The accusations of paganism and idolatry at the Synod on the Amazon sent a troubling message about the universality of the church, writes Mary McAuliffe, a teacher at a Jesuit school in the Pacific.

“These options are in no way Christian: to anonymously scatter ashes in nature, air or water; to install an urn in a private home or apartment; to bury remains in a private garden; or to divide ashes into multiple ‘remembrance objects,’” the bishops wrote, also criticizing the trend to convert loved ones’ ashes into jewelry.

“Someone once said to me that the St. Louis Jesuits wrote the spiritual soundtrack to our lives,” said John Limb, former publisher of Oregon Catholic Press, the publisher of the St. Louis Jesuits. “For those of us of a certain age, that was true.”

The Eucharist is the original A.A. meeting. We need to encourage each other, remind each other that we are not alone, that our savior has called us together.

We have to advance the conversation beyond one that limits women to emulating male models but instead understands women and men in relation to one another.