“Hot issues” on the table – The Vatican wants to promote women and involve queers

The Catholic Church must become more open and attractive, so that soon more people than before can have a say. The working document offers numerous opportunities for participation for the profane believer, especially women. In addition to access to the office of deacon, the paper addresses a possible greater participation of women in leadership and collective responsibility of the church. New offices at the local level are also proposed to better engage church members.

As many people as possible should be welcome – including queer people
Even celibacy could be softened. According to the newspaper, exceptions to the celibacy of priests should also be discussed in certain cases. The inclusion and participation of as many members as possible is central to the so-called “Instrumentum laboris”. Remarried divorced people, queers and people who live in polygamy should also be welcome.

The same applies to believers who feel less important or less desirable because of their skin colour, origin or handicap. With a renewed language – in liturgy, sermons, art and communication in all media – the church should become more accessible and attractive.

Adjustment may also be made in canon law
Instead of power and control, an attitude of service should be fostered among officials, creating an atmosphere of transparency, encouragement, inclusion and cooperation. The same goes for bishops. For them, the proposed decentralization of the Church should be of particular concern – more responsibility with the regional and national Church, less with the Pope. This synodal process is intended to change the understanding of authority – including a possible adjustment to canon law.

In the global synodal process proclaimed by Pope Francis, the Catholic Church has been discussing new ways of participation and its transformation into a “synodal church” for nearly two years now. The 71-page working document now contains many impulses from believers worldwide. The document was prepared in several stages at different levels, initially in the dioceses and local churches, but also in continental consultations.

The final working document first presents the characteristics and distinctive features of a synodal church in two parts and develops three priority questions that have crystallized most strongly on all continents in the global synodal phase and which will be “submitted to the General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops for distinction”.

Worksheets to accompany prayer and personal reflection
According to this, more than half of the scope of the “Instrumentum laboris” consists of 15 worksheets for the synodal assembly with specific questions about those “challenges against which the whole Church must be measured in order to take a step forward and in its own synodality to all levels and from different perspectives,” the paper states. The worksheets are therefore a kind of guide for prayer and personal reflection and represent the basic modules of the synodal exchange at the synodal meeting in October.

In the end, Pope receives concrete proposals
The goal is to “develop paths on which we can move forward together,” it says. The second meeting of the Synod of Bishops, scheduled for October 2024, should then elaborate concrete proposals for the pope. He decides how to proceed, usually summarized in a so-called post-synodal letter.