Synod on Synodality, 2024

Pope Francis broke with papal tradition at the end of the final session of a month-long synod in Rome.   The Pope did not publish an exhortation — a stamp of approval — at the end of the gathering — as has been the practice of popes some days after other synods ended.   “What we have approved is enough,” he said. “There are already very concrete indications in the document that can be a guide for the mission of the Churches, on the different continents, in the different contexts. That is why I am making it immediately available to everyone.”   And yet, he added, the synod’s work is not finished. “There are and there will be decisions to be made,” the Pope said.   This includes the work of the 10 study groups, including groups on the role of women in the church and LGBTTQ+ Catholics, that are to report to him next year. Those groups “must work with freedom to offer me proposals,” the Pope said, adding this was not a way of “postponing decisions indefinitely.” ...

More than four years after it began, the Roman Catholic Church’s Synod on Synodality ends Saturday. On March 7, 2020, Pope Francis announced the process that began with worldwide listening sessions leading to two month-long assemblies in Rome, one in October 2023 and the second this month to discuss the future of the Church.  T he past week has been one of long days as delegates pored over a draft of the final document, making more than 1,000 suggested revisions.   When they finally vote on it, it will then be up to the world’s almost 1.4 billion Roman Catholics to see how synodality — the process of journeying, listening and learning together — can be put into practice at diocesan and parish levels. Read about the ending of the synod,  including its controversies and acclaims, in the Free Press, along with a sidebar about why people who hope for big changes should brace themselves for a "cold shower."

  Due to space constraints, my story about how Catholic women are responding to news the role of women in the Church won't be discussed at the synod had to be shortened in the paper. The full article is below. The Free Press version can be found in the sidebar here. Catholic women in Canada are responding with disappointment to news there won’t be any discussion during this Synod on Synodality in Rome about the ordination of women as deacons in the Roman Catholic Church. That announcement was made Oct. 21 by Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernandez, who heads the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith . According to Fernandez, Pope Francis has indicated the matter of allowing women to become ordained deacons "is not mature at this time." Instead, he said that people interested in this topic could make submissions to a commission established by the Pope Francis in 2020 to study the subject. The synod concludes on Saturday; the final document from the delegates is expected t...

Like many gay Canadian Catholics, “Steven” — not his real name — was disappointed to learn a fuller acceptance of same-sex relationships would not be on the agenda during the Roman Catholic Church’s synod of bishops this month. The topic was originally set to be explored during this month’s Synod on Synodality in Rome, after worldwide consultation with Catholics three years ago. But fearing it might cause disunity in the synod, and the wider church, the topic was shunted off to a study group designed to explore “controversial” topics such as LGBTTQ+ welcome and affirmation. “I suppose we who are in the queer community should feel relief that the question of greater acceptance of our community has not been totally discarded,” said Steven, a closeted pastoral worker at a Catholic church in Canada. He asked not to say where for fear of being fired. But the reluctance of the church to deal openly with the question of greater acceptance of LGBTTQ+ Catholics is something that saddens...

Many important issues are being considered at the Roman Catholic Church’s  Synod of Synodality, its groundbreaking gathering of delegates from around the world to discuss the Church’s future. But one issue that didn’t make it to the official assembly is the role of women, including ordination. The issue was highlighted as an important topic during a consultation of the world’s Catholics preceding the synod’s official gatherings, starting in 2023 and concluding this month in Rome. But due to the controversy that surrounds the issue, it’s been sidelined into a study group that will report to Pope Francis in 2025 — to the frustration of some Catholic women in Canada.   Read my latest story from the synod in the Free Press. You can also read my short history of the struggle for an increased role for women in the Roman Catholic Church. Photo above: Press conference at the press office of the Holy See where the topic of the ordination of women was discussed. 

I knew it would be impossible to be able to say everything that could be said about this Synod on Synodality in Rome in just a few stories in the Free Press. So I created this blog for overflow material. Like this one, a short history of the struggle of Catholic women for a greater role in that Church. Women have been knocking on the door of the Roman Catholic Church, asking for a greater role in ministry, for a very long time. The most recent round of door knocking began in the 1960s, with Vatican II—the groundbreaking synod that sought to modernize the Church. Signs of change were apparent when the new pope, Paul VI, appointed 23 women auditors: 10 religious and 13 lay women. They participated in preparatory sessions, especially those concerning the laity, where they were, in Paul’s words, “experts in life.” No woman ever addressed the council, made up only of men, and the final documents say little about women. One thing women at that council resisted was being considered ...

Hopes are high among Winnipeg Catholics as the Synod on Synodality wraps up this week in Rome. The groundbreaking month-long synod is part of a three-year process to help determine the future of the Roman Catholic Church. Delegates from around the world have gathered to listen, dialogue and discern how the Church can be relevant in the 21st century. For Albert LeGatt, archbishop of the diocese of St. Boniface, the synod is “not so much about making decisions as it is about how decisions are made.”   Richard Gagnon, archbishop of the Archdiocese of Winnipeg, hopes the synod will have a positive influence on local churches.   “I hope it provides practical models for how we can work together to meet the challenges and face the big questions facing us today,” he said. Read my first story filed from Rome in the Free Press.

Some say the gathering of the Roman Catholic faithful in Rome for the Synod on Synodality goes too far by raising too many challenging questions.    Others say it’s not going far enough since big issues like the role of women in that Church and affirmation of LGBTTQ+ people aren't included in the formal assembly, but rather shunted aside to study groups. Hopeful or disappointed, pleased or concerned, all seem to agree that the Synod of Synodality—a three-year process that is culminating this coming week in Rome—is a major event in the life of the Roman Catholic Church, an event with far-reaching implications. I am in Rome from Oct. 19-28 as a reporter for the last week of the synod. My hope is to catch an idea of what delegates to the month-long assembly think the Roman Catholic Church should be doing to be relevant in the world today, including back in Canada. Read my first story about the synod in the Free Press.

From Oct. 19-28, I will be in Rome as the religion reporter and columnist for the Winnipeg Free Press to report about the conclusion of the three-year Synod on Synodality.   The goal of the trip is to learn more about the Synod and to report back what it can mean for the Roman Catholic Church in Manitoba and in Canada.   The questions I will be exploring include: What is the Synod of Synodality? What hopes do Catholics have for it? What will it mean for women, LGBTQ+, ecumenical relations and people on the margins? How will church leaders make it real for their dioceses and parishes?   I don’t know if I will be able to answer all those questions, or even do a good job of it. As a Protestant in the Anabaptist tradition, the Roman Catholic Church is a bit of a mystery to me! But I will give it a good try.   Check in to this blog for links to stories in the Free Press and other stories along the way.   Thanks to the Archdiocese of St. Boniface and the Obl...