CBC: In the shadow of the Vatican, alternative Catholic groups push for change 

By Megan Williams

This week in St. Peter’s Square, as men in long robes shuffled in solemn processions, with chorales and canticles blending with church bells, small groups of Catholic protesters gathered half-a-kilometre away, at the far end of the wide avenue leading up to the Vatican square.

At the end of Via della Conciliazione, or Road of the Conciliation, ceremonies marked the start of the “synod on synodality” — essentially church-speak for a global summit on the future of the Catholic Church, with an emphasis on listening.

Cardinals, bishops, some clergy and ordinary Catholics from around the world are spending the better part of this month seated across from one another to talk about some of the most pressing issues facing Catholicism and the world — including climate change, LGBTQ inclusion and female leadership.

At the opposite end of the avenue, in the shadow of the massive Castel Sant’Angelo, a fortress where a pope once sought refuge during the sack of Rome, an alternative meeting unfolds.

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