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Pope Francis kicked off the next phase of a closely watched Vatican reform synod on Wednesday by urging delegates to focus on unity and avoid pushing personal agendas so “each person feels welcomed,” but advocates for women’s ordination in the Catholic Church say they feel anything but welcomed. Female Catholic priest Angela Meyer and Kate McElwee have traveled to Rome expressly to demand…
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Demonstrators in Rome demand women be allowed to be ordained as Catholic priests — watch the video here.

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…
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Regardless of what happens this month at the Vatican when it comes to women’s ministries, Catholic women in Latin America will continue serving the poor and also want to maintain dialogue on the issue, said a U.S.-based theologian who hails from Latin America. … …U.S.-based groups, too, are out in full force in Rome, but…
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“I think it’s pretty clear that the Vatican is trying to lower expectations of any outcome of this synodal gathering,” said Kate McElwee, executive director of the Women’s Ordination Conference. McElwee said that it would constitute a “scandal” if the synod were to fail to recognize the call by thousands of women. She described the…
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NPR religion correspondent Jason DeRose interviewed Executive Director Kate McElwee and others on the legacy of Sr. Theresa Kane for Weekend Edition. Listen to the story or read the transcript.

By Nicole Winfield The Vatican said Tuesday that its doctrine office will prepare a document on women in leadership roles in the Catholic Church, a new initiative to respond to longstanding demands by women to have a greater say in the church’s life. The document will be written by the Dicastery of the Doctrine of the Faith…
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By Heidi Schlumpf Alyssa Pedicino wrote her first letter to Pope Francis when she was 9. By that age, she had been an altar server for two years and already felt called to be a deacon, just like her dad. In her letter, Pedicino congratulated the pope on his new position and shared her frustration…
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