SYNOD ON SYNODALITY: OUR REPORT
We take Pope Francis’ invitation to dialogue seriously.
We at the Women’s Ordination Conference embraced Pope Francis’ invitation to collective discernment and dialogue through the Synod on Synodality, a two-year process exploring what it means to “journey together” as the People of God in a local and global Church. We studied the preparatory documents and created various resources and “toolkits” for our members to learn more about the history and role of synods, as well as the opportunities for discernment and engagement with the synodal process. We created an open Facebook group as a place for support, questions, and sharing of news and analysis of the synod proceedings.
From December 2021 to April 2022, we held 8 listening sessions with more than 300 participants, and offered an “independent feedback form” to which 77 people responded. Our synod report, “Let Her Voice Carry,” shares their perspectives.
“like trying to love again after heartbreak…”
Major Themes
The following is a summary of the themes and prayers that emerged from our sessions: the contradictions of hearing God’s call but not being heard, of hope and heartbreak.
CALLING TO BE HEARD
“We have tried to be heard.” This simple comment from one listening session participant sums up what many who attended expressed: Many participants said that as women, or as people who disagree with the church’s teachings on an all-male priesthood, LGBTQ+ equality, or reproductive justice, they have felt repeatedly marginalized and silenced by their pastors and in their parishes.
CALLING FOR EQUALITY
“Christ calls women clearly and powerfully. I have been called to ordination.” This clear and profound statement is one that carries the most joy and sadness for women of the church. Many women have sincerely discerned calls to priesthood or the diaconate, and the rejection of that call by the institutional church is a source of immense sadness, grief, or anger.
CALLING FOR HEALING
We found a deep well of frustration, pain, and anger with leaders of the institutional church who perpetuate misogynistic theologies and practices, both on a personal and global level. Despite this pain, over and over again, participants expressed a longing or even a vocation to heal the wounds of division and oppressive structures that stifle the Holy Spirit.
This sense of proactive responsibility and longing toward healing, despite one’s own pain, is a potent reminder of the persistence and strength of women in the church.
CALLING FOR(TH) COMMUNITY
The phrase, “I didn’t leave the church, it left me” was captured in many forms, and participants shared their gratitude and energy for small faith communities, reform organizations, and emerging models of church where their pastoral needs can be better met or their call to ministry can be answered. Frequently, participants mentioned Zoom liturgies and online prayer experience as a path toward unity, community, and intimacy.
Catholic women
persist.
During our listening sessions we invited participants into prayer and reflection through the practice of lectio divina or an Examen adapted for women in the church, followed by small group discussions. We encouraged participants to practice deep listening, to discern the movement of the Spirit in what was being shared, and what the most loving response might be to what or where God was calling the church. Each small group had a facilitator and a note-taker, and we then brought the small groups back together to reflect collectively.
The sessions affirmed this central point: Despite their heartbreak and doubts, women are able to cultivate joy and find hope in their Catholic identity and faith. These gatherings reminded us that the Holy Spirit is alive and moving among us, letting our voices carry to dream aloud of a more inclusive church.
Our Recommendations
Continue the conversation with women in your diocese.
Women long to be heard and many have felt they did not have an opportunity to do so in their diocesan listening sessions. The conversation and collective discernment must continue so that their stories might be heard and responded to.
Ensure the voices of those on the margins, and particularly those who challenge church teaching on issues of equality, are heard.
Women’s ordination is an urgent question of our time, worthy of discernment, discussion, and prayerful consideration. We ask you, as pastors, to seek out and listen to the sincerely discerned calls of women, and nonbinary and trans people, to the diaconate and priesthood, and consider how the church might “journey together” with them.
Include women in substantial and equitable ways in the process of synthesizing regional and continental synod reports and in the synodal gathering in 2023.
Practice transparency and accountability throughout the synodal process.
The involvement of the laity must not end with the close of the diocesan listening phase. Consider inclusive ways to involve the whole church at every level of the synod.
Cultivate relationships with church reform organizations, whose members love their faith and are willing to do the work to more fully realize Jesus’ inclusive message.
If Pope Francis is asking us to consider: “Where is God calling the church as it journeys together?”, we must answer that call together.
Diocesan synod reports show early signs of including voices of women’s ordination advocates
We’re starting to see synod reports from diocese across the U.S. with encouraging signs of the inclusion of calls for the ordination of women. If and when your diocesan report is published, please fill out this form and let us know if it includes a mention of women’s leadership, women’s ordination to the diaconate or priesthood, or any paragraphs of note.
You can see a regularly updated map showing dioceses in the U.S. that have mentioned women’s ordination in their synod reports by clicking on the image below.
Share our findings with your priest or bishop!
Simply copy the link at the top of this page and paste it into an email!
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