The Catholic Network for Women’s Equality welcomes the announcement from the Vatican Secretariat for the Synod that 70 non-bishop members out of 370 delegates will be appointed by the Pope and able to vote at the Synod General Assembly in October 2023. Pope Francis has expressed a desire that half of the delegates proposed by bishops’ conferences be women. This is the first time that a Vatican Synod will be comprised of 21% non-bishop voting participants and the first time in the history of the Catholic Church that women and young people will have a vote at a Vatican Synod.  

This limited but significant structural shift toward justice and equality for women and all in the church reflects decades of advocacy by Catholics who have persistently and respectfully called for a ‘discipleship of equals’ in Church ministry and decision-making. As echoed in the North American Final Document for the Continental State of the 2021-2024 Synod, “There can be no true co-responsibility in the Church without fully honoring the inherent dignity of women.” 

The further evolution of such co-responsibility in the church will require synodal assemblies to have participants elected (not appointed) in transparent processes that welcome the engagement of a broad cross-section of Catholics, particularly those who, like women, have been largely disenfranchised. Such a rich diversity of participants would embody the varied lived faith experience of the whole church and could not help but renew its vitality, relevance and credibility. 

We invite all Catholics to let their parish priests and bishops know that they support this opening toward non-bishop participants and especially women at the 2023 Vatican Synod on Synodality.