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A month-long meeting of Catholic bishops and laity at the Vatican ended Saturday with calls for women to be given more leadership roles within the church. However, on the question of whether women could be ordained as deacons, the church said the possibility “remains open” and requires further consideration.
Cardinal Jean-Claude Holerich of Luxembourg, one of the synod’s top officials, said at a press conference Saturday night that allowing women deacons is a sensitive issue and that the synod, known as the synod, will debate whether to vote for or against it. He said he had not. that.
“The question remains open,” he said, adding that the pope had signed a document approving the results of the conference. “Who am I to rebel against the Pope?”
The issue of women’s role in the Church emerged as a priority when Catholics around the world were consulted ahead of the conference, and was repeatedly discussed at the conference. But the issue of women’s ordination was taken off the agenda, relegated to a separate study group that will present its findings to Pope Francis next summer.
The final document, filed Saturday night, said there was “no reason or barrier to preventing women from serving in leadership roles within the church.” He also encouraged women to participate in the training of priests in seminaries.
Each paragraph of the document required two-thirds approval. The paragraph on the role of women received the highest number of no votes, but passed by 258 votes to 97.
The document did not specifically mention LGBTQ inclusion, another priority that emerged during the global call. But one participant, the Rev. James Martin, an American Jesuit chaplain who serves the LGBTQ community, said the discussions were friendlier and “more open” than they were a year ago, when the conference’s first session was held. He said it became. Francis told Saturday’s gathering that the church must be open to “all, all, all.”
The Vatican council has been hailed as a momentous event comparable to a smaller version of Vatican II, which modernized the church in the 1960s, and says it wants to include all Catholics, from cardinals to members of the most remote dioceses. It reflected Francisco’s aspirations. A frank discussion to chart the future of the church.
The issue of women’s roles is hotly debated at this institution, where women play a major role in daily operations. They outnumber Catholic men working hard in hospitals and schools around the world, and often serve as pastoral leaders in remote communities, but critics say they have little say when it matters. say:
However, many of these women around the world say they are not always recognized for their leadership.
“There are already many examples of women’s leadership and service around the world,” said Ellie Hidalgo, director of Discerning Deacons, a Durham, North Carolina-based organization that advocates for women deacons. spoke.
In an effort to make the church more inclusive, Pope Francis has appointed more women to top Vatican positions than any of his predecessors. Prime Minister Francis made it clear in a May interview that women are not on his agenda, saying “women can be of great help as women, but not as pastors,” but Saturday’s approval of the document means the door is completely closed. It suggests that it is not.
Deacons were appointed ministers who could preach and perform weddings, funerals, and baptisms. But they cannot celebrate mass.
For some, the increased leadership roles mentioned in Saturday’s document won’t be enough.
“For women, especially women called to the ordained ministry, it will feel quite inadequate,” Kate McElwee, executive director of the Women’s Ordination Conference, said Friday. “I feel like they’re trying to widen opportunities and leave space for women as they see fit, but if they don’t address the urgent need to recognize women as full equals, it’s pretty lame. You will feel that you have enough.”
Cardinal Victor Fernández, the Vatican’s doctrinal chief, explained last week that Francis “determined that the time is not ripe” to consider the issue. On Thursday, the cardinal overseeing the study group told synod representatives that he believed the issue needed further consideration and was not a priority for most women in the church in any case.
But she added that the research group is open to opinions and listens to experiences regarding the role of women. This is a step welcomed by advocates of women’s ordination.
“Up until now it has been primarily a theological conversation or a historical conversation,” Ms. Hidalgo of Discerning Deacons said Friday. But “really considering what’s happening on the ground and how women’s leadership is being called upon by communities, priests and bishops” could lead to real change. She added that there is.
Throughout this month, various organizations have organized events to raise awareness about the role of women in the church. A liberal group called We Are Church staged a short play in a Roman monastery denouncing the “absurdity” of deliberating whether women should be granted full equality. McElwee’s group held a protest march.
Some held events that were clearly not sanctioned by the church.
Ms. Brown of the Women’s Ordination Conference attended a ceremony on the Tiber River in Rome earlier this month. During the ceremony, the Roman Catholic Association of Women Priests, an organization not recognized by the Vatican, performed the so-called ordination of six women, three of them. Three as deacons and three as priests.
For the Vatican, the event violated canon law prohibiting the ordination of women. The women objected, claiming apostolic succession from an Argentine bishop (whose credentials the Vatican disputes) who claim to have ordained seven women on the Danube in June 2002. are.
Two years later, another bishop, whose identity has not been made public, claimed to have ordained the first two female bishops. Since then, more than 270 people in 14 countries have performed the same ritual, said the Rev. Bridget Mary Meehan, who was appointed bishop of the society in 2009 and performed the Tiber festival.
The decision to hold the event in Italy’s capital was intentional, she said.
“We support the synod, we are part of it, we are a visible witness of being part of the church,” she said. The pope is “talking about dialogue in the spirit,” she added. “We’re ready. We’re here.”
One of the newly ordained, Mary Katherine Daniels, said she was called to the priesthood because “I had always wanted to be an obedient daughter of the church, but I knew that was forbidden.” He said he had suppressed those feelings for years. But eventually, she said, she learned to follow her heart, believing it was God’s will.
Last year, Pope Francis gave carte blanche to theologian Sister Linda Pocher to run a series of seminars on women and the Church for a group of cardinals to whom she serves as advisor.
“I was given the freedom to open up the windows of the rooms in which they meet and offer some different perspectives,” Sister Poacher said last week at the launch of four books containing these seminars. spoke. Each was accompanied by a preface by the Pope.
Brazilian theologian Sister Regina da Costa, who spoke at the recital, said she was “tired of not being heard, tired of not being considered by the church” and “tired of being left behind.” ” expressed the dissatisfaction of many Catholic women. ” Men of the Church.
“We want to stand together and move forward together,” she said.
