Dolores Palencia Gómez, says "a path is being carved and is already bearing fruit" although the pace varies by culture and context.

"The gifts of women and their contributions to a synodal church are being recognised more and more.

"We are taking steps, but we have to take even bigger, faster steps, with greater intensity while also taking into account the contexts, respecting the cultures, dialoguing with those cultures and listening to the women themselves."

• Catholic Weekly

The enthusiasm gave way to a certain disillusionment after two more days. That was to be expected.

But the fact that it would happen so quickly and that this "sobering up process" even began with disillusionment and anger surprised even me, the "hopeless" optimist.

This surprise began with the presentation of the working groups' interim reports. I was very curious and was really looking forward to it. But what was then "delivered" was, to put it mildly, disappointing!

Interim results? Rather disappointing

Beautiful little films with wonderful landscapes, pretty flowers, smiling faces, praying people, all done very professionally, combined with an introduction of the employees of the respective group are nice, but they are not reports, not even interim reports.

But there are still reporters. There's bound to be something more, I thought. But what came next was not what I had expected.

One of the rapporteurs announced that the work of his group was being handled directly with a Roman dicastery, bypassing the synod.

This does not necessarily seem satisfactory to someone who is supposed to "report".

Some reports by other reporters have also led me to suspect that no interim status could be communicated here because many groups have not even started their work properly.

That would be regrettable, but things can still improve.

But when the head of the dicastery responsible for the question of the diaconate of women finally announced that the Holy Father had actually already made it clear that there would be no decision on this in the foreseeable future, and that an official document from the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith could even be expected on this question soon, I somehow felt like a watered poodle.

Because then there would be no need for a working group on this topic.

As a participant in an assembly that is supposed to realise the principle of synodality and has the task of implementing synodality more deeply in all areas of church life, I was expecting a different procedure here.

And I admit: I was pretty miffed - both in terms of content and the way the synodal assembly was handled.

At least I found it comforting that I was not alone in feeling this way. I was able to experience this the next day, when the so-called "Circoli Minori" gathered at the round tables for their first working meetings, in some of the conversations during the breaks.

Debate is welcomed by all

It was emphasised everywhere that the discussion about the indispensable role of women in the church must be continued intensively.

And I have the impression that many in the auditorium realise that establishing the status quo exposes us to the accusation of a male-centric and reductionist anthropology.

That is why even those who have strong reservations about women's participation in the ordained ministry or are completely opposed to it are nevertheless in favour of a serious and theologically sound debate on this issue. Read more

• Father Thomas Schwartz is Chief Executive of the Eastern European aid organisation Renovabis and a participant in the Synod on Synodality in Rome. He regularly writes about his experiences and impressions in his blog

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

The instant outrage the tableau aroused — right or wrong — tells a larger story about something that has happened in Catholic life across the last four decades. But it has not been the only recent indicator.

In a January report on religious liberty the U.S. bishops told us somewhat alarmingly of their concern that "the very lives of people of faith" are threatened in the United States.

Cardinal Timothy Dolan inveighed in June against New York's proposed Nonpublic Dignity for All Students Act with complaints about "bullying" Catholics and forcing Catholics to "toe the line on "gender ideology."

One of the first attacks leveled at Kamala Harris once she became the presumptive Democratic nominee for president was that she "hates what [Catholics] believe."

We Catholics have come to prize a little too much being outsiders set against the culture and the world. Quite often, Catholics seem crouched defensively as though the church were under constant attack.

That's not a coincidence. For several decades, Catholics in the U.S. have been taught to see the world as a hostile place set against us, and to think of ourselves as a "sign of contradiction" set against that world.

This point of view has been nurtured within the church for two generations. Forty years can make it seem like Catholics always have seen our relationship with the world this way. We have not. And, in fact, that idea does not reflect our tradition very well.

The world as a partner

No matter how the 1962-65 Second Vatican Council called the church to turn toward and embrace the world — indeed, no matter how St. Augustine reminded us that our faith "does not repeal or abolish" the laws and norms of the world in which we make our earthly pilgrimage — we Catholics insist more and more on what historian Leslie Woodcock Tentler has called "Catholic difference."

We have come to be intoxicated by being different, standing apart, and the idea that the world is out to get Catholics.

It was not always this way. Vatican II itself proved that while the world is not the same as the Church, the Church can and must see the world as a partner.

The world is the field of salvation given to the church (Matthew 13:38).

A sign of contradiction

A temptation to stand apart from the world has always dogged the Church. The last 40 years have seen Catholics succumb thoroughly to that temptation, desiring to be a "sign of contradiction."

That phrasing — "sign of contradiction" — deserves particular attention. We find it in the Gospel of Luke (2:34) and in the Acts of the Apostles (28:22).

But the phrase came into its recent popularity during the John Paul II papacy. He used the phrase as early as a 1979 Angelus message, three months after his election.

But Pope John Paul began to speak of Catholics as a sign of contradiction to the world with considerable frequency after 1987.

A quick search of the Vatican website discloses 45 uses of the phrase "sign of contradiction" during the John Paul II papacy, 39 of which came in 1987 or later.

The Seventh General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops which took place in October 1987 may well have been the turning point that gave so much life to that oppositional, "sign of contradiction" narrative that we live with even today.

Addressing "the vocation and mission of the lay faithful in the church and the world," the synod took up the most neuralgic questions that had dogged the church since Vatican II.

They included the role of women and the participation of laypeople more generally in church leadership.

In 1987, NCR described that synod as the "first clear test of strength between papal loyalists and post-Vatican II church leaders" — we might say, between those who preferred to restrain the Council's reforms and those who intended to press them forward.

Looking back, it seems clear that those who preferred to restrain the Council prevailed, and something shifted in the church after the 1987 synod.

The influence of leaders like Milwaukee's Archbishop Rembert Weakland and Chicago's Cardinal Joseph Bernardin waned.

Others like Boston's Cardinal Bernard Law and New York's Cardinal John O'Connor ascended, and the overall trajectory of the U.S. bishops has traced the path of their influence since 1987.

It seems inescapable that under Pope John Paul the church began to embrace its identity as a "sign of contradiction," a church in opposition to the world. Read more

• Steven P. Millies is professor of public theology and director of The Bernardin Center at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago.

Although I disagree with him, I accept that we are not going to see women deacons during his pontificate.

But if Francis or anyone else opposes ordaining women deacons, there is a simple solution: stop ordaining anyone as deacons, and let both women and men serve many of the same functions as catechists.

Women deacons - past present and future

The topic of women deacons has caused a good deal of controversy of late: Francis raised hopes that women might be ordained deacons in 2016, when he created a commission to examine the history of women deacons.

This was in response to a request from the International Union of Superiors General, which represents some 600,000 religious women around the world. A second commission to study the possibility of women deacons was formed in 2020.

Sadly, the reports of these commissions were never made public.

At last year's synod, the topic of women deacons was again discussed and received strong support from many delegates, especially the women delegates.

However, this year the Pope disappointed many by removing the topic from the synod agenda and setting up yet another commission to study the issue, which will report back in 2025.

And when asked in his May interview with CBS News about women's ordination, the pope gave a flat "no" to women deacons.

He seemed to believe that women who acted as deacons in the early Church were not ordained, although RNS columnist Phyllis Zagano and others have done extensive historical research showing they were in fact ordained.

Deacons and catechists

Deacons cannot celebrate Mass, hear confessions or anoint the sick, but they can baptize, preach at Mass and preside over weddings and funerals.

As ordained ministers, they are members of the clergy, not laypersons. Permanent deacons remain deacons all their lives, whereas transitional deacons are eventually ordained priests.

The permanent diaconate was revived for the Catholic Church in the 1960s by the Second Vatican Council, where the council fathers thought it would be helpful in mission territories.

But the hope that permanent deacons would spread the word in Africa, southern Asia and other places traditionally considered missionary lands never came to pass.

Today the United States is home to almost 20,000 of the 50,150 Catholic deacons in the world, or about 40 percent, according to the Vatican Statistical Yearbook.

The U.S. and Europe combined have more than two-thirds of the world's deacons.

There are only 500 or so deacons in all of Africa, fewer than in the Archdiocese of Chicago, which has more than 850.

Instead, Africa's Catholic bishops prefer catechists, who may be men or women.

There are more than 450,000 catechists in Africa.

They teach the faith, hold Bible study, run small Christian communities, prepare people to receive the sacraments and do Communion services when priests are not available.

