Women and the Catholic Church: Voices and Challenges from the Global Consultation

This article examines how the issues regarding the role of women in the life and mission of the Catholic Church are addressed, chronologically and geographically, in the various documents of the synodal process For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, Mission, 2021–2024. A detailed outline of the discussion of women in each of the documents is presented, including the documents which emerged from the seven continental meetings of Africa and Madagascar, North America, Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and Oceania. It also includes a close examination of the document which emerged from the unique and important Maronite Special Synod for Women (2022–2023). The aim is to record the breadth and complexity of the discussion, identifying common concerns, key theological themes, and issues of divergence, including the contested issues of the female diaconate and the ordination of women to the priesthood. Concerns about the role of women in the Church have often been dismissed as solely the concerns of the Global North or of a liberal elite, but the results of the global consultation show that this is not the case. Addressing the lack of full and equal participation of women in the Catholic Church will be one of the core issues upon which the credibility of the Church in the world hinges.