I hoped my final vows would be an occasion of encounter with the goodness of God for each person present

Pope Francis’ encyclicals have drawn from and lead to this truth: What the world needs is heart—not sentimentality, but integration, presence and fortitude to stay in the tensions of our current reality.

On this week’s episode of “Jesuitical,” Ashley and Zac are joined by Sister Laura Vicuña Pereira Manso, an Indigenous activist fighting to protect the Amazon rainforest and serve its people.

The “Inside the Vatican” team is together in Rome—live and in person—for the Synod on Synodality’s final week. They cover last week’s most contentious story: the meeting with Study Group 5, which is considering ways to increase participation for women in the Church, including the possibility of women deacons.

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.”

The second session of the Synod on Synodality will take place this October as a follow-up to the first session that occurred last October. Here are five things to look for as the synod delegates gather in Rome.