Votes for Women

First of all, I want you to support the effort by WOC to have women participants at the Synod on Youth have a vote. Does it surprise you that two lay religious congregation leaders of men will have a vote in the synod, but those of all the women will not? Sisters are laypeople, but brothers are, too.  Kate writes to us:

Just about two weeks ago the Vatican released the list of participants for the upcoming Synod on Youth, the Faith, and Vocational Discernment.

Women will comprise only 10% of the people gathered, with the special status of “observer” or “collaborator,” and certainly: no votes.  Even with the new Synod rules, which created an opening for non-ordained voting participants, the Vatican doesn’t seem to imagine that to include women, with the pathetic reason:  “For now, that is how it is.”

We’re asking supporters to put on a white shirt (the color of the suffragist movement) and take a photo with a “Votes for Catholic Women” sign and tag it #VotesForCatholicWomen. I am attaching a sample sign for you to print here.

 Did you get that? After you send your photo, think about, “For now, that is how it is.” Women’s involvement in Vatican synods has been increasing over the years, following campaigns led by FutureChurch, with the participation of Catholics Organizations for Renewal, including WOC. Now women observers can speak, and not only in the breakout sessions but in the general assembly. 

Secondly, this is the Synod that my Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia characterized as one in which “the bishops would have absolutely no credibility in addressing this topic” after the sex abuse revelations in Pennsylvania.  And what might the concerns of youth be? Many, of course, but one area stands out to me:

In a final document issued after a weeklong meeting in Rome, the young people also called on the Catholic Church to better include them at all levels of its global community and noted women are “not given an equal place” in church leadership. …

“Today, there is a general problem in society in that women are still not given an equal place,” it states. “This is also true in the Church.”

“There are great examples of women serving in consecrated religious communities and in lay leadership roles,” it continues. “However, for some young women, these examples are not always visible.”

“One key question arises from these reflections; what are the places where women can flourish within the Church and society?” say the young people. “The Church can approach these problems with real discussion and open-mindedness to different ideas and experiences.”  

This meeting included 300 youth delegates and, as you can see, walked to the shore of the women’s ordination sea but did not dip in. The three delegates from the United States to this preparatory meeting were selected by the USCCB.

The synod begins next Wednesday, October 3, and goes to the 28^th. In addition to bishops and other clerics and the two religious brothers alluded to above, “Francis also named dozens of ‘collaborators’ and ‘observers’ to the synod, including 30 women and several young adults. They participate in the synod discussions, but do not have a vote on the final proposals given to the pope.”  No votes.

Finally, I want to comment on the V Encuentro, the gathering of 3000 Latinx Catholics in Grapevine, Texas, from September 20-23. This assembly is based on a representative process, with delegates moving through parish, diocesan and regional levels. “About 60 percent of U.S. Catholics younger than 18 are Hispanic — a reality that will ultimately reshape the way we understand U.S. Catholicism,” Hosffman Ospino, co-chair of the process committee, said, “and a reason why the V Encuentro will emphasize youth and young adult ministry.” So this is the year of looking to the future in Texas as well as in Rome.

Cecilia González-Andrieu, an associate professor of theological studies at Loyola Marymount University, writes about the Encuentro in America. She finds young people who often feel treated like children in their communities, even when they are running successful programs. On the inclusion of women in leadership, González-Andrieu quotes theologian Ana Maria Pineda, RSM: “One of the areas that still remains to be given serious attention is that of the inclusion of women in the life of the church and in society,” and notes that Sister Pineda “was the only person who was not a bishop invited to address the whole assembly.” González-Andrieu writes further,

Although some bishops are committed to nurturing Latinx lay leadership, this was not evident in much of the program. Despite the presence of exceedingly qualified lay experts and religious women, few had prominent roles as presenters of content or reflections. Similarly, during the Visperas and Laudes (morning and evening prayers) and Eucharistic liturgies, a total of seven worship celebrations, women were excluded from almost all of the liturgical ministries. Accustomed to being actively involved in the worship life of their parishes, this shocked many of the women present.

 I feel the pain of that exclusion, especially from the liturgy. I have seen prayer led by women during the 1994 meeting when the USCCB, only men, discussed the pastoral on women. Those were the only women’s voices I heard. Twenty-four years later at V Encuentro, there were many women participants, able to critique what was going on and what should have been said.  González-Andrieu concludes her powerful article, “what God needs of U.S. Latino Catholics is to find the fortitude and voice to deal with the difficult issues honestly, to advocate for inclusion and, when needed, to shake things up in the never-ending work for metanoia.”

God needs this of all women as the church begins to examine the hopes and needs of youth throughout the world. We cannot evangelize when there is no trust and no voice and no votes.