*The classicist in me knows that’s not the correct translation, but I just couldn’t resist!

As I write these words, the final document of the 2024 Assembly is only officially available in Italian. But a working translation of paragraph 60 – pertaining to women – has been circulating around the internet.

Here is that translation:

By virtue of Baptism, women and men have equal dignity as members of the People of God. However, women continue to encounter obstacles in obtaining a fuller recognition of their charisms, vocation and roles in all the various areas of the Church’s life. This is to the detriment of serving the Church’s shared mission. Scripture attests to the prominent role of many women in the history of salvation. One woman, Mary Magdalene, was given the first proclamation of the Resurrection. On the day of Pentecost, Mary, the Mother of God, was present, accompanied by many other women who had followed the Lord. It is important that the Scripture passages that relate these stories find adequate space inside liturgical lectionaries. Crucial turning points in Church history confirm the essential contribution of women moved by the Spirit. Women make up the majority of churchgoers and are often the first witnesses to the faith in families. They are active in the life of small Christian communities and parishes. They run schools, hospitals and shelters. They lead initiatives for reconciliation and promoting human dignity and social justice. Women contribute to theological research and are present in positions of responsibility in Church institutions, in diocesan curias and the Roman Curia. There are women who hold positions of authority and are leaders of their communities. This Assembly asks for full implementation of all the opportunities already provided for in Canon Law with regard to the role of women, particularly in those places where they remain under-explored. There is no reason or impediment that should prevent women from carrying out leadership roles in the Church: what comes from the Holy Spirit cannot be stopped. Additionally, the question of women’s access to diaconal ministry remains open. This discernment needs to continue. The Assembly also asks that more attention be given to the language and images used in preaching, teaching, catechesis, and the drafting of official Church documents, giving more space to the contributions of female saints, theologians and mystics.

Before I proceed with my analysis, I should note that this paragraph received the most “no” votes of the entire document – 97 – a sign of the clerical resistance women still face. Nevertheless, it passed with about 72% of the total vote, surpassing the two-thirds (66%) majority required. Moreover, in an unprecedented move, Pope Francis approved and ratified the document as is, making it a part of his ordinary magisterium. He will not write the usual post-synod apostolic exhortation. So exactly how the recommendations will be implemented remains to be seen.

While we await an official translation of the full document, I thought I’d share a few initial thoughts on the paragraph above.

Women in the Lectionary

FutureChurch took Mary Magdalene to the Synod, she was seen, and she prevailed! In the months leading up to the Assembly, FutureChurch and our Mary Magdalene advocates personally reached out to more than 170 synod officials, delegates, and experts as well as bishops around the world and the Dicastery for the Doctrine of faith (everyone we could find contact information for!). Together, we shared with them the good news that women have been at the center of our faith story since the very beginning and that their stories must be told when we gather – especially on Sundays.

Martha, Olivia, and I along with Rita Houlihan and Lucy Reiger continued our advocacy in Rome during the first week of the Synod. We paid a visit to the Dicastery for Divine Worship to explain our request and to deliver nearly 5,000 signatures asking that all of Mary Magdalene’s story be told on Easter Sunday. We passed out holy cards featuring art of Mary Magdalene by Laura James and the Preface for the Feast of Mary Magdalene in English, Spanish, Italian, and French. We hosted a prayer service to celebrate the hidden women of the lectionary. And we marched through Rome, including through St. Peter’s Square (much to the chagrin of the Vatican police), with images of Mary Magdalene proclaiming the resurrection.

So, you can imagine our excitement when we read these sentences: “Scripture attests to the prominent role of many women in the history of salvation. One woman, Mary Magdalene, was given the first proclamation of the Resurrection. On the day of Pentecost, Mary, the Mother of God, was present, accompanied by many other women who had followed the Lord. It is important that the Scripture passages that relate these stories find adequate space inside liturgical lectionaries.”

(Okay – so, I don’t actually love the use of the word “adequate.” I would have much preferred “just” or “equitable” or even “appropriate.” But perhaps that’s the best our friends in the Synod Hall could get? Or perhaps it will change in the official translation?)

FutureChurch has been working on expanding the lectionary to include more biblical women since at least 2008 – during the Synod on the Word. In fact, it was the subject of one of our very first teleconferences (well before the advent of Zoom). And it feels so good to finally have made some progress! We believe that if implemented it will be a small – but important – step in advancing women in the Church. Hearing the Risen Christ’s ‘holy order’ to Mary Magdalene to “go and tell” the good news of the Resurrection to the others on Easter Sunday or reading about the diakonia of Phoebe at any Mass (it is currently excluded altogether) can only help advance the discussion of women’s ordination in the Church.