The African bishops put a great deal of resources into training catechists.

Lay vs. ordained Catholics

Those who advocate women deacons point out that only the ordained, whether deacons or priests, can give homilies at Mass or preside over weddings.

Catechists can do neither, and expanding their role would neither give women a greater role in the Church nor expand the number of people who can minister to the faithful.

But in the case of giving homilies, this is simply canon law and can be changed, and laypeople can be delegated in many circumstances to preside at a wedding.

The ministers of the sacrament of marriage are the couple, not the priest or deacon, who only witness the marriage for the Church.

Similarly, lay people may preside at funerals without a Mass. And any layperson, even a non-Catholic, can baptize.

In truth, there is nothing a deacon can do that a layperson cannot do.

I am not saying that many male deacons do not do wonderful work for the church. I am simply saying that they could do the same work without ordination.

Concerning clericalism

The diaconate has drawbacks that catechists do not.

As clerics, the diocese is financially responsible for them under canon law.

If a deacon's wife dies, he cannot remarry unless he gets a dispensation, which is not always granted. If a deacon gets in trouble, the Church must use the same complicated canonical process used for laicising priests.

Limiting the diaconate and priesthood to men is painful for many women in the church, but if we cannot ordain women as deacons, there is no reason we have to ordain men.

If the point of ordination is simply to give the deacon more status, this is another form of clericalism.

There are not enough priests, which means that people do without the Eucharist, without confession and without the anointing of the sick. Too many Catholics die without the sacraments because there is no priest available.

If deacons were allowed in emergencies to perform the latter two sacraments, they would have something important to do that a layperson cannot do.

But as they cannot, we can do without them. The church existed for centuries without the permanent diaconate.

If the church doesn't need women deacons, it doesn't need men deacons either.

The U.S. church would do well to follow the example of the African church and forget about deacons and develop a catechists' ministry.

• First published by Religion News Service
• The Rev. Thomas J. Reese, a Jesuit priest, is a Senior Analyst at RNS.

"The Holy People of God has been set in motion for mission thanks to the synodal experience," declared Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich S.J., General Rapporteur of the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops.

Invited to exchange ideas using the method of spiritual conversations, clergy and laity have learned to listen to and freely share their vision of the Church.

This is undoubtedly the most significant outcome: the experience of living synodality.

These exchanges have highlighted the diversity of ways the same Christian faith is lived from one continent to another.

The Church has discovered itself to be plural in a unity that must be experienced differently.

How should we envision the Church's role in unity?

What authority should the Pope exercise and how? This question cannot be considered apart from the relationship between the Churches.

"Synodality and ecumenism are, in fact, two paths that proceed together, united by a common goal: that of communion, which means a more effective witness by Christians "so that the world may believe," the Pope said.

The blessing of homosexual couples

While the synodal method has proven fruitful, some unfortunate breaches have somewhat tarnished its credibility: such is the case with the promulgation of Fiducia Supplicans, a text that authorised the blessing of homosexual couples wishing to live together.

The issue had emerged from the initial consultations and was to be debated at the second synodal session. Rome preempted this discussion, which was regrettable.

Even more surprising was Pope Francis' "no" to the diaconate of women during an American TV interview May 21.

This public stance, outside the synodal reflection process, was very poorly received! On the highly sensitive issue, what is the Pope's real position? His hesitations are perceptible.

'De-masculinising' the Church

Since 2017, the Pope has striven to include more women in the Church's missionary fabric and continually repeated various calls to "demasculinise the Church."

He initiated two successive commissions to work on women's diaconate, which unfortunately did not succeed due to disagreements among members.

Four times since the end of the first synod session, the Pope has taken the initiative to bring women into the C9, his private council of cardinals.

He entrusted the organisation of these meetings to Linda Pocher, Salesian sister and theologian, professor of Christology and Mariology at the Auxilium in Rome.

At her request, a first meeting focused on an aspect of the theology of Hans Urs von Balthasar: the Marian principle and the Petrine principle, which he used to exclude the ordination of women.

The three theologians present demonstrated the inadequacy of this aspect of von Balthasar's theology regarding the potential ordination of women.

What did the Pope take from this?

He prefaced the book Women and Ministries in the Synodal Church that recounted this meeting, stating:

"These reflections (...) aim to open rather than close; to provoke thought, invite seeking, and help in prayer (...) the final outcome is in God's hands."

At risk of schism?

Archbishop Jean-Paul Vesco of Algiers reflected: "The first reason is the Pope's responsibility as the ultimate guardian of the Church's unity.

It is his role to assess the Church's "elasticity" in its vast geographic, historical, cultural, and ideological diversity.

The awareness of diverse approaches to Christian life in a globalised Church has created tensions, and the role of women, in particular, is perceived very differently depending on the country.

Can the Church as a whole calmly accept a modification of its ecclesial status? Hence the este momento, no va (not now) from Pope Francis."

Indeed, the risk of schism cannot be excluded, but isn't immobility already generating one?

Besides the mass departure of women from the ecclesial fabric, we cannot ignore the presbyteral ordinations of women by Catholic bishops, disobeying the Pope in several regions of the world.

This revolt must be taken seriously.

The question then arises: how to live this "equality" between men and women that is at the heart of the Gospel message and which the Church's mission needs today?

We need "a deep reflection on the sacrament of orders.

Is everything about it intangible, fixed for eternity?" Archbishop Vesco suggested.

Christ was not a priest; he left the Church to organise the spiritual service of God's people without giving a rule other than love.

The hierarchical triad of deacon, priest, and bishop has structured the Church's organisation for two millennia, but it is merely a framework that can and must evolve.

Habits of the old Church

Jesuit theologian Christoph Theobald, who teaches theology in Paris, explained this, clearly emphasising how much the hCurch needs a synodal theology and ecclesiology .

As the early Church spontaneously lived, it is from the spiritual needs of God's people and the various charisms given by the Spirit to the baptised that ecclesial responsibilities, entrusted ministries, and necessary authority ensuring the unity of the Eucharistic Body of Christ must be adjusted.

In conclusion, the current synod is a process; the people of God are on the move.

They need to convert to listening to the differences among their brothers and sisters. They need theological reflection rooted in the heart of the Christian message.

They need pastoral imagination to invent ways to reach God's people in the diversity of their needs. Everything is connected!

But we are only beginning to recognise this civilisational change that is shaking the old Church's habits.

As the Pope invites us, we must be pilgrims of hope, confident that the Holy Spirit guides the Church, provided we are receptive to God, with open hearts and minds to God's light, with humble patience, Adsumus!

• First published in La Croix
• Christiane Joly, is a member of the Apostolic Community of Saint Francis Xavier, author of the French work Sent Together! The Role of Women in the Church's Mission, for a Synodal Reflection

This was a position of great trust given the eyes of the Catholic world were gazing at this potentially earth-shattering event.

Who is Fr Timothy Radcliffe?

A former world leader of the Dominicans, Fr Timothy Radcliffe (pictured) is a well-known author with a world-wide following, whose six Synod meditations have now been published.

His first meditation on 21 October 2023, called ‘Hoping against Hope', laid out his own hopes.

Among them was the aspiration that "this synod will lead to a renewal of the Church and not division; the hope that we shall draw closer to each other as brothers and sisters".

He reassured Synod participants that their efforts may be misunderstood, but they should not worry about this.

During our Synodal journey, we may worry whether we are achieving anything.

The media will probably decide that it was all a waste, just words. They will look for whether bold decisions are made on about four or five hot-button topics. But the disciples on that first synod, walking to Jerusalem, did not appear to achieve anything.

Where to next with the Synod

Recently Radcliffe came to Australia as a guest of the Catholic Education Office of the Archdiocese of Canberra-Goulburn to give a retreat for school principals and a range of public talks in Canberra and elsewhere.

The talk I attended was titled ‘Where to next with the Synod? An evening with Timothy Radcliffe'. It was an entertaining evening, full of wisdom, humour, and stories. He is a most attractive personality.

Radcliffe presented his reflections on the Synod from his privileged position as a senior cleric on the inside. He was optimistic in the face of an audience of outsiders far from Rome who were eager to draw him out.

But it was a particular sort of optimism, eschewing, as he did in his pre-synod mediations, any hope for immediate outcomes.

In fact, he quoted the Australian singer Nick Cave who has described hope as ‘optimism with a broken heart'. This should have been a warning sign to all present not to expect too much.

