Vatican releases audio of meeting on women deacons between Cardinal Fernández and synod members

Cindy Wooden - Catholic News ServiceOctober 25, 2024

Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, speaks with Xavière Missionary Sister Nathalie Becquart, undersecretary of the Synod of Bishops, before the start of a morning session of the synod in the Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican Oct. 21, 2024. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Catholic Church must take concrete steps -- and soon -- to recognize and empower women’s leadership and ministry in the church, Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, told members of the Synod of Bishops.

“I am convinced that we cannot wait to take steps forward for the empowerment of women in the church,” but part of that requires distinguishing between roles that require ordination and those that do not, the cardinal told about 100 synod members and participants Oct. 24.

 

Arts & CultureFilm

‘Conclave’ hits theaters today. What really happens when a new pope is elected?

Christopher BellittoOctober 25, 2024

This image released by Focus Features shows Ralph Fiennes in a scene from "Conclave." (Philippe Antonello/Focus Features via AP)

Today marks the release of “Conclave,” a big-screen thriller that offers a fictionalized (and maybe a bit sensationalized) trip through the process by which the Catholic Church elects a new pope. With an all-star cast including Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, Isabella Rossellini and John Lithgow, the movie has attracted a lot of Hollywood buzz already. It has also raised questions in more than a few minds: How is a pope really elected? Does the movie get it right?

For starters, think of a papal conclave as more of a parliamentary election process of about a month rather than the two years of an American presidential primary cycle. Only the cardinals and a few staffers witness a papal election in the locked Sistine Chapel. They take a vow of silence to be broken only with papal permission and under penalty of excommunication.

Commweal 100 years

 

Art by David Sankey

“None of us can steer an intelligent course into the future without the guidance of the past,”  Peter Steinfels wrote in the introduction to Commonweal Confronts the Century, a 1999 collection of pieces from the magazine’s first seventy-five years. The sensibilities of preceding generations of Commonweal editors, writers, and readers have always informed—and spiritually sustained—those that have followed. There is a perceptible throughline from that first issue in November 1924 to the one that you are reading now: the voice of the lay American Catholic who understands that our faith obligates us to engage with the world at large and equips us to wrestle honestly with our Church’s teachings and traditions. It’s a voice expressive of the belief that Catholicism and American democracy not only have a lot to say to each other, but also have a lot to offer each other: their virtues exist in a “healthy and fruitful tension,” as Michael Novak observed in his 1986 essay “Dissent in the Church.”

Cardinals Cupich and McElroy call on US bishops' conference to be more synodal

 

Vatican News

Cardinals Cupich and McElroy call on US bishops' conference to be more synodal

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FaithVatican Dispatch

Synodality—and ‘controversial’ issues—are here to stay: Takeaways from the Synod’s final document

James Martin, S.J.October 26, 2024

Pope Francis shakes hands with U.S. Jesuit Father James Martin, a member of the Synod of Bishops, as Jesuit Father Giacomo Costa, special secretary of the synod, looks on in the Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican Oct. 4, 2024. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

We have completed our work as synod delegates and have, with the approval of the Holy Father, published our final document: “For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation and Mission.” This is the fruit not only of our prayer, dialogue and discernment over these past two years in Rome, but even more importantly, reflective of the broad consultation that began in 2021 with the People of God in every diocese in the world. What are the highlights of this document? As I see it, they are as follows:

Expanded leadership for women in final Synod document

by Almudena Martínez-Bordiú, CNA

In a significant departure from previous synods, Pope Francis adopted the final document of the Synod on Synodality on Saturday, forgoing the traditional apostolic exhortation in favour of direct implementation of the assembly’s conclusions.

The 52-page document, approved by 355 synod members in attendance, outlines substantial proposals for Church renewal.

Synod's final report calls for all baptized Catholics to shape future church

 

Vatican News

Synod's final report calls for all baptized Catholics to shape future church

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  Christopher White

How to vote like a Pope Francis Catholic

 

Peace & Justice

How to vote like a Pope Francis Catholic

Jason L. Miller   us catholic