During our “drop in” visit to the Dicastery for Divine Worship, we were received by a staff member of the Dicastery who met with us for about a half hour. He was actually already aware of our work to include more women in the lectionary and listened intently to our request and was captivated by the art of Laura James. It was an important synodal, relationship-building moment. And we are hopeful that we can continue our conversations with the Dicastery and advance this recommendation made by the Synod Assembly.

The Question of Women Deacons

Despite significant efforts by Pope Francis and the Curia to take the topic of women deacons off the synodal table, it found its way into the final document: “Additionally, the question of women’s access to diaconal ministry remains open. This discernment must continue.” I’ve heard reports, but cannot confirm, that earlier drafts of the document did not name the issue. That it made it in reflects the faithful persistence of delegates – particularly lay and women delegates – in raising up the voices of the faithful in the Synod Hall and refusing to let it be “erased.”

I do want to point one linguistic nuance I noticed while comparing the 2023 and 2024 treatments of the topic. In 2023, the delegates seemed to use “diaconal ministry” and “diaconate” interchangeably. In 2024 we only see “access to the diaconal ministry.” Since this is not the final official English translation, I don’t want to make too much of it just yet. But I do wonder how much the word choice in 2024 reflects Pope Francis’ apparent openness to some version of a non-ordained diaconate for women and resistance to an ordained diaconate for women.

Exactly where and how the discernment will continue remains a little unclear. Some reporting indicates that it is in the hands of Study Group 5 and the Dicastery for the Doctrine of Faith (which, as far as I can tell, are one and the same). But we’ve also been told that the previously-formed 2020 study commission (the second one – without Phyllis Zagano) will resume its work. The fruits of their work have never been made public. And neither were the fruits of the first study commission. Moving forward there needs to be more transparency and accountability to ensure that the discernment is being undertaken in a synodal and honest way.

Women’s Leadership in the Church

Yes, God calls many women to ordained ministry in the Church. Still, there are other women who don’t experience a call to ordination who nevertheless have gifts that can be put at the service of the People of God in significant and authoritative ways. And the delegates recognize that: “This Assembly asks for full implementation of all the opportunities already provided for in Canon Law with regard to the role of women, particularly in those places where they remain under-explored.”

FutureChurch has long worked for the decoupling of ordination and authority in the Church. And we welcomed Pope Francis’ 2022 reform of the Curia to allow “any member of the faithful” to lead one of the 16 dicasteries. At the time we noted that Pope Francis had already made significant moves to place women in positions of authority and decision making and called for that trend to find its way to every level of the Church – including the diocesan and local levels.

In January 2021, Pope Francis changed Canon Law by motu proprio allowing women to officially be installed in the ministries of Lector and Acolyte. This practice was already in place in a parts of the church, but the change made it a universal possibility.

And in May 2021, Pope Francis – again by motu proprio – established the ministry of Catechist for lay women and men. As with lectors and acolytes, there were already lay women people who held the title ‘catechist’ in their local parish or diocese, but the new ministry added additional weight and recognition to this important ministry of evangelization and the people who take it up. And in January 2022 Pope Francis installed women as Catechists during a Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica.

Still, we know that – because of clerical and patriarchal attitudes – many of even these openings haven’t universally been taken advantage of. So, it is good that the delegates issued this call in no uncertain terms. More women and girls on the altar during the liturgy and in the rooms where important decisions are made is a good thing. That said, if bishops are to be held accountable there will need to be systems in place to ensure and track progress on this front.

Conclusion

To be sure, the Synod on Synodality did not go as far as we wanted – or as far as we honestly need to go. Moreover, people are rightly frustrated by the way Vatican officials abandoned principles of synodality to preempt synodal conversation about women’s ordination to the diaconate. And we don’t yet know how all the recommendations will be implemented. But the delegates made good progress on some issues and kept other issues alive. And we are grateful for their work – and particularly for the work of the women and lay delegates who made history both this year and last.

In the end, I believe that this Synod process has unleashed something that even Pope Francis and the Curia can’t control – the Holy Spirit. And, as the delegates write in their paragraph on women, “what comes from the Holy Spirit cannot be stopped.”

There are so many good people of faith, driven and animated by the Spirit, who are ready to do her will. And we at FutureChurch are proud to stand with them.

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.