The Vatican’s doctrine office will prepare a document on women in leadership roles within the Catholic Church, in a recent initiative to reply to longstanding demands by women to have a greater say within the church’s life.
The document might be written by the Dicastery of the Doctrine of the Faith as its contribution to Pope Francis’ big church reform process, the Vatican said Tuesday. The process is entering its second major phase with a gathering of bishops in October, often called a synod.
The Vatican announced the main points of the doctrinal document shortly after its press conference on the preparatory work for the October meeting ended, meaning journalists didn’t have a probability to query the speakers about it.
That seemed intentional. It was announced in a listing of the members of 10 “study groups” which are looking into a few of the thorniest and legally complicated issues which have arisen within the reform process up to now, including the role of girls and LGBTQ+ Catholics within the lifetime of the church.
Pope Francis called the synod over three years ago as a part of his overall efforts to make the church a more welcoming place for marginalized groups and where odd people have a greater say. The process, and the two-year canvassing of rank-and-file Catholics that preceded it, sparked each hopes and fears that real change was afoot.
Catholic women do the lion’s share of the church’s work in schools and hospitals, and are likely to take the lead in passing down the religion to future generations. But they’ve long complained of second-class status in an establishment that reserves the priesthood for men.
Francis has reaffirmed the ban on women priests, but has named several women to high-ranking jobs within the Vatican and encouraged debate on other ways women’s voices might be heard. That has included the synod process through which women have had the correct to vote on specific proposals — a right previously given only to men.
Additionally, during his 11-year pontificate, he responded to demands for ministerial jobs for girls by appointing two commissions to check whether women could possibly be ordained deacons. Deacons are ordained ministers but are usually not priests, though they’ll perform lots of the same functions as priests: preside at weddings, baptisms and funerals, and preach. They cannot, nevertheless, have a good time Mass.
The results of the 2 commissions have never been released and in a recent interview with CBS “60 Minutes” Francis said “no” when asked if women could sooner or later be ordained deacons.
The doctrine office, headed by Francis’ close theological adviser Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernandez, might be preparing an “appropriate document” on “theological and canonistic questions around specific ministerial forms” that were raised in the course of the first phase of the synod process last 12 months, the announcement said.
“The in-depth examination of the problems at hand – particularly the query of the essential participation of girls within the life and leadership of the church – has been entrusted to the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith,” in dialogue with the synod organizers, it said.
Another “study group” is particularly controversial issues, including the welcome of LGBTQ+ people within the church.
These study groups are working with Vatican offices and can proceed their analyses beyond the October meeting, suggesting outcomes this 12 months won’t necessarily be complete.
After the 2023 session, synod delegates made no mention in anyway of homosexuality of their final summarizing text, despite the fact that the working document going into it had specifically noted the calls for a greater welcome for “LGBTQ+ Catholics” and others who’ve long felt excluded by the church.
The final text merely said individuals who feel marginalized by the church, due to their marital situation, “identity and sexuality, ask to be listened to and accompanied, and their dignity defended.”
