At the Vatican, the synod has just ended after more than three weeks of work, bringing together cardinals, bishops and laity from around the world to reflect on the future of the Church and its mission in the world. One of the major themes was that of the place of women within an institution still considered too patriarchal. But for the moment there is no question of ordaining women.
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With our correspondent at the Vatican, Eric Senanque
The place of women in the future of the Church was one of the central themes of this synod.
“ There is no reason or obstacle that could prevent women from exercising leadership roles in the Church », Underlines the final document, adopted on Saturday evening, but the vagueness remains as to the definition of these roles.
If the contribution of women in the training of priests has been encouraged, this is not yet the case for diaconal ordination, which some have been calling for for many years. For Pope Francis, “ the question is not yet ripe », and the theme of the female diaconate is treated by a separate commission which will deliver its conclusions in June 2025.
An example of the liveliness of the internal debates, article 60 of the final document of the synod, which discusses the future of women in the Church, is the one which was voted the least well, with 97 votes against, or more than 1 /4 of the participants of the synod.
The Catholic feminist movements continue to put pressure: on October 17, one of them symbolically ordained three women priests on a barge moored on the banks of the Tiber, a stone’s throw from the Vatican.
Also readThe role of women in the Church, one of the issues of the synod chaired by Pope Francis