Papal summit ends with call for leadership roles for women

A month-long Vatican summit ended with a call for women to take on more leadership roles in the Catholic Church, but not with a call to allow women to be ordained as priests, as some progressives had hoped at the start of the process.

The synod marked the end of a four-year consultation aimed at gathering the views of all ecclesiastical Catholics around the world, and Pope Francis opened what is normally a bishops' conference to some laypeople, including nearly 60 women out of 368 voting delegates.

All synod members voted on each of the 151 proposals.

Although all proposals passed with the required two-thirds majority, the majority of “no” votes were for the proposal to allow women to take on more leadership roles in the church, which is made up entirely of male clergy.

Advocates for a greater role for women in the church had hoped that the synod would require women to be deacons. The synod did not move forward on this step, but its final document said: “There is no reason or obstacle that should prevent women from holding positions of leadership in the Church.”

Currently, the Catholic Church only allows men to become deacons – ordained clergy who, unlike priests, can perform baptisms, weddings and funerals, but not masses.

Although reform groups had also hoped for concrete ways to better welcome gay people in the church, the final document made no mention of the LGBT+ community, aside from a passing reference to those who feel “excluded or judged” because of their “marital status, their identity.” or sexuality”.

The Rev. James Martin, a prominent American Jesuit priest who ministers to the LGBT community and was a member of the synod, said it was “no surprise” that the new text did not specifically mention the group.

Progressives may be disappointed, but some conservatives were upset about the entire summit from the start.

It was a monumental exercise, and the 87-year-old pope described the final text as a “gift” to the world's 1.4 billion Catholics, but many traditionalists were opposed to opening this consultation process – a personal project of his – to laypeople and questions questioned the idea of ​​assessing the views of non-clergy.

But it is consistent with Pope Francis' view that it should be rank-and-file Catholics who should play a larger role in shaping the church's future, and not just cardinals and bishops – just one of many reasons why traditionalists have made life difficult for him have.

For him and the trial's supporters, it was the very fact that there was public outreach and that people with opposing views came together to discuss that made it successful, and he hoped that could be built on in the future.

“We live in a highly divided world where there is increasing war and violence, and this polarization is having an impact on the life of the church,” said Oxford theologian Father Timothy Radcliffe, who served as the summit’s chief spiritual adviser.

“I have made friends here with people from all over the world. For example, I get to know African bishops who often have very different views than me on how we should welcome LGBT people, for example, but you build friendships that take you beyond these differences of opinion into a new depth of your own faith.” said Father Timothy, who will be made a cardinal in December.

However, it is unclear how these discussions will take place in practical terms beyond the meeting.

And despite so many compromises and avoidance of controversy, observers see little courage in his proposals. An endeavor intended to bring people together may have left many feeling as much on the fringes of the Catholic Church as before.