The Christian Century: US Catholics express hope, tempered expectations as synod begins
Last year in September, it seemed to many US Catholics that the church might be on the precipice of profound transformation.
The Synod of Bishops was about to meet at the Vatican to discuss the results of a multiyear global listening effort. Termed synodality, the process gathered input from laypeople and clergy to promote dialogue and a renewed sense of mission and surfaced thorny topics, including women’s ordination, LGBTQ relationships, clergy sexual abuse, and priestly celibacy….
…Kate McElwee, the executive director of the US-based advocacy group Women’s Ordination Conference, said that much of last year’s “pregnant hope” had been “dashed” when it was announced that the question of women in ministerial roles would be relegated to a working group with “zero transparency around its membership.”
“Many women are tired of empty words,” McElwee said. Her organization is gearing up for an activist presence in Rome during the synod.
While she sees the Vatican as trying to lower expectations for conversations about women’s ordination, McElwee is still hoping that the Holy Spirit will move the synod toward an “open, honest, and discerning conversation around this question infused with urgency.”