“…It’s painful to watch, isn’t it, as our Church stubbornly squanders so much energy, talent, and grace in our refusal to welcome equal partnership with women in ministry and leadership?
Are we condemned forever to endure this injustice which grieves so many Catholic women – and the men who respectthem – and, more calamitously, drives from our community innumerable others who refuse to tolerate such discrimination any longer? Is there any hope for our recalcitrant Church? Well, perhaps there is a glimmer.
Four weeks from today the long-awaited Synod will begin in Rome. For the past two years, Catholics around the world have been preparing for this momentous gathering. Among the 364participants will be the “usual suspects,” of course: cardinals, bishops, and priests. But for the first time in history, those clerics will be joined by numerous lay women and men – all with full voting rights. In fact, more than one-quarter of all the voting members will not be bishops.
The synod agenda – which has already been published – assures us that the concerns voiced by an overwhelming number of Catholics will be discussed, including our yearning for a more welcoming Church, one that reaches out to people who feel estranged. A Church that is more affirming of those who have been marginalized, especially members of the LGBTQ community. And an insistence on a Church that recognizes the equal dignity of women, and invites them to serve in leadership positions, including ordained ministry…”
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