Synod, October 21: Cardinal Fernández calls for more women in leadership roles, but not in diaconate

October 22, 2024

On October 21, 351 of the 365 participants in the second and final session of the synod on synodality gathered in Paul VI Audience Hall (synod agenda), where they received a copy of the draft of the synod’s final document. Outside of the audience hall, Pope Francis received the non-Catholic fraternal delegates observing the synod.

Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, SJ, the synod’s relator-general, described the draft as “a provisional text, which means that it requires confidentiality: not for lack of transparency, but to maintain an open and serene environment for discussion.”

Cardinal Fernández: women in leadership roles, but not the diaconate

Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, addressed the synod assembly, three days after his absence from a dialogue session between study group members and synod participants provoked anger among some of the latter—even though he had announced nine days in advance that two dicastery officials would be present at the session.

In February, Pope Francis created ten study groups to explore some of the issues raised during the October 2023 synod session; the fifth study group is devoted to “some theological and canonical matters regarding specific ministerial forms.” The study groups are expected to finish their work by June 2025.

On October 2, the opening day of the current synod session, representatives of study groups updated synod participants on their work. In this context, Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, revealed that his dicastery is preparing a document on women and ministry.

Synod organizers then altered the synod’s schedule for October 18 to allow for dialogue between study group members and synod participants. On October 9, Cardinal Fernández said that the work of the fifth study group had been entrusted to his dicastery; he also invited synod participants to share their thoughts on women and ministry orally or in writing and said that two theologians from his dicastery would be present on October 18.

“The Holy Father confirmed to me that the commission chaired by Cardinal Giuseppe Petrocchi will continue to be active,” Cardinal Fernández said on October 21. “Synod members who wish to do so—either individually or as groups—can send considerations, proposals, articles or concerns to that commission.”

Cardinal Fernández revealed that the work of the fifth study group is being coordinated by Msgr. Armando Matteo, secretary of the dicastery’s doctrinal section.

“Last Friday he had a medical operation and proposed in his place two people who are very capable of listening to receive the proposals,” said the prefect. “Afterwards, I learned that some were expecting my presence, and I offered a meeting on Thursday.” Synod participants, then, will be able to meet with Cardinal Fernández on October 24 at 4:30 PM if they wish to share their thoughts on women and the diaconate.

Cardinal Fernández continued:

We know that the Holy Father has expressed that, at this time, the question of the female diaconate is not ripe and has asked that we not dwell on this possibility now. The study commission has partial conclusions that we will publish at the right time, but it will continue to work ... Instead, the Holy Father is very concerned about the role of women in the Church and, even before the Synod’s request, he asked the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith to explore the possibilities of development without focusing on the Holy Orders.

L’Osservatore Romano reported:

In fact, the cardinal said, “thinking about the diaconate for some women does not resolve the issue of the millions of women in the Church.” On the other hand, he noted, “we have not yet taken some steps that we could take.” For example, “when the new ministry of catechist was created, the Dicastery for Divine Worship sent a letter to the Episcopal Conferences” also proposing “what the Pope said in Querida Amazonia about catechists who support communities in the absence of priests.” But only a very few Episcopal Conferences have accepted it.

Furthermore, Cardinal Fernández continued, “the acolyte for women has in fact been granted in a small percentage and many times it is the priests who do not want to present women to the bishop for this ministry.” For the cardinal, therefore, “rushing to ask for the ordination of deaconesses is not the most important response today to promote women.” And, he continued, “to give substance to the reflection, I asked that testimonies be sent to my Dicastery from women who are truly at the head of communities or who hold important roles of authority.” Finally, he asked, “especially the women of this Synod, to help receive, explain and send to the Dicastery various proposals that we can listen to in their context on possible ways for women’s participation in the leadership of the Church.”

Cardinal-designate Radcliffe downplays expectations for changes

In a meditation delivered to synod participants (video), Cardinal-designate Timothy Radcliffe, O.P., emphasized that synod participants should speak with freedom as they comments on the draft final text (CWN coverage). “Because of this freedom, each of us can say ‘I’. We do not have the right to keep silent,” he said.

At the same time, Father Radcliffe—who has criticized the African bishops’ position on homosexuality—toned down expectations that the synod’s final document would contain anything revolutionary:

We may be disappointed with the decisions of the Synod. Some of us will consider these to be ill-advised or even wrong. But we have the freedom of those who believe that, as St Paul wrote to the Romans, ‘God works all for the good of those who love him’ (Romans 8.28) ... So even if you are disappointed by the result of the Synod, God’s providence is at work in this Assembly, bringing us to the Kingdom in ways that God alone knows. His will for our good cannot be frustrated.