He followed through on his earlier criticism in his meditations of the world's media for concentrating on the wrong things.

That is, the hot button issues rather than the deeper reality. Yet as the media, like the rest of us, was frozen out of the proceedings their task was not an easy one.

When pressed it appeared that Radcliffe personally shared some of the aspirations of those in the audience who hoped for church renewal, including for the lives of women in the church.

But he was still confident in the working of the Spirit at the Synod and prepared to be patient. He was at one with Pope Francis in seeing the embedding of synodality within the Church as the main priority for the Church.

What the world, including the media, would see as ‘outcomes' could wait.

Hope with a broken heart

His ‘hope with a broken heart' seemed to me to rest on two elements, both of which I rate as problematic. Neither element sits well with the life experiences of everyday Catholics, shut out of the inner sanctum.

One was the alleged transformative power of the synodal method, including the conversations-in-the-spirit.

Radcliffe emphasized that through listening with an open heart in small groups to the views of other Catholics, including lay women and men, and to each other, the senior bishops and cardinals would be transformed, differences would be healed, and the Church would be renewed.

No evidence was offered for this miracle other than his observations. The public statements of some cardinals since then suggest otherwise. Perhaps even an astute observer like him can be caught up in wishful thinking.

'The second basis for Radcliffe's optimism seems to be his assumption that it is acceptable for the Church to take its time. Here he shares a common assumption among Catholic leaders.'

We Australians have some other evidence at our disposal. The Fifth Plenary Council of Australia, 2018-2022, has been credited with being the inspiration for the Synod methodology, or at least an early exemplar.

We can rightly ask whether the bulk of the Australian episcopate experienced a transformation at the plenary council. What evidence should we look for?

To a hopeful observer, such as myself, the evidence of transformation of church leaders seems thin on the ground. The first official report of progress in embedding the synodal method within the Australian dioceses was a thin document, only worthy of a D+.

That is not being too harsh on most leaders, though some rate more highly. There must be some tangible evidence of transformation for everyday Catholics seeing their church decline around them to hold onto.

Otherwise, we must assume it is lacking in the hearts and minds of our most senior clerics. If that is a misjudgement then it is up to them to correct it. Actions speak louder than words.

The second basis for Radcliffe's optimism seems to be his assumption that it is acceptable for the Church to take its time. Here he shares a common assumption among Catholic leaders.

How often have we heard that the Church moves in centuries or that Rome is called the Eternal City because everything takes an eternity to happen.

More specifically it is often said that it takes a century for the outcomes of a church council to come to fruition and that sixty years on from the Second Vatican Council it is too early to expect full implementation of its promises.

Radcliffe had his own unique take on this phenomenon.

In response to a question from his audience asking whether there was any ‘sense of urgency' in Rome surrounding the Synod, he gave the impression that among clerical members, at least, there was not.

In jocular fashion he responded that the Roman Empire took 300 years to fall, but eventually it did. Was the audience to read into this generous timeframe that speed was not of the essence?

It is incumbent upon those, including church leaders and influential clerics, who agree that it is quite acceptable for the Church to move at a stately pace to explain why this should be so.

What is so different about the Church? Does it have a special dispensation? No other human organisation in the public or private sector faced with a major crisis of belonging and belief of the order facing the church is given such latitude.

Imagine if a government or corporate leader told citizens or stakeholders to be patient and wait decades because that was the natural order of things. They would not get away with it. It would be seen as either incompetence or a delaying tactic to preserve the status quo.

The same applies to the Church. Radcliffe's views are widely held.

Church leaders should be open about their intentions. They certainly should be held accountable for inaction. First published in Eureka Street

• John Warhurst is an Emeritus Professor of Political Science at the Australian National University.

That sums up the synod and the state of the Catholic Church's attitude toward change.

In October, hundreds of bishops, joined by lay men and women, priests, deacons, religious sisters and brothers met for nearly a month in Rome for the Synod on Synodality.

At its end, the synod released a synthesis report brimming with the hope and the promise that the church would be a more listening church.

Some 54 women voted at the synod. Back home, women are still ignored.

Why?

It is not because women quote the Second Vatican Council at parish council meetings. It is because too many bishops and pastors ignore parish councils.

It is not because women of the world do not write to their pastors and bishops. It is because without large checks, their letters are ignored.

The Synod on Synodality was groundbreaking in part because it was more about learning to listen.

It was more about the process than about results. Its aim was to get the whole church on board with a new way of relating, of having "conversations in the Spirit," where listening and prayer feed discernment and decision-making.

Even now, the project faces roadblocks. At their November meeting this week in Baltimore, U.S. bishops heard presentations by Brownsville, Texas, Bishop Daniel Flores, who has led the two-year national synod process so far.

His brother bishops did not look interested.

To be fair, some bishops in some dioceses, in the U.S. and other parts of the world, are on board with Pope Francis' attempt to encourage the church to accept the reforms of Vatican II, to listen to the people of God.

Too many bishops are having none of it

The synod recognized the church's global infection with narcissistic clericalism.

It said fine things about women in leadership and the care of other marginalized people. Yet the synod remains a secret in many places. Its good words don't reach the people in the pews.

Ask about synodality in any parish, and you might hear "Oh, we don't do that here." You are equally likely to hear "When I" sermons ("When I was in seminary," "When I was in another parish"), and not about the Gospel.

Folks who were excited by Francis' openness and pastoral message just shake their heads.

The women who want to contribute, who want to belong, are more than dispirited.

They have had it.

And they are no longer walking toward the door — they are running, bringing their husbands, children and chequebooks with them.

In the Diocese of Brooklyn, it was recently discovered that Mass attendance had dropped 40 percent since 2017.

It is the same in too many places.

The reason the church is wobbling is not a lack of piety.

It is because women are ignored.

Their complaints only reach as far as the storied circular file.

What do women complain about?

Women complain about bad sermons, as discussed. Autocratic pastors. And the big one: pederasty.

If truth be told, women do not trust unmarried men with their children.

Worldwide, in diocese after diocese, new revelations continue. Still.

Many bishops and pastors understand this.

Francis certainly does, but he is constrained by clerics who dig their heels into a past many of them never knew.

More and more young (and older) priests pine for the 1950s, when priests wore lace and women knew their place. That imagining does not include synodality.

Will the synod effort work?

Francis' opening to women in church management is promising. Where women are in the chancery, there is more opportunity for women's voices to be heard. No doubt, a few more women there could help.

Getting women into the sacristy is trickier.

While it seems most synod members agreed about restoring women to the ordained diaconate as a recognition of the baptismal equality of all, some stalwarts argued it was against Tradition.

Still, others saw the spectre of a "Western gender ideology" seeking to confuse the roles of men and women.

So, they asked for a review of the research. Again.

Women know the obvious: Women were ordained as deacons.

There will never be complete agreement on the facts of history, anthropology and theology. Women have said this over and over.

If there is absolute evidence that women cannot be restored to the ordained diaconate, it should be presented, and a decision made.

The women have finished speaking about it.

• Phyllis Zagano is an author at Religion News Service. She has written and spoken on the role of women in the Roman Catholic Church and is an advocate for the ordination of women as deacons.

But hidden in the synod participants' 40-page synthesis are some surprising gems that could lead to significant reform in the church.

The hidden gems

The first is a new stress on lay involvement.

Compared with other Christian churches, the Catholic Church is very hierarchical. This synod, especially the conversations at roundtables, was structured so that lay voices, including women and young people, were heard and respected.

"Synod path called by the Holy Father is to involve all the baptized," the report notes. "We ardently desire this to happen and want to commit ourselves to making it possible."

Secondly, the synod promotes "Conversation in the Spirit."

The term refers to a practice that "enables authentic listening in order to discern what the Spirit is saying to the Churches," the report explains.

It adds that "‘conversation' expresses more than mere dialogue: it interweaves thought and feeling, creating a shared vital space."

Third, the report acknowledges disagreements and uncertainties.

In the past, the hierarchy tended to cover them up, presenting a united front to the faithful and the world.

But on its first page the synod's report acknowledges "The multiplicity of interventions and the plurality of positions voiced in the Assembly,".

It admits "that it is not easy to listen to different ideas, without immediately giving in to the temptation to counter the views expressed."

In each following chapter, any disagreements and uncertainties are listed under "matters for consideration" that "require deepening our understanding pastorally, theologically, and canonically."

The report also acknowledges its divides.

