Father Orobator, a Nigerian Jesuit and voting member of the synod, understands the skepticism that has crept in since last year’s session. But he still has hope for the synodal process.

When Catholics in the global North are “obsessed” with the issue of women’s ordination, “women who in many parts of the church and world are treated as second-class citizens are totally ignored,” Bishop Anthony Randazzo said.

One South African theologian described “a deep sense of disillusionment that the church, on the one hand, is saying we need to be a synodal listening church, and has yet again taken the diaconate for women off the table.”

Conversion is never easy, but participants from all continents must undergo conversion if the synod is to successfully carry out its task, Gerard O’Connell writes.

Pope Francis said he wanted to respond to a "storm of chattering" that had developed around his expansion of synod membership.

Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández, the Vatican’s doctrine chief, announced today that “based on the analysis so far…there is still no room for a positive decision” on ordaining women deacons.