On the dais in the Pope Pius XI Hall a few kilometers from the Vatican sat Sister Elizabeth Young of Australia, Rosella Kinoshameg of the Odawa and Ojibway people in Canada, Kascha Sanor of the United States, Sister Laura Vicuña Pereira Manso of Brazil and Cardinal Pedro Barreto, S.J., of Peru.
It was Oct. 4, the feast of St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of ecology. The women panelists spoke movingly about their pastoral experiences serving their diverse communities across the globe, catechizing, leading prayer, healing wounds and struggling for ecological justice against exploitative industries. What did they have in common? A deep connection to the land and the people they serve, a love for Jesus and the church and a belief in sacramental grace. They are women who, in many respects, embody the ministry of deacons but without formal and sacramental recognition because the Catholic Church does not ordain women to the diaconate.
Back at the Vatican, several synod delegates sat at another dais inside the Holy See Press Office. It was time for the daily synod media briefing, an opportunity for journalists to ask questions to synod delegates. Like the women gathered a few kilometers away, Bishop Anthony Randazzo, the president of the Federation of Catholic Bishops’ Conferences of Oceania, spoke movingly about the fragility of the natural environment and the brutal effects of exploitation and pleaded for the churches in North America and Europe not to forget about the vulnerable peoples of Oceania.
Then his intervention took an interesting turn:
So often when we talk about synodality, we are caught up in many issues which I term as “niche” church issues that often emerge in Europe or North America. Often out of churches and communities that have great wealth, great access to technology, resources. And those issues become all-consuming and focusing for people to the point that they then become an imposition on people who sometimes struggle simply to feed their families, to be able to survive the rising sea levels or the dangerous journeys across wild oceans trying to resettle in new lands. It’s a new form of colonialism. And the most vulnerable people are often oppressed by that.
When the floor was opened up for questions, a journalist from the United States asked the bishop what “niche” issues he was referring to, and how the church might constructively overcome Eurocentrism. Bishop Randazzo leapt at the opportunity to answer. It turns out the two issues he had in mind were first, governance, specifically a hyperfocus on restructuring, networking and other business-like approaches that, he said, end up excluding people. The second niche issue was women, specifically the question of the ordination of women to the diaconate, which has been the subject of two recent papal commissions, was a major topic of discussion at last year’s synod assembly and is now the subject of one of the 10 official synod study groups.
To continue reading this article, click here.
Sebastian Gomes is America’s executive editor of audio and video.
With thanks to America and Sebastian Gomes, where this article originally appeared.
