Vatican City.-The Synod, the assembly of bishops from around the world, will study at its October meeting in the Vatican the possibility of giving more presence to women in the Church, although it will not address the question of the female diaconate, according to the preparatory text presented on Tuesday.
The Holy See has published the ‘Instrumentum Laboris’, a ‘working document’ that will provide the foundation for the meeting of the Synod of Bishops next October and which arises from the guidelines of the previous meetings and of the local churches around the world.
Pope Francis has decided that the Synod of Bishops will be a “process” of listening from 2021 onwards, focused on Synodality, that is, the unity of the Church, and for this reason it includes for the first time lay people and women with the right to vote.
This “path” has been articulated in stages since 2021 and, following last year’s meeting in Rome, it now reaches its second and final meeting, this October, to then provide conclusions that will presumably be presented during 2025, the Holy Year.
The XVI Assembly of Bishops, from 2 to 27 October, will have on the table for debate this new ‘Istrumentum Laboris’ which declares that “throughout the synodal process the desire for unity in the Church has grown along with the awareness of its diversity.”
One of its most notable points is the call to reflect on how to give more participation to women in parishes and dioceses around the world, something that already emerged in the previous meeting.
The Synod should study the “promotion of spaces for dialogue in the Church where women can share experiences,” “greater participation in the elaboration and taking of decisions,” “wider access to positions of responsibility in dioceses and other ecclesiastical institutions” or support for consecrated women.
The document also calls for promoting women’s access to positions of responsibility in seminaries and theological faculties, as well as judges in canonical courts.
“The contributions of the Episcopal Conferences recognise that there are many areas of the Church’s life open to the participation of women. However, they point out that these opportunities often remain unexploited,” the text reads.
The 2023 Synod urged ensuring that women have greater presence and responsibility in the Church, but concluded divided on the possibility of a female diaconate, which is permitted to men to exercise some ministries without being ordained.
This year’s meeting does not intend to address this issue, even though “some local churches” have asked that women be admitted as deaconesses, but it sees “it as a good thing that theological reflection should continue with appropriate times and methods.”
Pope Francis, who has increased the presence of women in positions of responsibility in the Vatican and who in 2016 ordered a study of the role of deaconesses in the early Church, has always maintained that the priesthood is reserved for men.Clarín.
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2024-07-12 18:59:52