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The weekly newsletter of Discerning Deacons
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The Assembly of the Synod on Communion, Participation, and Mission gathered together in Paul VI Hall (Vatican Media)
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November 8, 2023
After a month-long presence in Rome during the Synod on Communion, Participation, and Mission, we have returned to our homes with gratitude-filled hearts. We want to thank the synod delegates who journeyed to the Vatican from all parts of the globe, representing diverse cultures and languages while seeking greater communion for our Church in the third millennium. For weeks, they engaged in conversations in the Spirit about a myriad of hopes, concerns, and questions which Catholics and people of faith around the world have asked to be addressed.
One of the most valuable experiences of the synod process for our Discerning Deacons delegations — as we participated in the public activities of the synod and organized a symposium on a synodal diaconate — was being in community with Catholics from around the globe connecting over our shared beliefs and having honest conversations about our differences.
Now that the synod document, A Synodal Church in Mission Synthesis Report, has been published, we want to express our gratitude for how the report affirms the important role women have played in the Church for generations. In reflecting on women in the life and mission of the Church, the synthesis details the convergences reached by the synod delegates, additional matters for consideration, and seven proposals that include increasing women’s access to formation and ensuring that women can participate in decision-making processes and assume roles of responsibility in pastoral care and ministry. The need to do so is named as “urgent.”
As for the ongoing discernment about women and the diaconate, we thank synod delegates for their agreement to continue the conversation. More than two-thirds of synod voters supported addressing the possibility of women deacons, affirming what we knew to be true – this topic is not as divisive as people would have us believe.
Their proposal states: “Theological and pastoral research on the access of women to the diaconate should be continued, benefiting from consideration of the results of the commissions specially established by the Holy Father, and from the theological, historical and exegetical research already undertaken. If possible, the results of this research should be presented to the next Session of the Assembly.”
We thank the delegates for reaching agreement on this next step forward that centers on learning and reflecting on the breadth of scholarship that already exists about women and the diaconate while continuing to delve into new questions. We are optimistic for the continued discernment about restoring women to the ordained permanent diaconate and returning to traditions of the early Church. We look forward to continuing our collective discernment about how a renewed diaconate of men and women can reinvigorate our communities. We are hopeful that over the next year more members of our Catholic communities will have the opportunity to participate in discernment conversations about how the Church can better serve and accompany those in the pews and those in the margins.
My colleague, Anna Robertson, who led a delegation of young adults to Rome at the beginning of October also expresses her hope, saying, “The document’s affirmation of women’s co-responsibility and equal baptismal dignity and its acknowledgment of the significant and urgent challenges women face within the Church and in society, gives me hope in the future of the Church. I’m encouraged by my fellow young adults whom I traveled with to the opening of the synod — faith-filled and prophetic young women and men who believe in the promise of synodality to strengthen our communities, heal our divides, and revitalize us as a Church that goes out to the peripheries to live out the mission of Christ and to share the good news.”
In this week’s newsletter, we invite you to take a few minutes to watch this moving Tribute to the Women of the Synod produced by Future Church. We request your presence at any of the several zoom gatherings coming up in November to reflect together on the synthesis report and discern what is ours to contribute in the coming year. We offer thoughtful commentary and analysis about this ground-breaking synod by Liturgy on the Margins, Chris Lamb, Pilar Timpane, and others. Lastly, in November we spotlight global efforts to end violence against women and girls, and if you’re an early riser, the World Union of Catholic Women’s Organizations (WUCWO), invites you to a screening and dialogue on the documentary “In-Visibles No More.” I’ll grab my cup of tea and hope to see you there!
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| In peace, |
| Co-director, Discerning Deacons |
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P.S. From now until the end of the year, The Witness will publish every other week. Our next newsletter will land in your inbox on November 22.
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| A Tribute to the Women of the Synod |
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Watch this beautiful Tribute to the Women of the Synod produced by Future Church!
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| Upcoming Events - What’s next after the Synod? |
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Monday, November 13, 1 pm ET/12 pm CT
Catholic Theological Union offers an in-person and on-line post-synod conversation. Join in for this important debrief with Sr. Maria Cimperman, RSCJ; Fr. James Martin, SJ; Austen Ivereigh; and JoAnn Melina Lopez (who journeyed with Discerning Deacons' young adult delegation to Rome this past October!).
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For young adults - Monday, November 13, 7:30-9 pm ET
Join Young Adult Synodal Pilgrims JoAnn Lopez and Becky McIntyre for an evening of prayer, creativity and conversation inspired by the question, “What does it mean to enflesh hope in our own context?,” and by Becky and JoAnn’s own hope-filled experience participating in the opening of Pope Francis’ Global Synod in Rome with Discerning Deacons! Young adults in their 20s and 30s are welcome to register for this free event hosted by Ignatian Young Adult Ministries.
