FutureChurch Responds to Synod Study Group 5 Report on Women’s Participation in the Church

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Olivia Hastie, Program Associate | olivia@futurechurch.org

In the Final Report of Synod Study Group 5, “The Participation of Women in the Life and Leadership of the Church,” the group recognizes that the “question of women” is a sign of the times and affirms that the Holy Spirit speaks through it. (10)

FutureChurch welcomes many of the report’s findings—especially its affirmation of the gifts, talents, and wisdom women already bring to the life of the Church and the world. At the same time, we recognize that the road to equity must include real engagement with the question of ordination and with the ways patriarchy remains embedded in the very fabric of the Church’s hierarchical structures. 

The document also acknowledges women’s ongoing frustrations within the Church, citing the decline in women’s religious vocations, the growing number of women who no longer identify as Catholic, and women’s continued desire to participate more fully in the life and leadership of the Church. We agree with Study Group 5 that the Church must overcome the notion “that the active participation of women in the life and governance of the Church constitutes a ‘concession’ granted by hierarchical authority.” We recognize that women have a right to these vocations and roles through their baptism. (11)

Through our work at FutureChurch and Catholic Women Preach, we have seen that women are already embracing their baptismal call to preach, teach, lead, preside, and minister to communities both within and beyond the institution. While we are encouraged by the effort of Study Group 5 to name the many fruits that women bring to the Church, we hoped for a more courageous engagement with the structural barriers that continue to limit women’s full participation. 

We are also heartened that the document acknowledges the often-hidden women of Scripture, especially Mary Magdalene. Mary Magdalene’s Easter proclamation is a clear sign of the value Jesus placed on his relationships with women and an example of the role women have always been meant to play in the life of the Church. We affirm that “this fact carries concrete implications for the participation of women in [and outside of] the church.”(18)

The institutional Church stands at an important moment of discernment. Listening to and affirming the experiences, wisdom, leadership, and voices of women is not simply a pastoral option—it is essential to the Church’s Gospel mission in the world today. At FutureChurch, we are grateful to walk alongside and be inspired by the many women who are already living their vocations and raising their voices for renewal and justice in our church and world; and we stand in solidarity with the women whose ministries are not yet formally recognized.