Cardinal Grech: synodality is a treasure to be shared

Cardinal Mario Grech, the Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops, was the principal celebrant of a votive Mass of the Holy Spirit for synod participants in St. Peter’s Basilica (video).

Preaching on the Gospel reading of the day (Luke 12:13-21), Cardinal Grech interpreted the parable of the rich fool in a novel way, comparing synodality to the riches that the man in the parable stored in his barns.

“Our journey has been rich in fruits: it has helped us to see the gifts that are flourishing in the people of God today, without hiding our frailties and wounds,” Cardinal Grech preached, adding:

We too, faced with the abundant fruits of the synodal journey, might ask ourselves the same question: what to do now? What to do with the abundant fruits we have gathered over these years? ... We too could run the risk of doing as this man did: hoarding what we have collected, the gifts from God that we have discovered, without reinvesting them, without living them as gifts received that we must now give back to the Church and the world, of feeling we have arrived! We too may be content, without looking for new ways for our harvest to multiply further; we too may risk remaining closed within our known boundaries, without continuing to enlarge the space of our tent, as the prophet Isaiah invited us to do.

“As we close the work of our Assembly and look to the path that lies ahead of us, we must keep ourselves from covetousness, from the desire to keep everything for ourselves, to possess, to hoard, to define, to close,” Cardinal Grech added. “We must overcome the temptation to believe that the fruits we have harvested are our work and our possession: we must receive everything as a gift from God. And what is the way forward? We are celebrating the Votive Mass of the Holy Spirit. The way to take is that of the Spirit of God. In fact, only the Holy Spirit can enable us to remain open to the newness of God.”

Press briefing: ‘a new way of imagining the Church is emerging’

With the exception of the texts of the spiritual assistants and leading synod officials, the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops, led by Cardinal Mario Grech, has imposed tight secrecy on synod participants (Regulations, Article 24), binding them to confidentiality, even with respect to their own contributions, and even after the session concludes.

The regulations stand in marked contrast to the relative transparency of the Synod of Bishops under St. John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI, during which the Vatican routinely published the synod fathers’ interventions (speeches). The daily press briefing thus offers an impressionistic, if filtered, view of the synod proceedings.

The presenters at the October 21 press briefing (video), the Holy See Press Office noted, were

• Paolo Ruffini, prefect of the Dicastery for Communication and chair of the synod’s Commission for Information
• Sheila Leocádia Pires, communications officer of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference and secretary of the synod’s Commission for Information
• Sister Nathalie Becquart, XMCJ, Undersecretary of the General Secretariat of the Synod
• Cardinal Matteo Zuppi of Bologna, president of the Italian bishops’ conference
• Cardinal-designate Timothy Radcliffe, O.P.
• Bishop Manuel Nin Güell, OSB, apostolic exarch for Catholics of Byzantine rite in Greece

Ruffini discussed an online event with digital missionaries, held the previous day, as well as a “synod of sport” event, scheduled for October 25. Pires, after summarizing the contributions of Cardinal-designate Radcliffe and Cardinal Grech, said that the final document “is not only the product of the discussions in the hall, but draws from a rich journey and incorporates all the work done over the years during the various phases of the synodal process.”

Pires said that the synod’s experts (pp. 21-22) played a significant role in drafting the final document.

“Special rapporteurs and experts worked hard to listen carefully to what was said and examined the reports of the circuli minores [working groups],” she continued. “The contributions of theologians were significant both for the document and for the forums.”

She added that synod participants would soon “share challenges, dreams, interior dynamics and new motivations born from reading the text”

Cardinal Zuppi said that dialouge “is not instrumental, but foundational to the Church itself” (Vatican News coverage).

L’Osseravtore Romano reported:

Father Radcliffe also spoke at the briefing, who focused on the path of renewal that the Church is taking, which will emerge in the final document ... Faced with the disintegration of society, war, this difficult moment that the world is experiencing, the Church has as a particular vocation that of being a sign of Christ, of peace, and of being in communion with Christ, and through this Synod a new way of imagining the Church is emerging.

The prelate “emphasized that the document should not be seen as a place for decisions or headline-grabbing statements,” Vatican News noted.

“The Synod gives us a new image of being Church,” Sister Becquart added, as she described the ecumenical prayer at the tomb of St. Peter, held earlier in the synod session, as the beginning of a new phase of ecumenical relations.

