At the end of the second session of the Synod on Synodality, Jesuitical spoke with Cardinal Joseph Tobin about the synod’s final document, which kept open the question of women’s access to the diaconate.

Fr. James Martin shares his five insights from the synod's final document, just approved by Pope Francis and published by the Vatican.

“I am convinced that we cannot wait to take steps forward for the empowerment of women in the church” by distinguishing what requires ordination and what does not, Cardinal Fernández told about 100 synod members.

There has been an alarming lack of transparency around the work of the synod’s ‘Study Group 5,’ tasked with examining, among other things, the subject of women deacons.

“We know that the Holy Father has expressed that at this time the issue of the female diaconate is not mature and has asked that we not entertain this possibility for now,” Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández told the synod Oct. 21.

Around 100 synod delegates filed into the Vatican’s old synod hall yesterday afternoon seeking answers about the secretive Vatican-instituted study group that had, among other issues, been tasked with looking into the possibility of ordaining women deacons.