We Are Church International are shocked and disappointed that the ordination of Women has been deleted from the Synod on Synodality 2023-24.
Before the 2023 Synod the ordination of Women as Priests was removed from the agenda, despite the issue having been raised in many countries. So much for listening and parrhesia!
But the ordination of Women as Deacons was assigned to Study Group 5, thus removing this topic from the 2024 Synod.
The Dicastery for Doctrine and Faith were entrusted with responsibility for Study Group 5. Now we learn that the Dicastery for Doctrine and Faith has passed on the issue of Women Deacons to the Second Study Commission on the Female Diaconate – which was set up in 2020 but has not produced any report to date. The Dicastery for Doctrine and Faith was given responsibility for Study Group 5, but has now ejected it back to the 2020 Study Commission! The Dicastery has not given any date by which the 2020 Study Commission will report as they report directly to the Pope!
So the Dicastery has managed to completely delete the important issue of Women Deacons from the Synod!
Study Groups can be given a conservative or reformist bias, depending on who is selected. It would be much better to use the Synodal process to determine if the Holy Spirit sees the equality of women as now overdue in our Church.
In 1975 The Pontifical Biblical Commission on the Ordination of Women confirmed that there was nothing in the gospels to exclude women from ordination. And on 26 October 2025 Pope Leo XlV confirmed that the inclusion of women was a cultural issue. As such it should be included in the Synodal process. We call on Pope Leo XlV to promote the ordination of women as it is a scandal for our Church to treat women as inferior and subordinate to men.
Press contacts:
Colm Holmes, Chair We Are Church International
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Phone: +353 86606 3636
Dr Martha Heizer, Vice-Chair We Are Church International
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Phone: +43 650 4168500