Last year, as part of a grassroots consultation for the Synod on Synodality. I was invited to an international conference organized by Dharmaram Vidya Kshetram (Pontifical Athenaeum) Bengaluru, and asked to speak on: “What can I do to make the Indian Church more Synodal?”
My spontaneous response was one word: “Nothing!” because the structures of the Church do not permit synodality. We have a hierarchy in place, which is purportedly divinely instituted, making all decision-making and leadership in the Church the preserve of the clergy. Canon law ensures that this inequality is maintained.
The non-ordained can only function within parameters defined by the ordained, making it impossible to journey together as “co-responsible collaborators” as there can be no co-responsibility without equality.
Even in the 21st century, when across the world special efforts are being made to include women at the table that sets the agenda, women are still excluded from key decisions in the Catholic Church. They may be in parish councils but they have little say in how the parish is run. Sacramental ordination is denied to them because of a humiliating trivialisation of their God-given vocations. Only in exceptional cases are women allowed to preach.
In pastoral work women continue to encounter resistance, and whatever authority they have is derived from the “permission” of the parish priest or bishop. They suffer abuse by men in the Church and are denied justice and even compassion. Nuns particularly, complain that they are made the butt of sexist jokes and are often treated as cheap labour.
And yet, women are the foundation of parish life. They make the coffee, they bring life to parish celebrations and they are at the forefront of every parish activity; they sing, they pray, they teach, they fill the pews; they rally in a crisis, reach out to the poor and the hurting, and are the backbone of the Small Christian Communities (SCCs). (…)
Many women however, are tired of fighting, of talking and talking, year after year, decade after decade, without any sustainable steps being taken. In India, many committed Christians who are walking out of Church structures (but not the Church) because their voice, their experience, and their expertise are simply not part of the discourse in the Catholic Church. As Nontando Hadebe, a well-known theologian says, quoting women from South Africa, “There needs to be action and change, we can’t keep having the same conversation.”
So, what can women do?
The United Nations theme for this year’s International Women’s Day presents us with a vision: “Imagine a gender equal world. A world free of bias, stereotypes, and discrimination. A world that’s diverse, equitable, and inclusive. A world where difference is valued and celebrated.” All we need to do is substitute the word “world” with “Church”. (…)
Recognize sexual abuse in the Church and address it with honesty and justice, and compassion for the survivor. Form a women’s cell in your parish and inspire others to understand and value women’s inclusion, as well as inspire women themselves to feel relevant and empowered enough to demand inclusion. Support each other and stand in solidarity with one another when fighting for women’s rights. Each time, every time we do this, we are being signs of the God who dwells amongst us, and as St Paul tells us, these are not works of our own doing, but gifts of God, who prepared us beforehand for good works (Ephesians 2:10).
One of these good works in recent times has been the Synod on Synodality declared by Pope Francis in October 2021. Over the past three years the faithful were encouraged to journey together, to meet at diocesan, national and continental levels, to give voice to their experiences and concerns, to listen to each other and to discern together what the Holy Spirit is trying to tell us as a faith community. (…) A burning topic that came up in most of the country reports and even grabbed centre-stage at the October Synod, was the “women’s issue.”
Pope Francis’ answer was to invite women to the synod – a first in the “his-story” of the Catholic Church. Since the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s, synod events were exclusively attended by bishops and a few priests who acted as secretaries and writers. (…)
By contrast, in the October 2023 synod on synodality, 54 of the 364 participants were women. Practically speaking this means that there was at least one woman at every small group table. Not only were women present, but they also participated in all the discussions and were allowed to vote. Discussions at the synod assembly took place around circular tables with no “head”, and no distinction between man or woman, cleric or non-ordained. This was in contrast to the traditional auditorium setting where participants are in an audience. (…)
Pope Francis has already walked his talk. Thanks to him, the proportion of women in the Roman Curia has risen from 19.3 percent to 26.1 percent over the past ten years. This means that more than one in four employees at the Holy See is now a woman. At the executive level he has broken the stained-glass ceiling by appointing five women as undersecretaries and one as secretary of a Dicastery. Secretaries and undersecretaries are the second and third levels of management respectively and are part of the management team. (…)
The “success” of the synod ultimately will depend on how much of what comes out of the synod will be implemented. Canon law will have to be amended now that pastors have got the smell of their sheep. Structures will need to change. Attitudes will need to change. Those used to wielding unquestioned authority will have to constantly remind themselves to be open, to listen and to be humble and accept that the Spirit blows where She wills, and that maybe, like the disciples who disbelieved Mary Magdalene, they have got it very wrong (Mark16:9-11).
Without this courage and this vision, equality in the Church will remain merely a dream.

• -Astrid Lobo Gajiwala, Matters India