All women should be taken serious in church conversations

“For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, Mission” is the final document from the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops that occurred in October.

The theme of conversion is prevalent throughout the document and is directed at how authority has been historically wielded in the Church and seeks new ways to exercise authority.

On women in the Church, the document states that, despite the equal dignity of women and men due to their Baptism, “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.”

While the issue of women as deacons was off the table at the recent Synod, the final document states that “the question of women’s access to diaconal ministry remains open [and that] discernment needs to continue.”

It has not been ruled out, but how the discernment will continue is not clear. Whether “diaconal ministry” refers to Holy Orders is also not clear.

To assist the synodal process, the organization Catholic Women Speak conducted an international survey in 2022 and received over 17,000 responses from women in 104 countries.

It does not represent all women, but it provided an avenue for the voices of many. One statistic affirms that 79% of respondents “agree women should be fully included at all levels of church leadership.”

Another survey result noted that clerics should “practice a style of leadership that serves the Church and parish communities [and that the] practice of servant leadership [should be] linked with priests as pastors living and demonstrating the Gospel and love of God through Christ-like behavior.”

Lastly, while some women mentioned a strong desire to be able to discern a vocation to the diaconate or priesthood, others mentioned that this would not help since women would be ordained to “an already flawed clerical system.” These two issues have a wide range of perspectives and there is a need to continue fostering discussion aimed at concrete solutions.

Since 2013, Pope Francis has increased the participation of women within the Church. When he started approximately 846 women worked for the Vatican and as of 2023 it was 1,165.

Within the Roman Curia—the central administrative body of the Holy See that assists the Pope in governing the universal Catholic Church—about 26% of its workforce is now women.

According to America magazine, “more women hold top decision-making positions than at any time in the Vatican’s history.”

Nathalie Becquart, a religious member of the Congregation of Xavières, is undersecretary at the Vatican’s office for the Synod of Bishops and the first woman to hold the position.

In response to pausing the ordination of women to the diaconate, she stated that “it’s very important to help young girls and young women to highlight that the Church is wide with many different kinds of Church organizations, and there are already many, many ways to foster women’s leadership.”

Becquart also noted that “a deeper cultural change is needed for women’s contributions to be truly valued and taken seriously.”