Disappointment for many at Catholic Church synod as women’s role on back burner

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This article was published 21/10/2024 (723 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

ROME — 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.

Sister Elizabeth Davis of St. John’s, N.L., is one of those women. Davis, a delegate at the synod, is a strong proponent of an expanded role for women in the Roman Catholic Church.

In an interview before the gathering — delegates have been instructed not to talk to the media during the assembly — Davis said it is disappointing that the topic of ordaining women as deacons has been sidelined from the main discussion.

“It’s very disconcerting,” said Davis, 76, a member of the Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy in that province. “If we are to be truly synodal, we should not be creating a study group for this topic.”

Davis said she understands that change in the Church is incremental. “We’re an old church, we don’t change very fast,” she said.

But, she said, this issue can’t wait. “Women need an increased role in the Church,” she said, noting that a majority of the ministries are already being performed by women. “But we don’t have an official place in the structure.”

Reserving ordination as deacons and priests only for men has no biblical or early church support, Davis noted. The only reason for it “is tradition … if the Church believes in ordination for ministry, it has to be for everyone.”

For Louise Dowhan, 59 and a member of East Kildonan’s St. Alphonsus Parish, the Church’s reluctance to involve women more fully, including as ordained deacons and priests, is “a systematic rejection of women’s gifts.”

Dowhan noted that Catholic churches in Winnipeg have to call men from other countries due to a shortage of Canadian men who want to go into the priesthood.

While some of those imported priests serve well, others struggle due to the cultural differences they encounter. “It’s hard to be a pastor in a society you didn’t grow up in,” said Dowhan, who attended a prayer vigil in Winnipeg earlier this month to pray for greater inclusion of women in the Roman Catholic Church.

The problem of a shortage of priests could be solved if women were allowed to take on the role, she said. “Women are ready,” she stated. “It’s a loss to the church not to involve women more.”

Dowhan, a “cradle Catholic,” has been active in promoting greater roles for women since she was in her 20s. “Back then, I figured change would come soon. I’m still waiting,” she said.

She acknowledged being frustrated with the lack of progress. “I’m torn between leaving and finding a new spiritual home or staying to create change,” she said. “I will stay, but I do get discouraged.”

Susan Roll, 72, has been pushing for a greater role for women in the Catholic Church for most of her life.

Roll, who is retired from teaching theology at Saint Paul University, was hopeful the synod would usher in changes. But she is seeing “more pushback against the idea of women’s increased role,” she said.

“The church believes there is one baptism into the body of Christ for men and women, and the call for service is rooted in that one baptism,” she said. “By denying women access to ordination, the Church is violating that principle.”

For her, the stakes couldn’t be higher. “If a change isn’t made, the Church stands to lose a generation of Catholic women,” she said.

For Archbishop Albert LeGatt of the archdiocese of St. Boniface, the issue of the role of women in the Church is important. But, he said, “there are miles to go” before it is decided.

Archbishop Richard Gagnon of the Archdiocese of Winnipeg agreed the issue is important, but decisions about it are beyond what can be decided in Winnipeg. “It’s at the level of the universal Church,” he said.

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