Pope's major Vatican summit ends without action on women deacons, mention of LGBTQ Catholics by Christopher White, Joshua J. McElwee

 My comment: Pope Francis should expand the number of women at this Synod and include the voices of women deacons and priests who could share their lived experiences of serving God's people in sacramental and justice-oriented ministries for 21 years.  The studies have been done. Next year, share them, and listen to the experiences of Roman Catholic Women Priests who have been walking the talk of  creating an inclusive Church! Bridget Mary

National Catholic Reporter

https://www.ncronline.org/vatican/vatican-news/popes-major-vatican-summit-ends-without-action-women-deacons-mention-lgbtq?utm_source=NCR+List&utm_campaign=5839d57ad9-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2023_10_28_08_10&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6981ecb02e-5839d57ad9-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D

The Vatican summit on the future of the church concluded on Oct. 28 by postponing action on ordaining women as deacons and failing to acknowledge deep tensions over how to care for LGBTQ Catholics.

"A 41-page report, approved and published that evening, called for the results of earlier papal and theological commissions on women deacons to be presented for further consideration at the next assembly of the Synod of Bishops, to be held in October 2024. 

The report, titled "A synodal church in mission," follows an intense month of debates at the Vatican among some 450 participants over a range of big issues, including the role of women in church ministries, clergy sexual abuse and better inclusion of LGBTQ Catholics.

Theological and pastoral research on the access of women to the diaconate should be continued, benefiting from consideration of the results of the commissions specially established by the Holy Father, and from the theological, historical and exegetical research already undertaken," the report states. "If possible, the results of this research should be presented to the next session of the assembly."

The report goes on to state the need for the church to address employment injustices and unfair remuneration for women in the church, "especially for women in consecrated life, who are too often treated as cheap labor." 

Proposals also include a review of liturgical texts and church documents so that language will be considerate to both men and women and to also include "a range of words, images and narratives that draw more widely on women's experience."

While previous documents leading up to the closely watched meeting were marked by candor and openness, the synthesis report for the Oct. 4-29 assembly takes a much more cautious tone. Although it makes 81 proposals, they are often quite open-ended or general, and the text calls for further theological or canonical study, evaluation or consideration at least 20 times.

Participants voted on the final text paragraph by paragraph through the early evening of Oct. 28. The threshold for passage for each paragraph was a two-thirds majority of the voting members.

The paragraphs that received the most no votes were two of the primary paragraphs addressing the possibility of women deacons. One passed by a vote of 277-69; the other by a vote of 279-67. A paragraph addressing the question of clerical celibacy also received substantial no votes, but passed 291-55.

At a press briefing shortly after the text was published, Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, one of the synod's lead organizers, said he was "full of wonder that so many people have voted in favor" of the paragraphs about women's leadership in the church. "That means that the resistance is not so great as people have thought," he said.

On the question of LGBTQ Catholics, Cardinal Mario Grech, who heads the Vatican's synod office, told the briefing that the assembly felt a need to "respect everyone's pace." He added: "It doesn't mean if your voice is stronger it will prevail."

Jesuit Fr. James Martin, a popular spiritual author and editor of the LGBTQ Catholic publication Outreach who took part in the synod as a voting member, told NCR he was "disappointed but not surprised" by the result for LGBTQ Catholics.

"There were widely diverging views on the topic," said Martin. "I wish, however, that some of those discussions, which were frank and open, had been captured in the final synthesis."

For the first time since the establishment of the church's Synod of Bishops in 1965, about 50 women were granted voting rights by Francis at this assembly. While the final report they helped approve did not call immediately for the ordination of women as deacons, and did not even mention calls for priestly ordination for women, it did offer some pointed language about the role of women in church leadership."

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