Dismantling clericalism and being a synodal Church are two sides of the same coin. If clericalism is the age-old decay entrenched in the Church’s farthest and deepest crevices, then synodality is the structural cleansing.
Dismantling clericalism is not about dismantling the priesthood; it is about reclaiming the dignity of baptism and restoring the prophetic mission of the majority of members of the Church.
Clericalism is the systemic reduction of the Catholic Church to an exclusive, all-male clergy. By elevating ordination from a call to service into an exalted realm of power and authority as “God’s representatives on earth,” it places the clergy on an isolated pedestal — venerated and idolized.
In contrast, the baptized laity are relegated to being passive, submissive spectators—shut out of clergy-based decision-making that happens behind closed doors.
Synodality upends rigid hierarchy by reviving Vatican II’s vision of the Church as the listening, discerning, equal “People of God” in shared decision-making, responsibility and accountability. It reframes priesthood as humble service, and replaces closed-door decrees with “round-table” listening, dialogue and prayerful discernment between clergy and laity
Dethroning clerical privilege requires dismantling the everyday culture of deference and replacing it with basic human respect, dignity, fair practices, shared decision-making and responsibility.
Eradicate titles of servitude by retiring performative deference—kissing rings, genuflecting, and using titles like “Your Eminence” or “Your Lordship.” Standard, respectful address like “Good morning, Cardinal X or Bishop Y” honors their humanity without elevating them to royalty.
Abolish clerical queue-jumping by ending the spectacle of laypeople and religious sisters breaking food lines or clearing plates to serve clergy. Priests and bishops should stand in line and follow the same procedures as everyone else.
End exploitative care work and professionalize domestic labor in the Church by ensuring that women religious reclaim their core calling by rejecting the age-old expectation of providing unpaid domestic labor—cooking, laundering, and housekeeping—for clergy. This is not a spiritual obligation—it is discriminatory and institutionalized unpaid care work.
Convent leadership and ecclesiastical institutions must replace this servitude by transitioning these responsibilities to professional, ethically compensated workers hired under standard, fair-labor practices — leaving religious sisters to focus on their actual missions.
Embrace co-responsibility by reclaiming one’s baptismal mandate by volunteering one’s service, initiating small outreach groups, and leading ministries proactively in consultation with clergy, rather than waiting for clerical permission. Baptism grants full ownership in the Church, not a guest pass.
Unburden the priesthood by relieving clergy of non-sacramental duties—such as financial administration, facility management, and every pastoral issue—allowing them to focus on their core spiritual and pastoral calling while lay experts handle operational governance and other social issues.
Demystify the clergy by acknowledging that priests are fallible human beings. This, in turn, discards the myth of clerical perfection and helps build a culture of genuine institutional accountability.
Institutionalize structural transparency by replacing closed-door governance with open Parish Council and other decision-making meetings, shared financial reporting, and joint lay-clergy decision-making frameworks.
Enforce zero tolerance for sexual abuse by confronting clerical sexual abuse of minors and vulnerable adults with uncompromising transparency, adherence to revised canon law, and robust survivor accompaniment, permanently ending the legacy of cover-ups.
Practice discernment over domination by replacing top-down debates in committee and ministry settings with prayerful, attentive listening, ensuring that marginalized voices directly inform final decisions.
Honor professional lay expertise by recognizing and elevating lay experts who handle socio-economic and operational matters, ending the practice of clergy using positional authority to appropriate lay expertise or claim unearned competence.
Provide honest, constructive feedback when a clergyman makes a poor administrative decision, delivers an insensitive homily, or takes a sexist position — instead of venting in whispers — because silence feeds clericalism.
*Dr. Jean D’Cunha is a gender expert with a continuing body of work on women’s labor migration and the links among gender, climate change, conflict, and migration. She worked with UN Women in senior management and technical roles worldwide and retired as Senior Global Advisor on International Migration and Decent Work. She currently advises the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India (CCBI), and the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences on implementing localized COP 30 outcomes (Global Conference of Parties 30 on Climate Change.
With thanks to Global Catholic and Jean D’Cunha, where this article originally appeared.
