Listen: The much smaller and aging corps of women religious may suggest that this way of religious life is over. "Wrong," says Sr. Joan Chittister, in episode 3 of her podcast, "Risking the Questions."
As the second and final session of the synod on synodality continues at the Vatican, the roots of that meeting trace back to the Synod of Bishops for the Pan-Amazon region held a half-decade earlier.
A group of pilgrims with the Ecclesial Conference on the Amazon and Discerning Deacons took part in programs and church visits in Rome at the start of the synod discussing the spiritual call many women have to be deacons in the church.
Mexico's election of its first female president showcased gender parity in Mexican politics. But women religious there are wary that Claudia Sheinbaum will reduce violence and poverty.
A group of men and women gathered at a chapel near the Vatican, confidently praying that the church would restore the female diaconate Oct. 3, the day after synod participants were told it would not happen now.
Rev. Angela Nevitt Meyer of Roman Catholic Womenpriests-USA joined other advocates for women's ordination in Rome, where they prayed near the site of synod on synodality.
"Rushing" to open the diaconate to women in the Catholic Church would short-circuit a necessary reflection on the relationship between ordained ministry and charismatic leadership, particularly as it impacts the participation of women in the church, said the head of the Vatican's doctrinal office.
Pope Francis on Oct. 2 opened the final session of a Vatican summit on the future of Catholicism, encouraging participants not to use the monthlong meeting to push individual agendas, but to seek unity in diversity in the church so "each person feels welcomed."
