Pope Francis this week will open a global gathering of Catholic bishops and laypeople discussing the future of the church.
Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference Communication Officer Sheila Pires poses for a portrait at The Vatican, Friday, Sept. 29, 2023. Pires has been invited to take part in the next synod of bishops starting Oct. 4. I think the church has just come to a point of realization that the church belongs to all of us, to all the baptized, she says. Of the 365 voting members, only 54 are women and organizers insist the aim is to reach a consensus, not tally votes like a parliament.
“Not only because of these events in October in Rome, but because the church has found a different way of being church,” Zervino said in a recent interview in her Vatican offices. “And for women, this is an extraordinary step forward.” The potential that this synod, and a second session next year, could lead to real change on previously taboo topics has given hope to many women and progressive Catholics.
Of the 365 voting members, only 54 are women and organizers insist the aim is to reach consensus, not tally votes like a parliament, especially since the October session is only expected to produce a synthesis document. “It’s about how could we be men and women together in this society, in this church, with this vision of equality, of dignity, reciprocity, collaboration, partnership,” Becquart said in a June interview.
Discerning Deacons, a group pressing for the pope to approve female deacons, as there were in the early church, sent a small delegation; other groups pressing for women's ordination to the priesthood are also in Rome, even though the pope has taken women's ordination off the table.
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