By Martha Ligas

Among many emails I receive in my inbox regularly are blog posts written by Katie Gordon from Monastics of the Heart, a ministry of the Benedictine Sisters of Erie. (You might remember hearing from Katie in a Pentecost Project feature on Pax Priory.) While we were in Rome, I read a post that referenced Benedictine Brother David Stendl-Rast. When asked how to bring monasticism beyond the hierarchies of the past, Br. David replied: “networks are our future.”

I couldn’t help but bring this wisdom to mind as we traversed through Rome connecting with and supporting other church reform organizations in their good and important work. In fact, when asked about our trip to Rome, this is the piece that I speak about with the most excitement. It is easy to feel disheartened by the institutional Church’s resistance to change– so easy, in fact, that many have left the pews in droves. I can’t lie and say that I feel much hope that by the end of October there will be more equitable roles for women in the church, more sacramental justice and inclusion for LGBTQ+ folks, or really much change at all. Perhaps just a sliver of my hope is found inside the Synod meeting hall. But most of it…most of it I place somewhere else. 

As I was reminded during our week in Rome, the Spirit is not confined by the doors of the Paul VI Aula, the walls of Vatican City, or the invisible boundaries that define worthiness in our Church. The Spirit is much bigger than that– and my faith tells me that She isn’t confined by any boundaries at all. She weaves her way within and beyond boundaries, paying no mind to who we have decided is “in” and who is “out.” Thank goodness the Spirit has more Wisdom than we do. 

So while most of the synodal attention is on what is happening on “the inside,” during our pilgrimage to Rome I felt the energy of the Good on “the outside.” The church reform world can often feel siloed, but the reality couldn’t be further from the truth. There is energy and joy and holy power in the communities of the faithful who are advocating for greater justice within our Church. And to feel this power in person, beyond the confines of a zoom screen, filled me with a new hope. 

I found such joy in attending two prayer services while in Rome, “Same Baptism, Same Spirit, Same Calling” co-planned by Women’s Ordination Conference (WOC) and Women’s Ordination Worldwide (WOW), as well as the St. Phoebe Prayer Service coordinated by Discerning Deacons. There was something so beautiful about different organizations coming together to pray with the same hope. In addition to our prayers, our team also jumped in and chanted right along with WOC, WOW, and the Catholic Women’s Council during both their flash mob and march through the streets of Rome to advocate for women’s ministries. Our voices blended with theirs so much so that we were no longer representing different organizations, but one important cause. And on our last full day in town we attended a seminar hosted by Pax Christi where we learned ways in which the Church can better participate in nonviolence. We have so much to learn from our friends at Pax Christi, an organization that has been doing this imperative work for the last 50 years. 

And that was just in the first week of the Synod! Had we had the opportunity to stay longer or be in two places at once, we would have shown our support for New Ways Ministry, DignityUSA, Catholics for Choice, the college and university students gathering in Rome this month, and so many others that fit under the umbrella of the People of God working towards a more just Church. Our network is vast, and our community is strong. 

I do believe that networks are our future– and may those networks continue to stretch beyond boundaries to truly represent the very best of a synodal Church. 

By Olivia Hastie

Russ, Martha, and I were standing in front of Saint Peter’s Basilica holding the banner with the names of women so many of you asked us to carry with us in the spirit this week in Rome. We had just arrived at the Vatican and were getting ready to make our way to the Dicastery for Divine Worship to deliver our open letter, freshly caffeinated after cappuccinos. 

We snapped a few photos and then had Lucy and Rita hold the sign, but before we could get that far a strange man started to walk toward us. Before I completely realized what was happening, he held out what looked like a wallet and flashed his badge:

“Vatican politzia,” he said, “What is this?”
“A banner with names on it,” we responded.
“Who are these people? What happens to them?” his partner chimed in.
“Well, they are our loved ones and friends. We are praying for them.” 

After asking us to move outside the square to be in accordance with Vatican rules and procedures, I couldn’t stop thinking about their question: “Who are these people? What happens to them?” At first it was funny to me. A silly story about when the Vatican police almost removed us for violating the rules.

But his questions kept percolating: Who are these people? What happens to them?

These are the names of women who have kept on keeping on in and around a Church that excludes them. These are the names of women who have come before and serve as beacons of spirituality, joy, hope and courage. These are women who embody the spirit of Mary Magdalene – a love for God, the desire to find God, and the ability to preach about where God is operating in their lives. 

And what happens to them? Well, we pray for them. But not merely a prayer of recognition, a prayer of naming. They are here with us, they are loved by us, they have shown us the way.  

