The Vatican has presented a document summarizing its findings from the synod's local and national consultation phases before the launch of its next phase at the continental level.
The 45-page working document titled “Enlarge the Space of your tent,” covers topics raised by members of the Church submitted by 112 of the world's 114 bishops' conferences. They touch on topics such as the ordination of women, treatment of LGBTQ Catholics, and sexual abuse committed by the clergy.
Yet the synod's General Secretary, Cardinal Mario Grech, maintains that the document does not advocate for any changes to Church teaching, but seeks to listen to the voices of the local Church and convey them to the Vatican.
CARD. MARIO GRECH
General Secretary of the Synod
We are not pushing any agenda. It was our responsibility to represent and return to the people of God that which has been given and entrusted to us.
Our job is to accompany the Church until the Synod of Bishops, then it's up to them.
Among the synthesis' main findings was a consistent call to increase the participation of women in the life of the Church and its institutional structures.
DR. ANNA ROWLANDS
Advisor, General Secretariat of the Synod
The question of women, women's role in society and also women's role in the Church, and experience in the Church, was brought up across the reports. It is an astonishing common theme across the reports and that was one of the first really striking things.
The document explicitly references groups considered on the Church's margins: disabled people, the divorced and civilly remarried, single parents, people in polygamous marriages, and LGBTQ Catholics.
CARD. MARIO GRECH
General Secretary of the Synod
This desire that all of the people of God may participate in the life of the Church for me is of value. Now, as for how it is articulated, naturally, I will wait for the contribution of the Synod.
The Synod will continue into the continental phase over the next six months, bringing together bishops' conferences on every continent to discuss their findings before the two assemblies of bishops in Rome in October 2023 and 2024.
JM