"The Church too is affected by polarisation and distrust in vital matters such as liturgical life and moral, social and theological reflection," it reads.

"We need to recognise the causes of each through dialogue and undertake courageous processes of revitalising communion and processes of reconciliation to overcome them."

Fourth, the report addresses the concerns of women.

"Women cry out for justice in societies still marked by sexual violence, economic inequality and the tendency to treat them as objects," it says.

"Women are scarred by trafficking, forced migration and war. Pastoral accompaniment and vigorous advocacy for women should go hand in hand."

The church must "avoid repeating the mistake of talking about women as an issue or a problem.

Instead, we desire to promote a Church in which men and women dialogue together, in order to understand more deeply the horizon of God's project, that sees them together as protagonists, without subordination, exclusion and competition."

The synod concluded that in the church "It is urgent to ensure that women can participate in decision-making processes and assume roles of responsibility in pastoral care and ministry."

Fifth, it did not forget the poor, "who do not have the things they need to lead a dignified life."

Instead it insists on their dignity, cautioning the church to avoid "viewing those living in poverty in terms of ‘them' and ‘us,' as ‘objects' of the Church's charity.

Putting those who experience poverty at the center and learning from them is something the Church must do more and more."

Sixth, it charges the church with combating racism and xenophobia, saying it must take action against "a world where the number of migrants and refugees is increasing while the willingness to welcome them is decreasing and where the foreigner is viewed with increasing suspicion."

In addition, "Systems within the Church that create or maintain racial injustice need to be identified and addressed. Processes for healing and reconciliation should be created, with the help of those harmed, to eradicate the sin of racism."

Seventh, abuse in the church must be dealt with.

It suggests that the church explore the possibility of setting up a juridical body separate from the bishop to handle accusations of clerical abuse, saying, "It is necessary to develop further structures dedicated to the prevention of abuse."

Eighth, the synod participants called for reforming priestly formation.

"Formation should not create an artificial environment separate from the ordinary life of the faithful," the report said.

It called for "a thorough review of formation programmes, with particular attention to how we can foster the contribution of women and families to them."

It recommended joint formation programmes for "the entire People of God (laity, consecrated and ordained ministers)."

It also called on episcopal conferences to "create a culture of lifelong formation and learning."

Ninth, the synod called for a regular review of how bishops, priests and deacons carry out their ministry in their diocese.

This would include "regular review of the bishop's performance, with reference to the style of his authority, the economic administration of the diocese's assets, and the functioning of participatory bodies, and safeguarding against all possible kinds of abuse."

Tenth, the report took on liturgical language.

It says the texts used in Catholic rites should be "more accessible to the faithful and more embodied in the diversity of cultures."

It later suggested that liturgy and church documents must be "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."

Eleventh, it raised the possibility of offering Communion to non-Catholics, or what it called "Eucharistic hospitality (Communicatio in sacris)."

Saying it was a pastoral issue as much as an ecclesial or theological one, the report noted that such hospitality was "of particular importance to inter-church couples."

Twelfth, the report took aim at what it means to be a deacon in the church.

As it is, the deaconate is largely seen as a steppingstone to priesthood.

The report questions the emphasis on deacons' liturgical ministry rather than "service to those living in poverty and who are needy in the community.

Therefore, we recommend assessing how the diaconal ministry has been implemented since Vatican II."

Thirteenth, the reform of the Roman Curia must continue.

The synod affirmed Pope Francis' statement in the Apostolic Constitution "Praedicate evangelium," released in March of 2022, that "the Roman Curia does not stand between the Pope and the Bishops, rather it places itself at the service of both in ways that are proper to the nature of each."

The synod called for "a more attentive listening to the voices of local churches" by the Curia, especially during periodic visits of bishops to Rome.

These should be occasions for "open and mutual exchange that fosters communion and a true exercise of collegiality and synodality."

The synod also asked for a careful evaluation of "whether it is opportune to ordain the prelates of the Roman Curia as bishops," implicitly suggesting that laypeople might hold top Vatican positions.

Fourteenth, the report said canon law needs updating.

"A wider revision of the Code of Canon Law," it reads, "is called for at this time" to emphasise the synodality of the church at all levels.

For example, it suggests, pastoral councils should be mandatory in parishes and dioceses. It also held up for imitation a recent plenary council of Australia.

Lastly, the synod wants to promote small Christian communities, "who live the closeness of the day-to-day, around the Word of God and the Eucharist" and by their nature foster a synodal style.

"We are called to enhance their potential," the synod's members said.

You will not find these gems written about in the media, but if we let the media tell us what to see in the synod, we might miss important opportunities for church reform.

• First published in Religion News Service
• 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.

Conservatives warn that the Church is being 'warmed up' to major changes in doctrine, while progressives are complaining their issues have not been addressed or the document does not go far enough.

The synthesis report outlines key proposals discussed between some 450 participants worldwide.

It covers areas of convergence, matters for consideration and proposals that are expected to set the stage for further debate throughout the year ahead of next year's assembly.

The document was initially only available in Italian.

The Synod Synthesis report is now available in English to download and read on the screen or print.

It is also available as a word-processed document. The English translation and formatting is 'as provided'.

The report reflects the stage one of the Synod. The second stage of the Synod takes place in October 2024.

The Synod Synthesis report is the next stage in the global conversation undertaken by the Church. It is the reflection of the Synod members.

Moving forward, the synthesis report will be used to develop 'convergences' already reached and serve as a source for further discussion and clarification.

Pope Francis rarely intervened at the Synod; however, on Wednesday 25 October, he commented on the Letter of the Holy Faithful People of God.

"One of the characteristics of this faithful people is its infallibility; yes, it is infallible in credendo [in belief]. (In credendo falli nequit, says LG 12). Infallibilitas in credendo. [Infallible in belief.]

"And I explain it like this: "when you want to know what Holy Mother Church believes, go to the Magisterium because its task is to teach it to you. But when you want to know how the Church believes, go to the faithful people".

Sources

• Synod.va
• L'Osservatore Romano

Actually, once the members of the October 4-29 gathering have voted on a final document (Saturday evening) and then celebrated the concluding Mass in St. Peter's Basilica (Sunday morning), they will not have ended the Synod assembly on synodality.

They will only have ended the first session of that assembly. Pope Francis, the Synod's president, has scheduled a second session for 11 months from now - in October 2024.

What happens in the liminal space between now and then is anybody's guess.

That's because there are numerous issues and events - both in the Church and in the world - that will pose serious challenges to advancing the momentum of the synodal "conversations in the Spirit" that many participants said they so positively experienced.

The Marko Rupnik saga

Let's start with the issue that is no longer the elephant in the room, as it was just a few days ago.

Obviously we're talking about the likely role the pope played in the way the Vatican and the Diocese of Rome dismissed the testimonies of more than 20 women who accused the famous ex-Jesuit mosaic artist, Marko Rupnik, of sexually abusing them.

The Jesuits believed the women, however. And they slapped tight restrictions on Rupnik's work, ministry, and travel.

When the celebrity priest-artist brazenly flouted them, his religious superiors kicked him out of the order.

Demands for full transparency in how Rupnik abuse cases were handled at the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) were always ignored.

And not a single Vatican official, including anyone at the Holy See Press Office, has ever addressed the issue - until last week when it was revealed that Rupnik was recently incardinated in the Diocese of Koper (Slovenia) as a priest in good standing.

Under intense media pressure, and with emerging signs on social media that many Catholics - including some the pope's most loyal supporters - were scandalised and angered by this new development in the ongoing Rupnik saga, the Vatican said Francis had instructed the DDF to re-open the Slovenian priest's abuse case.

Naturally, it did not acknowledge that the pope decided to do so because of the above-mentioned pressure and outrage. It does not matter.

It's regretful to have to say this, but we are long past expecting any real transparency in this pontificate - at least across the board and on a consistent basis.

You are probably asking what all this has to do with the Synod assembly and the next 11 months before its second session.

At least three issues seem to be at play here:

• the lack of transparency in the Church, especially from its leaders;
• the commitment of the Church, and especially the pope, to continue making the clergy sex abuse crisis a top priority;
• and how women are treated by an all-male clergy and hierarchy.

Priests sexually assaulting minors and vulnerable adults

The members of the Synod assembly could not even acknowledge in their "Letter to the People of God" that hundreds, certainly tens of thousands and perhaps even millions of people - minors and vulnerable adults - have been sexually abused by Catholic priests over the past 70 or so years alone.

