"I won't use the term success, but it has been fruitful. It's a new state in the experience of synodality," says one sister who was a voting member at the first session of the Vatican's multiyear synod.
The Vatican summit on the future of the church concluded on Oct. 28 by postponing action on ordaining women as deacons and failing to acknowledge deep tensions over how to care for LGBTQ Catholics.
The Oct. 25 "Letter to the People of God" from the ongoing Synod of Bishops highlights the significance of women participating in the event as full members, and the duty of the church to listen to clergy abuse victims.
Listen: In a special episode of "The Vatican Briefing," Joshua McElwee and Christopher White have an exclusive conversation with Loretto Sr. Jeannine Gramick about her Oct. 17 meeting with Pope Francis. Gramick says the pope "is trying to get us to move forward."
Pope Francis on Oct. 17 held a meeting with Loretto Sr. Jeannine Gramick, a longtime advocate for LGBTQ Catholics who had previously been reprimanded by the Vatican and U.S. bishops.
St. Thérèse of Lisieux, long one of Pope Francis' favorite saints, teaches Christians "the little way" of love, self-giving, concern for others and complete trust in the mercy of God, the pope said in a new document.
Finding better ways to live "like Jesus did" — reaching out, welcoming, healing and including others — was the focus of Sr. Liliana Franco Echeverri's small group discussions Oct. 9-10 at the assembly of the Synod of Bishops, she said.
Listen: In the podcast's second episode, Joshua McElwee and Christopher White discuss the incredible events of the first week of the 2023 synod, and interview one of the seven organizers of the extraordinary assembly.