When we walked into the Dicastery for Divine Worship, up to the Synod Secretariat, past the Trevi Fountain, to the Church of Saint Mary Magdalene, past the Pantheon, and to the Piazza Navona. We carried the banner and honored their names – women of wisdom and inspiration. 

The spirit of Mary Magdalene has impacted so many without recognition. And when asked how or why this work is important, I just think of that banner. How many more women will be empowered to share their gifts after seeing themselves reflected in the lectionary through the commissioning of Mary Magdalene? 

By Martha Ligas

Before the start of this fourth and final session of the Synod on Syndality, the delegates gathered for a retreat in preparation for their work ahead. During the retreat, Fr. Timothy Radcliffe, OP, reflected on Resurrection: 

“Without Mary, they would not have come to the tomb. She declares that the Lord is present.”  

There is no doubt about it: We need Mary Magdalene– her voice, her story, and her witness to Resurrection. Without Mary Magdalene, we would not have come to the tomb. Without Mary Magdalene, the story of the Resurrection isn’t complete. 

Yesterday was the FutureChurch team’s first of four full days in Rome during this opening week of the Synod. When we woke up in the morning we headed out to visit the Dicastery for Divine Worship right off of St. Peter’s Square. There are 16 different dicasteries in the Curia of the Roman Catholic Church, and each one exists to spread Catholic doctrine and to defend the Church from heresy. I can honestly say that it’s a place I never imagined I would be. 

But yesterday we had a mission– bring Mary Magdalene to Rome. Our FutureChurch community is counting on us to deliver. So with shaky confidence we found our way to the right office and asked to speak with someone from the Dicastery. While our team had reached out on multiple occasions requesting a meeting, we had never heard back. So there we were: showing up unannounced to the Vatican. But we were sent up an elevator and greeted by a gentleman who directed us to a room off the main entrance. There, we were met by an assistant to Cardinal Grech, the prefect of this particular Dicastery. 

During our meeting, we explained with poise and with joy how important it is that the full story of Mary Magdalene’s Resurrection proclamation be told on Easter Sunday morning. Easter Sunday is when our churches are the most full! What would it mean if, in packed churches all across the world, Catholics everywhere heard Jesus call Mary Magdalene by name? How would this naming reverberate within and beyond the walls of the church? How would this naming resonate with young girls sitting in the pews, young girls who may not realize Jesus knows their name, too? 

To our surprise, we found a friend at the Dicastery. Our conversation partner nodded along enthusiastically, took our prayer cards of Laura James artwork, and retrieved a lectionary to clearly see what we were talking about and asking for. He understood the request, was grateful for the conversation, and promised to take our letter and literature to the dicastery at large. It was all we could have asked for in a pop-in at the Curia, and we were honored as always to carry our community with us in our advocacy. 

By Olivia Hastie

During my teen years, spiritual growth was enmeshed with an education centered in complementarity. I was taught a passive faith – incurious and submissive. It frustrated me, to love God and to know that I was loved by God, but confined to gender norms that kept me from doing the things I wanted to – from being the person I wanted and was called to be. I truly couldn’t imagine that 10 years later, I would be packing my bags to go to Rome to be there for the opening of the Synod. 

It’s quite emotional for me honestly. 

Because, when I was fourteen, I never would have thought that I could play a role in shaping the Church, as small as that role is. I never would have believed that I, a young woman, could participate in the Synod even from the outside. It never would have occurred to me that there were others like myself, called to engage and transform their traditions. And, I never would have believed that in that big room, together, playing an equal role with bishops and clergy, are women carrying the stories and hopes of those on the margins who’ve come before us in faith. 

The Catholic Church is an ever fraught and uncomfortable institution, but today as I write sitting at my gate at Logan Airport, I have hope. I have hope that, even without immediate outcomes, our voices will carry. I have hope that our work to expand the lectionary, and support our partner organizations will leave our communities better than where we found them. 

During this trip, Russ, Martha, and I will continue our work making a way where it feels like there is no way. 

I will do it for fourteen-year-old me, who felt like God couldn’t love her in the same way God loves boys, just because she was a girl. 

And I do it for Mary Magdalene who proclaimed the good news all those years ago and has never received the credit she is due. I believe that movements, like ours, to include women in their rightful place in the lectionary, will have ricochet effects that will elevate the status and contributions of women throughout history and in our world today.

Mary Magdalene is going to the Synod, and what a blessing and honor it is to get to go with her.