The best they could muster in their anodyne text was to mention "victims of abuse committed by members of the ecclesial body".

Seriously? This was not a tough one. And it is extremely worrying that they could not even agree that the issue at hand is about priests sexually assaulting vulnerable people.

As for transparency, there was little of that from this first session of the Synod assembly.

Those of us who were not given access to the closed-door gatherings inside the Paul VI Hall - all but about 400 of the Catholic Church's reportedly 1.3 billion members - have no real idea how the discussions were even conducted.

Yes, the "method" was explained to us, but we were not able to witness even a few moments of it actually taking place.

The only things shared with the public were the occasional spiritual reflections, witness talks, theological mini-lectures and general introductions by the assembly's rapporteur.

It was very difficult to get the "feel" or sense of what was really going on in the discussions. We had to rely on participants who shared their "experiences" at press briefings.

And then there's the issue of women and the Church - what type of responsibility and ministry they are allowed to exercise and how they are treated by the male clerics.

This, in the minds of many serious Catholics, is the most crucial issue in the Church today, right up there with the clergy sex abuse crisis.

And, of course, the hierarchy's response to the Rupnik allegations (not believing or meeting with the women he allegedly abused and then putting him back in ministry after the Jesuits dismissed him) hits both issues!

The pope also did his part deflect attention away from the women's issue and focus it, instead, on the way the Church treats gays and lesbians, one of the other hot topics going into the October 4-29 assembly.

It did this by holding much-publicised private meetings with James Martin SJ and Jeannine Gramick SL, two icons of Catholic outreach to the LGBTQ+ community. Fine people, both of them.

And, yes, Jeannine is a woman, but the pope met her and two male officials of her organisation, "New Ways Ministry". It wasn't about her gender.

Trickle down synodality?

How all the above will affect the next 11 months, which Timothy Radcliffe OP - one of the assembly's spiritual directors - has likened to a gestation period or a pregnancy, is hard to say.

The final document is supposed to highlight themes that will require further and more in-depth reflection and discussion, as well as - one supposes - issues that are not on the table.

And where will such discussions take place? In universities, parishes, diocesan chanceries?

The two-session model of this Synod assembly - which actually began in October 2021 with a series of consultations that were held (theoretically) with all the members of the Church at the local, national and regional levels - has, at times, been likened to the process that unfolded during the Second Vatican Council (1962-65).

Preparations got under in various places around the world, beginning in early 1960.

Then the first session was held in autumn 1962 at the Vatican.

Between that and the next three sessions there were those liminal periods when the Council Fathers returned to their dioceses or religious communities and the theologian returned to their universities, academies or research centers.

It has been recognised that this helped bring the Council to the local level and engage Catholics in the work and spirit of Vatican II as it was unfolding.

The Synod fathers and mothers and all the other participants at this year's assembly will also return home for the next 11 months before returning in October 2024 for Round II of the "Synod on synodality", as the two-pronged assembly is often called.

But they will not be able to bring their experience from Synod assembly or engage local Catholics with it in the same way that those who participated in the Council were able to do.

For one thing, it's numerically impossible.

In theory, all the bishops of the world were at Vatican II. Most of them said they were transformed by their experience at the Council and they enthusiastically brought its vision and decisions back home to their priests and people.

Only a tiny percentage of the world's bishops are part of the Synod assembly.

Therefore, the vast majority of the world's dioceses have no direct personal connection to what happened in the Paul VI Hall this past month.

And because of the pope's insistence on a virtual media blackout, they have not had much other connection, either.

You may have heard the old saying "Will it play in Peoria?" It's often used in the United States to ask whether a product, idea or person will appeal to the mainstream, as it is reflected in so many places like this small, typically average city in Illinois.

We might ask the same question regarding the work of the Synod assembly.

The problem is that it can't play in the countless Peorias of the worldwide Church if it's never taken back to the people there.

And how likely is that to happen if their bishops - like the one in the real Peoria - are not part of the Synod assembly?

• Robert Mickens, LCI Editor in Chief, has lived, studied and worked in Rome for 30 years. His famous Letter From Rome, brings his unparalleled experience as senior Vatican correspondent for the London Tablet and founding editor of Global Pulse Magazine.
• First published in La Croix. Republished with permission.

One programme has an American host who smirks at the concept of spiritual conversation.

On the other side of the street, more liberal Catholic media focus on questions of including people in the church, be they gay, poor, Indigenous, female, migratory or divorced.

Some are more interested in only one position; a few cover them all.

To feed the stories, various lobbying efforts set up in Rome join one side or the other, presenting conferences, position papers and books on their topics.

For example, in a public theatre at an event called "The Synodal Babel," American Cardinal Raymond Burke, a fierce critic of Pope Francis, read a long argument against the synod itself.

Meanwhile, at an event billed as "Spirit Unbounded," Benedictine Sister Joan Chittister and former President of Ireland Mary McAleese called for equality in all areas of church life and practice.

And then there are books to add to the excitement.

One, by two Latin American activists and printed in eight languages by The American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property, or TFP, calls the synod a Pandora's box.

The English edition's foreword is by Burke. The book recounts with horror that women have asked to join church governance and ministry.

A book called "Credo" by another Francis critic comes with an imprimatur from American Bishop Peter Libasci, who is currently the subject of an abuse investigation.

Written by Athanasius Schneider, an auxiliary bishop in Kazakhstan, who has written against both Muslims and Jews, it aims to replace the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

Unsurprisingly, it presents demonstrably false information about the history of women ordained as deacons and denies the authority of the pope to admit women to official lay ministries.

The back-and-forth is dizzying, and it will not end soon.

The synod is the synod. Parts of the Catholic world are involved. Some are not.

More speeches and more documents will create more controversy.

More anger and more division will cause louder calls for or against one or another issue, which is the opposite of what the synod is supposed to do, which is to resolve differences and make plans to move forward in peace.

Above all the noise, Pope Francis looks outside Vatican walls to a suffering world.

He calls for prayer and fasting for world peace.

He asks for warring nations to stop fighting, to peacefully resolve their differences. He even phoned American President Joe Biden the other day to press the point.

And that is what Francis wants for the church.

• Phyllis Zagano is an author at Religion News Service. She has written and spoken on the role of women in the Roman Catholic Church and is an advocate for the ordination of women as deacons
• First published in Religion News Service. Republished with permission.

While Synodality will not happen overnight, indeed there is a part two of the Synod in October 2024, CathNews spoke with some ‘synod watching' Catholics about tasking the Church with this responsibility.

"It's a huge responsibility for the New Zealand delegates; they're going to need a good process," said Julian, one of those questioned.

"Francis' request goes far beyond merely changing the words of the Mass. It's about transforming an ingrained culture."

While the popular view of Synodality is interpreted as 'power to the people' or akin to a political party changing its policy on a matter, the details of what Synodality means remain unclear.

The methods for implementing these changes are arguably more critical and unclear.

Archbishop Gintaras Grušas of Vilnius, Lithuania says that changing our personal habits and routines is one thing, but trying to change an entire diocese is Herculean.

"With yourself, you can do it. When you try to bring a whole diocese or a whole nation or a whole continent with you, it takes a lot more work," said the archbishop, who is also president of the Council of European Bishops' Conferences.

Synodality vs closed doors

Julian says that while he understands the need for closed doors at the Synod, closed doors actually create a synodal problem.

"Closed doors make it difficult for those on the outside to understand what actually happened on the Synod floor, how it operates and what we need to emulate and how we go about it" he said.

"The paradox is striking. Synodality, a process designed to encourage involvement, often excludes people.

"I admire Pope Francis, but sometimes his Jesuit background dominates a little too much.

"For synodality to work, someone needs to translate 'Jesuitical' into plain English."

Mr Manuel Bazley - Auckland diocese Vicar for Maori, Fr Dennis Nacorda - Parish Priest of Levin, Archdiocese of Wellington, Archbishop Paul Martin - Archbishop of Wellington

Pressure on New Zealand delegates

The responsibility for implementing these changes weighs heavily on the shoulders of New Zealand's synod delegates.

These synod delegates are now tasked with modelling a synodal response in a New Zealand context.

Through no fault of their own, New Zealand's synod delegates are two clerics from the Archdiocese and one Maori layman.

They were selected offshore from a group of New Zealand men and women.

Some argue their responsibility to model a synodal response doesn't start with a synodal look since all three delegates are male.

