WOC respond to the “Working Document for the Continental Stage”

For Immediate Release: 27 October 2022

The Women’s Ordination Conference is encouraged by the expansive “Working Document for the Continental Stage” released 27 October 2022 by the Vatican’s synod office, a text synthesizing national and local listening session reports that will serve as the basis for the next phase of Pope Francis’ now three-year synod process. 

The report acknowledges a “diversity of opinions” on women’s priestly ordination, noting some national reports called for it, while others consider it a “closed issue.” The document goes on to affirm the near universal calls for women in governance, women preachers, and “a female diaconate.”

Significantly, this document recognizes the ban on women’s ordination is not a consistently held belief among the world’s faithful, a position the Vatican has tried to cling to. While this is not groundbreaking to most Catholics, the inclusion of global calls for women’s ordination reflects a refreshing spirit of openness and accountability to the People of God. 

Inequality among God’s people cannot be considered a “closed issue.” While we welcome greater inclusion of women in the life of the church, if the church is to ‘enlarge the space of our tent,’ as the document invites, it must be pitched wide enough for all vocations to flourish. 

The voices of women with sincerely discerned calls to priesthood remain some of the most marginalized voices in the Catholic church. If the church is truly listening, it will walk with these women throughout the synodal process and recognize the vibrant and necessary gifts they bring to the church. If the church is to attend to larger issues of oppression, violence, and injustice in the world, it must begin with affirming women’s capacity to hear and follow God. 

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Contact: Kate McElwee, Executive Director kmcelwee@womensordination.org