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Thursday, November 16, 8 pm ET / 7 pm CT / 5 pm PT OR Friday, November 17, 3 pm ET / 2 pm CT / 12 pm PT
Debriefing the October Synod with Discerning Deacons
Join members of the Discerning Deacons team for a report-back on their time spent in Rome bearing prayerful witness to the Synod on Communion, Participation and Mission in October 2023. We will reflect on our experiences on the ground in Rome, unpack as a community the significance of the outcomes of the October gathering, and gesture toward paths forward for engaging as a Discerning Deacons community with the synod between now and part two of the synod assembly in October 2024.
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Monday, December 4, 8 pm ET / 7 pm CT / 5 pm PT
Discerning Deacons welcomes synod delegate Dr. Cynthia Bailey Manns for a webinar reporting back on her experiences in Rome during the Synod on Communion, Participation, and Mission. We can’t wait to hear the highlights and to learn from her wisdom and experience!
All are welcome. The webinar is free. Please extend this invitation to people in your community who won’t want to miss the chance to hear directly from one of the first women to vote at a Vatican synod.
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| November Spotlight on Ending Violence Against Women |
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| Tuesday, November 14, 8 am ET / 7 am CT / 2 pm (Rome) |
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WUCWO - “Invisible No More”
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On the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, and in line with UN goals to eliminate "all forms of violence against women and girls in the public and private sphere, including trafficking in persons and sexual and other exploitation", the World Union of Catholic Women’s Organizations invites you to attend this event on Zoom.
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| Recent Synod News & Analysis |
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After participating in the Synod of Bishops as a voting member from North America, Fr. Martin writes about eight spiritual movements that describe his interior experience.
(America Magazine, November 3, 2023)
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Dr. Kristin Colberg moderates a conversation with Dr. Myriam Wijlens and Fr. Timothy Radcliffe, OP, both appointed by Pope Francis to central roles at the Synod on Synodality. Only a few days after the close of the October Assembly, hear what they experienced during the meetings and their immediate insights.
(Liturgical Press, November 3, 2023)
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In her field notes from Rome, documentary filmmaker Pilar Timpane observes that in a period of polarization, rage, and war, the synod process offers valuable lessons.
(Catching the Waterfall, November 2, 2023)
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Australian Sr. Elizabeth Young RSM reviews the passages in the synod’s synthesis report relevant to the diaconate.
(Liturgy on the Margins, November 2, 2023)
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Is synodality about interruption - the capacity of those at the margins to interrupt business as usual at the center where the exclusions are decided? NCR senior correspondent Heidi Schlumpf joins co-hosts Franciscan Fr. Daniel Horan and David Dault to reflect and analyze the synod. Discerning Deacons gets a mention around minute 43:15.
(The Francis Effect, November 2, 2023)
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Ecclesiologist and theologian Catherine Clifford, a professor at the University of Ottawa, was a full, voting member of the synod representing North America. She joined host Colleen Dulle in Rome to explain what happened and what is coming over the next 11 months.
(Inside the Vatican, November 2, 2023)
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By Elise Ann Allen
“Today in the Church, especially in Latin America, if women stopped participating, the Church would not exist,” said the cardinal, noting that women religious even in his own diocese often lead liturgies and other initiatives in areas that have no priests.
(Crux, November 1, 2023)
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By Christopher Lamb
The Synod on Synodality has laid a foundation stone for a deep reform of how the Catholic Church carries out its mission.
(The Tablet, October 30, 2023)
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By Joshua J. McElwee and Christopher White
Two U.S. cardinals said one of the immediate results of Pope Francis' major summit on the future of the Catholic Church is that it should now be "impossible" to return to an era where lay men and women are not given both a voice and vote in major Vatican meetings. They also are reimagining the diaconate and a pathway for women.
(NCR, October 30, 2023)
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L’Osservatore Romano, the newspaper of Vatican City State, published an issue dedicated to women and the synod. The September 30th publication was recently translated into English. See the publication here
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Just back from Rome, DD’s Ellie Hidalgo keynoted the Ignatian Family Teach In for Justice and offered her observations about Pope Francis’ invitation to young adults to shape their Church’s future. See mainstage session 3 beginning at minute 59:30.
(Ignatian Family Teach In, October 29, 2023)
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8 de noviembre de 2023
Tras un mes en Roma durante el Sínodo sobre Comunión, Participación y Misión, hemos regresado a nuestros hogares con corazones llenos de gratitud. Queremos agradecer a los delegados sinodales que viajaron al Vaticano desde todas partes del mundo, representando diversas culturas y lenguas, buscando una mayor comunión para nuestra Iglesia en el tercer milenio. Durante semanas, entablaron conversaciones en el Espíritu sobre un sinfín de esperanzas, preocupaciones y preguntas que los católicos y las personas de fe de todo el mundo han pedido que se aborden.