Archbishop Paul Martin and Fr James Martin SJ in their Synod group.

Listening a key change

"I support the idea of change", said Abbey, another of those spoken to by CathNews.

"I'm right behind our making a change, but perhaps if he, the person who selected New Zealand's delegates, listened to New Zealand culture, I think there might have been room for a woman in the mix."

She pointed out that listening is a key challenge.

"It's our Church and our faith but the priests make it feel like theirs.

"Our bishop has been unresponsive to discussions about reconfiguring our parish and, as a result, our people are voting with their wallets."

"I'm hanging in, but it's very easy to feel disenfranchised" she said.

Laity infallible

Abbey said that to her, Pope Francis' comment to the Synod hit home.

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

"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."

However Mary, another questioned by CathNews, has some concerns.

"It sounds good, but it's blimmin' scary; handing everything over to the community is a cool idea in theory" she told CathNews.

"We've had 'devolution' of social responsibility in NZ since the late 80s, and the results are sad because nobody really knows what to do or feels like giving up their time to do it."

A Parish perspective

Fr Joe Grayland, a Parish Priest in the Diocese of Palmerston North says some parishes have tried synodal processes and encountered limitations.

Grayland, currently lecturing at the University of Tübingen, says people and some clergy resist change.

He told CathNews that Synodality has an added complexity when multiple nationalities have different expressions of faith.

"The New Zealand Catholic Church is not just one culture, one expression of faith" he said.

Highlighting the role of the parish priest, Grayland says that parish leadership and the role of the parish priest probably needs clarification.

He suggests there may be cause for priests to be retrained in a synodal leadership style.

"Change is difficult when it is not effectively led.

"There is an implicit challenge in synodality that the Church has ordained men into a hierarchical model with different ideas about leadership."

Manuel Bazley and Pope Francis greet each other.

Reality bites

When asked about her involvement in parish synodality, Trish, a very involved parishioner, replied, "Good grief."

"I'm fairly involved in the life of the parish, but they met for a month and nothing seems to have happened!

"Is the Church creating a professional synodal class of Catholics?

"I go to church, I pray, I'm involved in my community, I give my adult family a break and look after my grandchildren. It's all part of the mission of the Church.

"I'm a full-time Catholic as it is."

Synodality is possible

Cardinal Leonardo Ulrich Steiner who runs a synodal diocese in Manaus, Brazil believes in the power of community-led change.

"Synodality is beneficial because it allows the communities to guide us in being a Church rather than a bishop dictating terms" he told CNS.

Archbishop Faustino Armendáriz of Durango, Mexico has seen synodality work and acknowledges there are difficulties. But he remains optimistic.

"Achieving synodality is not easy, especially when people come from diverse backgrounds and hold different ideas.

"However, I've seen firsthand that consensus can be reached. It's challenging, but it is possible."

Source

• UCA News
• Catholic Culture
• America
• Catholic News Agency
• UCA News
• CathNews NZ
• Eurasia Review

The synthesis report summarises synodal discussions about how a synodal Church's ministries and structures can give a wider role for laity which is more in line with the vision of Vatican II.

Big issues discussed at the synod were identified in its two-year lead-up, and besides reporting on the past month, the report also lays the foundation for the second part of the Synod scheduled for October 2024.

At the time of CathNews publication, the report was only available in Italian!

• Note: The report is now available in English as a PDF document.

The synthesis report

The synthesis report outlines key proposals discussed between some 450 participants from around the world.

It covers off areas of convergence, matters for consideration and proposals that are expected to set the stage for further debate throughout the year ahead of next year's assembly.

For the first time ever at a Synod of Bishops, voting members included lay women, laymen and other non-bishops.

Voting on the document was taken paragraph by paragraph on Saturday.

A two-thirds majority vote threshold was set for passing each paragraph.

Although the report makes 81 proposals, many are open-ended or general.

Further theological or canonical study, evaluation or consideration is called for at least 20 times.

Yes and No votes

More than 80 proposals were approved in the synod vote.

These include establishing a new "baptismal ministry of listening and accompaniment," initiating discernment processes for decentralising the Church and giving lectors a preaching ministry.

The most 'no' votes - accounting for about a fifth of the delegates - were given to two primary paragraphs addressing the possibility of women deacons.

One passed by a vote of 277-69; the other by 279-67.

"That means that the resistance [to women's leadership] is not so great as people have thought" the Vatican's Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich said.

A paragraph addressing the question of clerical celibacy also received substantial No votes, but passed at 291-55.

Women

The synthesis report does not call immediately for the ordination of women as deacons. Nor does it mention calls for priestly ordination for women.

It does include however, a "clear request" from the assembly that women's contributions "would be recognised and valued, and that their pastoral leadership increased in all areas."

The synthesis report also questions how the Church can include more women in existing ministries.

"If new ministries are required, who should discern these, at what levels and in what ways?" it asks.

The Church must address employment injustices and unfair remuneration for women in the church "especially for women in consecrated life."

Liturgical text and church document reviews will ensure language is considerate to both men and women and draws more widely on women's experience.

Archbishop Paul Martin and Fr James Martin SJ in their Synod group.

LGBTQ Catholics

The report seemed to largely glosses over the tensions that emerged over how the Church should respond to LGBTQ Catholics.

Jesuit Fr James Martin, editor of the LGBTQ Catholic publication Outreach, says he was "disappointed but not surprised" by the result for LGBTQ Catholics.

"There were widely diverging views on the topic," says Martin, who was a synod voting member.

"I wish however that some of those discussions, which were frank and open, had been captured in the final synthesis."

It is a point emphasised by Cardinal Blaise Cupich in a conversation with America Magazine.

No one should feel excluded and we have to get to know people, Cupich said.

However he admitted that while trying to pick up on what people said perhaps the document could have expressed the nuances a little better.

Cupich said there was explicit reference to LGBTQ issues in the groups he was in and the lack of explicit reference does not mean we're not going to return to it again next year.

He said there was greater discussion about LGBTQ issues than there was about polygamy, yet polygamy was named in the document.

Cardinal Mario Grech says the assembly felt a need to "respect everyone's pace" regarding LGBTQ questions.

"It doesn't mean if your voice is stronger it will prevail."

Clergy abuse

The synthesis report proposes creating further structures to prevent abuse.

These include the possibility of establishing a new body to review abuse cases that does not rely on bishops.

"The appropriateness of assigning the judicial task to another body, to be specified canonically, should be explored."

The report also recommends women receive formation "to enable them to be judges in all canonical processes."

Other key proposals

In a move signalling shift within the Catholic Church, the synod's final document outlines several key proposals aimed at fostering inclusivity and unity among its diverse communities. Among the recommendations:

• The development of "new paradigms" for pastoral engagement with Indigenous communities, emphasizing a collaborative journey rather than actions imposed upon them
• The formation of a "permanent council" comprising leaders from Eastern Rite Catholic Churches, tasked with advising the pope on challenges facing these communities
• An expanded invitation to delegates from other Christian denominations for the October 2024 assembly, in a bid to foster ecumenical dialogue
• A strong expression of desire from the assembly for the Catholic Church and other Christian denominations to establish a common date for the celebration of Easter

Source

• NCR Online
• Catholic News Agency
• America Magazine

Every single one of them offered encouraging words of hope.

But if one wants to know what is happening at this synodal assembly, those words of hope are pretty much all we have for now, given that Pope Francis has chosen a policy that limits the media's access to what is going on behind the closed-door meetings.

Paul VI instituted the Synod of Bishops in 1965 and the next year issue its first Ordo, the set of regulations and procedures.

It made clear his desire that the Synod assemblies would be a hortus conclusus, a protected moment shielded from the press and public scrutiny.

Only later did Synod assemblies gradually become more open to the press and the public.

Francis' current policy therefore marks a strange return to the past - but not to the days of John Paul II and Benedict XVI.

Ironically, compared to "Synod 2023", the various assemblies that were held during those two pontificates actually featured more openness in revealing the contents of the discussions that took place in the Synod Hall.

There could have been other methods

The new lack of openness is problematic, because it could hamper the Synod assembly from becoming the spark that ignites synodality in the global Church.

Journalism has been called "the first draft of history", and without more openness and less secrecy it will be difficult, in years to come, to write a history of this synodal assembly.

Historiographical accounts of ecclesial events are different - but not separated - from the continuous making of the tradition in a community, including the Church.

Pope Francis has not been precise (to say the least) in outlining his expectations of the role journalists should play in the Church.