“I was struck by the differences compared to last year,” she continued, referring to the October 2023. This year, “there is such great quality of mutual listening, participation.”

Addressing questions from journalists about women and the diaconate, Father Radcliffe recalled the women doctors of the Church and said that “if we do not keep in mind that the sacraments and teachings of the Church are fundamental, [then by] measuring everything with the yardstick of ordination we risk slipping into very clerical positions.”

Paying tribute the desert mothers of early Christianity, Bishop Güell also spoke of avoiding the temptation to clericalism.

“Today there are already women in top roles, presidents of Catholic universities, of organizations such as Caritas or of sections of episcopal conferences,” added Sister Becquart.

Nonetheless, she said, “obstacles and difficulties still remain, found especially at a cultural and social level, because the Church is part of society. I find this, for example, also when speaking with Anglican bishops or with ambassadors. If a man intervenes in a diplomatic meeting, that speech is given weight, if a woman intervenes, the consideration is less: often it is something unconscious.”

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Earlier coverage

• Synod retreat, day 1: ‘Stripping ourselves before the other and before God’ (CWN, 10/1)
• Synod retreat touches on homosexuality, ‘new ministries’; culminates in penitential vigil (CWN, 10/2)
• Opening Synod session, Pope stresses listening (CWN, 10/2)
• Synod, October 2: Pope defends inclusion of non-bishops; Cardinal Fernández: ‘no’ to women deacons (CWN, 10/3)
• Synod, October 3: Working groups discuss ‘Foundations’; ‘nothing new,’ says Cardinal Hollerich (CWN, 10/4)
• Cardinal Grech: Every Catholic is invited to weigh in on synod study groups’ deliberations (CWN, 10/4)
• Synod study group calls for ‘paradigm shift’ on controversial moral issues (CWN, 10/4)
• African bishops preparing document on polygamy (CWN, 10/4)
• Synod, October 4: leading African cardinal criticized for inadequate consultation in rejecting same-sex blessings (CWN, 10/5)
• Synod, October 5: work on ‘Foundations’ concludes; Lebanese, Haitian prelates recount suffering (CWN, 10/7)
• No synod meetings on Sunday, October 6
• Synod, October 7: Cardinal Hollerich calls for suggestions to make Church less ‘pyramidal’; women’s ministry discussion resurfaces (CWN, 10/8)
• Jesuits hold outsized influence at Synod on Synodality (CWN, 10/8)
• Synod, October 8: final document commission members chosen; leading Latin American prelate raises prospect of married priests (CWN, 10/9)
• Synod names commission to prepare final document (CWN, 10/9)
• Synod, October 9: Cardinal Fernández invites synod participants to weigh in on forthcoming document on women and ministry (CWN, 10//10)
• Synod, October 10: New synod guidelines announced, but not made public, as discussion of transparency begins (CWN, 10/11)
• Synod, October 11: opacity shrouds discussion of transparency, accountability in the Church (CWN, 10/14)
• Papal address: Christian unity is an unexpected gift, a journey, harmony, and for the sake of mission (CWN, 10/14)
• Synod, October 12: participants pray for migrants on synod’s least transparent day (CWN, 10/15)
• No synod meetings on Sunday, October 13
• Cardinal-designate Radcliffe links African bishops’ opposition to homosexuality to pressure from evangelicals, Moscow, and Muslims (CWN, 10/15)
• Synod, October 14: abuse of nuns, need for women in seminary formation discussed (CWN, 10/15)
• How ‘Special Interest Advocacy’ works at the Synod on Synodality (CWN, 10/15)
• Cardinal Hollerich introduces final ‘module’ of Synod working document (CWN, 10/15)
• Synod, October 15: Cardinal Hollerich calls for diffusion of synod’s ‘dynamism’; Cardinal Steiner calls for female diaconate (CWN, 10/16)
• Synod, October 16: pushback against devolution of doctrinal authority to episcopal conferences? (CWN, 10/17)
• Synod, October 17: Chinese bishop professes adherence to ‘sinicization of Catholicism’ (CWN, 10/18)
• Synod, October 18: some delegates angered by Cardinal Fernández’s absence from dialogue (CWN, 10/21)
• Synod, October 19: Cardinal Grech calls for reevaluation of seminaries, theology programs (CWN, 10/22)
• Synod not in session on October 20
• Father Radcliffe: discuss Synod document without fear (CWN, 10/21)

 

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