Theologians praise expanding synod to lay voting members as ‘very significant’

In 2018, groups including FutureChurch and the Women’s Ordination Conference organized a petition with nearly 10,000 signatures advocating that women religious superiors should be able to vote in synods. The Women’s Ordination Conference also staged a peaceful protest outside that year’s meeting of the synod, which was focused on young people.

“This is the result of sustained advocacy, activism and collaboration and witness from the grassroots,” Kate McElwee, executive director of the Women’s Ordination Conference, told NCR.

Deborah-Rose Milavec, co-director of FutureChurch, said: “I have a great sense of hope and see that this could really open the doors for lots of important conversations in the church that we haven’t been able to have for several decades now.”