For example, there are some differences between the Church's relationship with journalists, per se, and its relationship with Catholic journalists.

The Synod is not a conclave; there could have been other methods to preserve the freedom of synodal members (such as some version of the "Chatham House Rule").

It's not just Francis' fear of what journalists, of whom he has always tried to make a very attentive and strategic use, could say that could perturb this retreat-like assembly of the Synod.

In fact, the assemblies held during previous pontificates were not just of a different kind.

They were also carefully controlled by the Roman Curia and, in some sense, already scripted to achieve a specific outcome.

And this Synod has been structured more as a retreat of a small ecclesial community than a meeting of delegates of the global Church.

More photos to look at than texts to read

This is also a different era in the history of the mass media and of the use and misuse of the media in the Church and by Catholics.

The "culture war" narratives have changed the role of the media with polarising effects in the ecclesial conversation.

But there is also a change in the technology that this Synod assembly is evidencing.

In the more than two weeks that it's been in session, we have been given more photos to look at than written texts to read! There's a real temptation to call this the "Synod of selfies".

It is true that photos provide a narrative as well. But they can also be very misleading.

Our culture today is one of images in ways that the culture of twenty years ago was not. That was before smartphones and social media changed our daily relationship with reality, including ecclesial reality.

There's now a whole new iconography - not paintings of dead saints, but self-made instant icons of living ecclesial leaders in our ubiquitous celebrity culture.

There is a whole psychology and spirituality of selfies (especially selfies taken by and with Catholic celebrities - the pope, cardinals, bishops, etc.) that the policies of the Synod and self-discipline of Synod members could and should take into account.

On the other hand, this policy and the world media's relative silence about the Synod are strangely fitting in this moment when so many lamps are going out in our world.

It makes sense that news on the Synod is being overshadowed by other world events such as those in Israel and Gaza, without forgetting Ukraine and the situation in the Caucasus.

Moreover, the policy concerning the media and the Synod is also a failure to understand or appreciate that if synodality is to work the Church must engage the media's quest for news-making narratives in ways that are different from the recent past - especially from the time of the Second Vatican Council (1962-65).

The pope's big gamble

Synodality entails redefining the roles of the characters on the stage of the religious and spiritual drama that should be at the center of the Christian story.

In its coverage of the Catholic Church, the media will always place much attention on the ecclesiastical game, that is, on Church politics.

But this does not mean that the Church should provide the media with the usual script.

At the same time, it is also important to note that in the Synod assemblies that preceded Francis, there was greater separation between those who are members of the assembly and those who craft a media narrative on the Synod.

Among those whom the Jesuit pope has appointed as members of the current assembly, are individuals well known for their ability to influence narratives on the Church in both the Catholic and mainstream media.

They have been quite visible in these days.

There are also elderly and eminent theologians at this assembly - some of them octogenarians who have been real fathers of the theology of synodality since the 1970s.

But, since they don't take selfies like those in the hall who are savvier with social media, we don't see many (if any) photos of them participating the Synod. It's almost as if they are not even there.

Francis' new policy concerning the Synod and the media must also be seen in light of the relationship between the news and the truth. We are now at a new stage of the "post-truth" age.

It's not they we are uninterested in truth, it's that many now believe it is impossible and futile to know the truth, or to trust the media - and other institutions, the Church included - in their presentations of the truth.

Through his new Synod-media policy, the pope has taken a huge gamble on what type of reception synodality among the world's Catholics during the long period between the current session of Synod assembly and its second session in October 2024.

It's also big gamble for the papacy, which has come to rely more and more on mainstream media to tell its story - not the Church's, but the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

• Massimo Faggioli is a Church historian, Professor of Theology and Religious Studies at Villanova University (Philadelphia) and a much published author and commentator. He is a visiting professor in Europe and Australia.
• First published in La Croix. Republished with permission.

Cardinals, bishops, priests and lay Catholics, both men and women, are meeting Oct. 4-29, 2023, as part of the Synod on Synodality: an effort Pope Francis launched in 2021 to generate dialogue among Catholics.

More than two weeks into the synod's first global assembly, participants are largely keeping quiet.

Opening the synod, Francis called for a "fasting of the public word," encouraging delegates to focus inward and treat discussions as private.

The goal of the three-year synod process is to consult with everyday Catholics worldwide about their concerns and experiences, guiding leaders' decision-making as the church enters its third millennium amid new challenges.

Controversial issues such as women's roles in ministry and LGBTQ+ people's place in the church dominate synod-related headlines, and are presumably being discussed.

Often overlooked, however, is an even more fundamental issue: what power and authority should look like in the church.

Far-reaching process

The synod began with listening sessions at parishes, Catholic universities and other Catholic settings across the globe.

All dioceses - the geographic regions into which the Catholic Church divides its ministry - were urged to hold such sessions.

In theory, these discussions offered an opportunity for all Catholics to have their voices heard at the highest levels of the church.

Key themes were passed up to local bishops, then synthesised into documents that informed consultations by a national-level assembly, and, in turn, the global assembly.

In some places, however, local leaders have not promoted the synod or have explicitly criticised it.

Clericalism v dialogue

Several topics on the table have garnered public attention, such as some Catholics' hopes to allow married priests or women deacons. Arguably the most important issue, however, is authority.

Conservative factions yearn for "clear teaching" on doctrine and strong centralised authority - even as, ironically, they resist the authority of the current pope, whom they criticise as an undisciplined leader or as too liberal.

Progressive factions, on the other hand, often seem to yearn for more democratic decision-making, akin to the independent authority local congregations have in some Protestant denominations.

In fact, as a scholar of the public role of the Catholic Church, I suspect both groups are likely to be disappointed.

The church strongly supports democracy in the secular world.

Internally, however, Catholicism preserves a deep tradition of governance rooted in apostolic succession: the teaching that bishops' authority descends directly from the Apostles of Jesus Christ.

In other words, the legitimacy of their leadership stems from this lineage, rather than a democratic process.

The synod process aims to move toward a more dialogue-based model for how the authority of priests and bishops should work, within this apostolic understanding of Catholic authority.

Francis v ‘clericalism'

Catholics and many non-Catholics tend to understand the church as a kind of vertically integrated corporation, where unquestioned authority flows from the top.

Waves of clergy sex abuse scandals, in particular, have discredited this model in many people's eyes, and Francis appears to be moving Catholicism away from this style of leadership.

He has repeatedly criticised "clericalism": the tendency to center the faith on priests and obedience to their authority.

"To say "no" to abuse is to say an emphatic "no" to all forms of clericalism," he wrote in a 2018 letter addressed to "the people of God."

Five years later, in a note to priests in Rome, he described clericalism as "a sickness" that leads to authority "without humility but with detached and haughty attitudes."

Instead, Francis is advancing a model in which bishops exercise their authority through continuous dialogue with the faithful, the Catholic intellectual tradition and the wider world.

This model views the church as constantly evolving, even as it forever affirms core truths.

Sociologists call these types of models "participative hierarchy."

One aspect of this more responsive and dynamic model of authority has been prominently on display during the general assembly: Nuns and laypeople, both men and women, are full participants, with voice and vote in all matters coming before the synod.

While this sounds moderate, it challenges the core understanding of authority among clericalist Catholics, who argue that such reforms would go against tradition.

However, Catholicism has used both models of authority in different periods.

Politics and the pope

The controversy surrounding the synod also reflects a simple fact: The Catholic Church in the U.S. is as polarised as secular American society.

A decade ago, at the very start of Francis' papacy, he was seen as a moderate conservative. But he quickly signaled openness to the modern world, in part by criticising two qualities as anathema to Catholic teachings.

First, clericalism, with its tendency to treat clergy as elite or above accountability.

Second, a backward-looking nostalgia for some earlier time when a perfect Catholicism supposedly existed - a stance that Francis sees as undercutting Catholicism here and now.

As of 2021, about four in five U.S. Catholics had a positive opinion of Francis.

Among clergy and Catholic leaders, however, he has some vocal detractors.

While Francis has embraced constructive debate, he has pointedly removed from authority some clergy, including Americans, whom he sees as actively undermining his direction for the church.

More recently, he accused U.S. conservatives of "backwardness" and of replacing spirituality with ideology.

For now, the synod moves forward despite the divides. There will be another synod assembly in Rome in October 2024, after which final recommendations will be made and the pope will decide what to put into action.