Una de las experiencias más valiosas del proceso sinodal para nuestras delegaciones de Discerning Deacons -mientras participábamos en las actividades públicas del sínodo y organizábamos un simposio sobre un diaconado sinodal- fue estar en comunidad con católicos de todo el mundo conectando sobre nuestras creencias compartidas y teniendo conversaciones honestas sobre nuestras diferencias.
Ahora que se ha publicado el documento sinodal, Informe de Síntesis: Una Iglesia Sinodal en Misión, queremos expresar nuestra gratitud por cómo el informe afirma el importante papel que las mujeres han desempeñado en la Iglesia durante generaciones. Al reflexionar sobre la mujer en la vida y la misión de la Iglesia, la síntesis detalla las convergencias alcanzadas por los delegados sinodales, los temas adicionales a considerar y siete propuestas que incluyen aumentar el acceso de la mujer a la capacitación y asegurar que las mujeres puedan participar en los procesos de toma de decisiones y asumir roles de responsabilidad en el cuidado pastoral y el ministerio. Esta necesidad se califica de "urgente".
En cuanto al discernimiento en curso sobre las mujeres y el diaconado, agradecemos a los delegados sinodales su decisión de continuar la conversación. Más de dos tercios de los electores del sínodo apoyaron abordar la posibilidad de mujeres diáconos, afirmando lo que sabíamos que era cierto: este tema no es tan divisivo como nos quieren hacer creer.
Su propuesta afirma: "Que siga adelante la investigación teológica y pastoral sobre el acceso de las mujeres al diaconado, ayudándose de los resultados de las comisiones instituidas a este propósito por el santo Padre, y de las investigaciones teológicas, históricas y exegéticas ya efectuadas. Si es posible, los resultados deberían presentarse en la próxima Sesión de la Asamblea".
Agradecemos a los delegados que hayan llegado a un acuerdo sobre este próximo paso hacia adelante que se centra en aprender y reflexionar sobre la amplitud de la erudición que ya existe sobre la mujer y el diaconado, mientras se continúa profundizando sobre nuevos interrogantes. Sentimos optimismo por el continuo discernimiento sobre la restauración de las mujeres en el diaconado permanente ordenado y el volver a las tradiciones de la Iglesia primitiva. Esperamos continuar nuestro discernimiento colectivo sobre cómo un diaconado renovado de hombres y mujeres puede revigorizar nuestras comunidades. Esperamos que durante el próximo año más miembros de nuestras comunidades católicas tengan la oportunidad de participar en conversaciones de discernimiento sobre cómo la Iglesia puede servir y acompañar mejor a feligreses y a quienes se encuentran en las márgenes.
Mi colega, Anna Robertson, que encabezó una delegación de jóvenes adultos a Roma a principios de octubre, también expresa su esperanza: "La afirmación que hace el documento respecto a la corresponsabilidad de las mujeres y su igual dignidad bautismal, así como su reconocimiento de los importantes y urgentes retos a los que se enfrentan las mujeres en la Iglesia y en la sociedad, me dan esperanza en el futuro de la Iglesia. Los jóvenes adultos con quienes viajé a la apertura del sínodo me dan ánimos: jóvenes llenos de fe y profecía que creen en la promesa de la sinodalidad para fortalecer nuestras comunidades, sanar nuestras divisiones y revitalizarnos como una Iglesia que sale a las periferias para vivir la misión de Cristo y compartir la buena nueva".
En el boletín de esta semana, te invitamos a que dediques unos minutos a ver este conmovedor Homenaje a las Mujeres del Sínodo (video en inglés) producido por Future Church. Solicitamos tu presencia en cualquiera de las diferentes reuniones por zoom que tendrán lugar en noviembre para reflexionar juntos sobre el informe de síntesis y discernir en qué podemos contribuir el próximo año. Ofrecemos comentarios y análisis reflexivos sobre este sínodo innovador a cargo de Liturgy on the Margins, Chris Lamb, Pilar Timpane y otros. Por último, en noviembre destacamos los esfuerzos mundiales para poner fin a la violencia contra las mujeres y las niñas, y si eres madrugadora, la Unión Mundial de Organizaciones Femeninas Católicas (UMOFC), te invita a una proyección y diálogo sobre el documental "In-Visibles No More". Yo traeré mi taza de té y ¡espero verte allí!
En paz,
Ellie
PD: desde ahora hasta fin de año, publicaremos nuestro boletín, “The Witness” cada dos semanas. Nuestro próximo boletín les llegará el 22 de noviembre.
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| En paz, |
| Co-directora de Discerning Deacons |
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