Father James Martin responds to the five most common reasons for opposing L.G.B.T.Q. issues that he’s heard from synod delegates and church leaders from around the world.
Synod on Synodality
Posted inFaith, Vatican Dispatch
Women deacons, LGBT issues not on the agenda for October’s synod meeting
At a press conference today, Cardinal Grech made clear that there’s no point in returning to these hot-button topics this October since they were already discussed at the first session and are now being studied in-depth.
Posted inFaith, Features
Vatican II—and its media coverage—has a lesson for today’s synod: Don’t expect immediate results
A look back at the Second Vatican Council through the coverage offered by America and Commonweal offers two lessons: First, we should not expect the journey of the church after the Synod on Synodality to be smooth sailing. Second, the church is very much capable of getting through such turmoil, and emerging stronger from it.
Posted inExplainer, Faith
Transcript: The history (and potential future) of women deacons
Women deacons have become the subject of a growing debate in the Catholic Church.
Posted inFaith, Video
The debate on women deacons in the Catholic Church: A short documentary
America Media has released a video explainer about the state of the women deacons question. It looks at the history of women deacons and raises the key theological questions in the debate.
Posted inFaith, Podcasts
Timothy Radcliffe: Don’t preach like a know-it-all. Be ‘a searcher, a doubter, a questioner.’
On “Preach,” renowned English Dominican priest Timothy Radcliffe, O.P., shares his insights on leading the pre-synod retreat last year, drawing from his wealth of experience as a minister, writer and retreat giver.
Posted inFaith, Faith in Focus
The Jesuit roots of the synod’s ‘conversations in the spirit’
The method has deep roots in a form of communal discernment that was developed in Canada after the Second Vatican Council.
Posted inFaith, Vatican Dispatch
Cardinal Hollerich: ‘If women do not feel comfortable in the church, we have failed.’
In an exclusive interview with Gerard O’Connell, Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, one of the synod’s most influential figures, discusses the role of women, bishops and all the baptized in a synodal church.
Posted inFaith, Vatican Dispatch
Vatican releases working document to guide October synod meeting
A 30-page “working tool” for the Synod on Synodality’s second session in October was presented at a Vatican press conference on July 9. The document focuses on one specific question: “How to be a synodal church in mission?”
Posted inFaith, Faith and Reason
These African theologians are all in on the synod—and want to make it a permanent part of the church
A gathering of scholars last week in Nairobi focused on the theological foundations of synodality and the contributions of African theologians to the synodal process.