Beyond whatever particular changes this synod assembly may or may not recommend, its deeper impact will lie in how Francis' vision of Catholic authority fares.

In the long term, I would argue, this is where the Catholic future will be most shaped. The world's 1.4 billion Catholics will be watching.

• Richard Wood is the President, Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
• First published in The Conversation

I have covered almost every synod since.

It has never been easy.

Meetings of the synod are usually closed, and the information released to the press is carefully controlled.

The Vatican wishes to project an image of prayerful harmony in which the bishops exchange ideas with no conflict.

The media, on the other hand, thrives on conflict. You will never read a headline saying, "Participants love one another; everything is fine."

Covering the Synod on Synodality has been especially difficult.

Pope Francis does not like the press, especially the Western media, which, he believes, only writes about issues of concern to the Global North.

Thus, at the 2015 Synod on the Family, the coverage focused on Francis' intentions for divorced and remarried Catholics.

• Can they get annulments?
• Can they go to Communion?
• And can married couples practice birth control?

There was little concern for the plight of

• refugee families,
• human trafficking,
• forced marriages of families broken by the need for men to migrate to find work to support their families.

Likewise, at the Synod on the Pan-Amazon Region, in 2019, the Western media's focus was on the possibility of ordaining married men to deal with the shortage of priests in rural communities in the Amazon.

And many thought might open the door to married priests everywhere.

Little attention was given to the Indigenous people in the region who were being displaced and killed in order to provide beef, lumber and minerals to the industrialised world.

Nor did the importance of the Amazon rain forest as a consumer of carbon dioxide get much attention.

At the current synod, the media is no less fascinated by hot-button issues put on the agenda by Catholics in the Church's global listening sessions that kicked off the synod:

• blessings for gay couples,
• the prospect of married priests
• and women priests and deacons.

For Francis, the synod is about a new way of being a Church, a path for overcoming divisions through conversations in the Spirit and a new way of making decisions in the Church through discernment.

Secrecy - not great communication

Every synod has had an antagonistic relationship with the media.

Journalists are suspicious by nature.

The media suspects people are hiding something, and the less you give reporters, the more suspicious they become.

Francis has acknowledged that the Vatican has tightly controlled earlier synods.

At the 2001 synod on the role of the bishop, called by John Paul II, Francis was named a "relator" — a papal-appointed coordinator — and he recalled being told what topics could not be discussed.

If they were discussed, he was told, they should be left out of the public reports. At the first synod he oversaw as pope, he encouraged the members to speak boldly and not worry about what people thought.

Despite the general gag order, information about the synods generally got leaked to the Italian press.

Many observers see in this a method for officials of the Roman curia, the bureaucrats of the Church, to control the narrative of the synod. Stop the bishops from talking to the press while at the same time secretly giving stories to the curia's favourite journalists.

There is some logic to confidentiality for synodal discussions. Secrecy promotes free debate and allows members to speak without fear of retribution from their hostile government.

How much material is made available to the press has varied from synod to synod.

At some, nothing was made public except the final report.

At others, speakers could release part of their addresses but not the full texts.

Some American bishops have responded by dropping the first sentence, the one greeting the pope and the synodal members, then publishing the rest.

Some synods even released the reports from the small group discussions. These reports gave a summary of the discussions but never told who said what.

I found them very helpful in writing stories on the synod.

Vatican's pots and pans communication strategy

At the Synod on Synodality, major addresses have been open to the press, but, sadly, the reports from the small group discussions remain secret.

In addition, the major addresses have been more on process than substance, which gives the media little to talk about.

Without access to the small group discussions, the press is not able to get a feel for what is going on in the synod.

The Vatican approach to the press is the equivalent of telling people what pots and pans are in the kitchen without letting them watch the chef cook the meal.

Eventually, the synod may serve a delicious meal, but no one will know how they did it. No one will learn how to cook.

Since releasing the reports from the small groups in the past did not harm the synodal process, it is incomprehensible why Francis refuses to allow it for this synod.

Without anything to write about, the media is giving attention to the sideshows and demonstrations happening outside the synod.

I have chosen to look elsewhere, writing about

• Laudate Deum, the pope's new document on global warming,
• or to cover the byplay leading up to the synod: the "dubia,"
• or questions raised by five conservative cardinals,
• and the retreat talks given to the synodal members by the Dominican Timothy Radcliffe prior to the synod.

Francis does not 'get' Western media

Francis does not understand when it comes to the media, you either feed the beast or the beast eats you.

You either control the narrative, or the narrative is controlled by anyone who grabs the media's attention.

In the past, it was the progressive press that saw conspiracies everywhere.

Today, it is the conservative Catholic media that believes that everything is being controlled by a cabal of liberal theologians and officials.

Perhaps the pope should lock up the press and force them to do a month of prayer, conversation in the Spirit and discernment. That would be fun to watch.

• 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. Republished with permission.

According to The Pillar news outlet, the records contain vital information. This includes rosters of synodal participants and their working group assignments.

Reports filed by these working groups at the conclusion of the first segment of the synod's discussion were also available.

Anyone with the correct web address could access the records openly without requiring a password.

The security failure has sent shockwaves through the Vatican and calls into question the level of confidentiality within the Synod.

Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni has started an investigation into the matter.

Vatican embarrassed

The Pillar, in compliance with Pope Francis' request for restraint in press coverage of the synodal process, has refrained from publishing the names of members of individual working groups.

However, the revelation has left the Vatican embarrassed. It also exposed an extraordinary breach of the supposed wall of secrecy surrounding the Synod's proceedings.

One of the major concerns arising from this breach is the question of who else might have been spying on these confidential deliberations.

Additionally, the availability of the Synod's working group assignments raises doubts about the organisers' decision not to share this information with the media.

One journalist reported that Paolo Ruffini, president of the synod's information commission, said this week he did not have access to the names. He added he would be unwilling to obtain and share them with the media.

Inclusivity questioned

That such information appears to be withheld even from senior synodal participants but freely available on an unsecured server raises significant questions about the synodal secretariat's approach to internal information sharing and security.

Moreover, the reports reveal discrepancies with Synod leaders' claims that the assembly would focus on inclusivity rather than Church teaching.

Some working groups emphasised doctrinal fidelity, while at least one report proposed reconsidering doctrine on sexual morality.

The breach highlights a significant communication blunder. It undermines Pope Francis' emphasis on maintaining the confidentiality of Synod proceedings.

This secrecy is crucial to enabling Synod members to "express themselves freely."

Vatican representatives are yet to confirm the security status of the server. They have also refrained from outlining the action they intend to take in response to The Pillar's report.

Sources

Catholic News Agency

The Pillar

CathNews New Zealand

Organised by the International Reform Network, Spirit Unbounded is a virtual assembly running in parallel to the current Synod on Synodality, attracting participants from all over the world.

Keep Mother Earth in good heart

Drawing on the almost universal Mother Earth concept, McGowan compared puny human life to Kauri or Totara trees.

He told the assembly the trees have been on earth for tens of millions of years without changing at all. Individual human beings, by comparison, are here for just a short while.

"From a Maori perspective, we're all children of Tane. (God of forests and birds.)

"We are one of the most recent species that have come into being. Everybody else is more senior (tuakana) to us and in a Maori world when the junior, (teina) oversteps the senior, things go wrong, things get all messed up.

"We kept taking and take and take and now we've got a mess."

McGowan's solution is found in mauri, defined as "an essential life force" found in the connections that give life and which is intrinsic to humanity and nature.

When those connections are strong, the mauri is strong, and life thrives.

McGowan says that when connections are strong then the mauri is strong and life thrives.

He says mauri is intrinsic to humanity and nature.

"When the water's well, when it's full of fish, all of those things that give life to it are well, then the people that live on its banks they will be well.

"When the river deteriorates, well so do we.

"And so our big job as people is to look after those connections that give life."

As the youngest of Tane's children, we are charged with looking after the world gifted to us, he told the virtual global assembly.

It is important for humanity to find its rightful place in the order of things.

That means we'll have to change our thinking, reorder our priorities and put the earth and its care first.

"When Papatuanuku and Mother Earth is well, everything else will be well. So that's our first priority and there are no exceptions to that.

Addressing Spirit Unbounded McGowan said that if we duck looking after Mother Earth we are actually punishing ourselves.

We also have to remember we are not the most senior members of creation.

"When we act like small brats, you know, the youngest of the big family, we are actually hurting ourselves as well as the whole of creation."