The newly released report from Pope Francis’ second commission studying women and the diaconate, dubbed the “Petrocchi Report” after the cardinal who headed the commission, has left many Catholics disappointed but not surprised. For those hoping the church might make progress in acknowledging the baptismal dignity of women, the result feels like another kicking of the can down the road.

Still, it is not the last word. The report clearly acknowledges the need for further study. That is, regardless of how this latest report is received, the final document of the Synod on Synodality, including the affirmation in Paragraph 60 that “[t]his discernment needs to continue,” remains part of the church’s magisterium. Discerning Deacons, a lay group actively engaging Catholics on the discernment of women and the diaconate, reminded Catholics in the wake of the Petrocchi Report that “This moment should not be read as a conclusion. Rather, it is a renewed call to listen more deeply and to take seriously the testimonies of women whose vocations have long been recognized at the local level.”

Discerning Deacons held two virtual prayer gatherings in the day following the report’s release, offering space to share in both lament and hope. Ironically, at the meeting I attended, several women arrived late or left early because they were busy with ministerial duties similar to the work of deacons. The gatherings illuminated several reasons for hope: Paragraph 60 holds far greater authority than the latest Vatican report or commission; the Petrocchi Report was only published in Italian; and the commission itself was split over the proposition that Christ’s masculinity is a reason to bar women from the diaconate. 

Even so, Phyllis Zagano, a member of the first Vatican study commission on the topic, effectively summed up the message many women will inevitably take from this report: “The Catholic Church officially views women as ‘other’.”

The discernment about women deacons continues, but the Petrocchi Report reveals an entrenched ecclesial culture that treats women’s discernment with suspicion, if not contempt. An English translation of the report, generated by Google, states that women “spoke of a strong ‘feeling’ of having been called, as if it were the necessary proof to guarantee [to] the Church the validity of their vocation and demand that this conviction be accepted.” What purpose could the scare quotes around the word sensazione (quote marks present in the original Italian) serve other than to diminish the experiences of women that form the beginnings of vocational discernment?

The phrasing suggests that women’s discernment is inherently unreliable because it is too emotional. Yet every call—whether to the priesthood, religious life, marriage or the diaconate—begins with the interior movements of the Holy Spirit that human beings often first experience as feelings.

The double standard is glaring. When men describe an interior prompting toward ordained ministry, the church receives them with reverence and pastoral care. Their feelings become the starting point for formation, as opposed to being dismissed as a kind of hyper-emotionalism. The Petrocchi Report raises the possibility that the church regards the discernment of women who name that same interior movement as suspect and insufficient. 

Calls for greater attention to women’s voices as well as their increased visibility in leadership rang out loudly during the Synod on Synodality. Its final document specifically cites the need for “increased participation of laymen and laywomen in Church discernment processes and all phases of decision-making processes” (No. 77). But the Petrocchi Report could undermine this synodal commitment to listening. If the church continues to meet women’s discernment with condescension instead of curiosity, it risks silencing the very voices it claims to seek.

Pope Leo XIV recently told Elise Ann Allen of Crux that “we have to change attitudes before we even think about changing what the church says about any given question.” In the months leading up to this report, there were indeed signs that Vatican attitudes toward women might be shifting. Pope Francis appointed women to roles they had never previously held, and Pope Leo selected Sister Tiziana Merletti to be secretary of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, his first Curia appointment.

On a less formal note, as the conclave that elected Pope Leo was beginning in May, students at a Catholic elementary school in his hometown of Chicago—girls and boys alike—dressed as cardinals and held a conclave of their own. In October, the same girls and boys met the new pope in St. Peter’s Square, again wearing their red robes.

A church that smiles at elementary-school girls for imagining themselves as protagonists in a discernment that impacts all of the faithful, yet treats adult women who speak honestly about the Holy Spirit’s movement in their lives with suspicion, must answer the question: At exactly what age do we become women whose inconvenient “feelings” pose a threat to the status quo?

In a previous essay in America, I asked, “What does my church believe about me? Does it really believe that I am made in the image of God?” These questions feel even more urgent now.

If we believe that the Holy Spirit truly guides the people of God, we have an obligation to cultivate attitudes and structures that promote recognition and reception of the Holy Spirit’s voice—especially as heard in the lives of women. If we are to become the listening church that that Synod on Synodality envisions, we must trust that the Holy Spirit speaks through women with the same clarity and authority as when the Spirit speaks through men. Honoring that reality is not bowing to modernity, but is an act of utter faithfulness to the God who calls each of us by name.

Catholics to whom this discernment matters will be watching closely to see if Pope Leo acts to ensure that it continues to unfold in a church he described in his October homily at the Jubilee of Synodal Teams as “one that does not close in on itself, but remains attentive to God so that it can similarly listen to everyone.” 

I draw hope from the fact that the Petrocchi Report was released against the backdrop of the Advent and Christmas seasons, a time when the church celebrates what Mary recognized as God’s role for her. I will continue to pray and work for the day in which treating a woman’s vocation story as sacred is the rule rather than the exception.

[Read next: “Explainer: Everything you need to know about the Vatican’s women deacons report.”]