Sunday, October 27, in Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome, the center of universal Catholicism, Pope Francis marked with a mass the conclusion of a long work supposed to contribute to the transformation of the Church and go down in history as the one of the great legacies of his pontificate. Since 2021, the two-thousand-year-old institution has been engaged in a process carried out on a planetary scale and dedicated to giving the faithful the opportunity to express themselves on its future, in a context marked by internal tensions and scandals. Their contributions, collected parish by parish, were first synthesized in Rome, bringing up many sensitive subjects – from the ordination of married men to the role of the laity and the prevention of sexual violence – but particularly highlighting the emphasis on the place of women.
A first session of the synod followed, in the fall of 2023, with discussions bringing together, in addition to bishops, lower-ranking religious, lay people and, for the first time, women. A year later, the second session of the 16e ordinary synod of bishops, which was held throughout the month of October, ended Saturday, October 26 with the release of a final document approved by the pope.
The text, resulting from the work of 368 “fathers” et “mothers” synods of around a hundred nationalities, opens, over its 51 pages, perspectives for development while leaving open some of the most pressing questions. Surprising observers, the pope decided not to transcribe the conclusions of the work in an apostolic exhortation, but decided to directly adopt the proposals of the assembly, immediately giving them an official value for « serve as a guide »in his words. Since the beginning of the synod, the method, horizontal and inclusive, was itself a goal in itself, a factor of change.
After having hovered over the debates over the past three years, the question of the ordination of women deacons responsible for assisting priests in the liturgy is not clearly raised. The final document admits that “Women continue to encounter obstacles to achieving greater recognition”asserts that there is no “no reason or obstacle that could prevent women from exercising leadership roles in the Church” and asks that the contributions of women saints, theologians and mystics be better highlighted. However, the nature of these roles is not specified. Furthermore, the article devoted to the feminine dimension of the Church, so important at the parish level and so neglected within the hierarchy of the institution, was voted the least well.
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