Activists frustrated yet hopeful after synod punts on women deacons

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The final document did stress the importance of including the stories of biblical women in the lectionary — which made the church reform group FutureChurch happy.

Their “Mary Magdalene Goes to the Synod” project called for the including at Easter the full account of the Resurrection in John’s Gospel, which includes Christ’s appearance to Mary Magdalene and the commissioning of her to proclaim the good news to the other disciples.

Yet executive director Russ Petrus senses frustration among FutureChurch folks about how the issue of women deacons was handled.

“People are rightly upset about the ways that Pope Francis and the curia tried to pre-emptively take it off the synodal table,” Petrus told NCR in an email interview. “That it made it into the final document reflects the faithful persistence of delegates — particularly lay and women delegates — in representing the voices of the faithful who brought it up at every step in the synod process, refusing to let it be erased.”

That the final document’s paragraph on women got the most “no” votes is a “disappointment but not surprising,” he said. “It’s a sign of the clerical resistance women continue to face, even in this time of ‘synodality.’ “