synod

Advocates for greater roles for women in the Church had hoped the synod might call for women to serve as deacons.

The pope’s mixed record on LGBTQ+ issues was epitomized by the Vatican’s 2023 synod bringing together hundreds of bishops and lay people from around the world to confer on the future of the church.

The synod aims to make the church more inclusive and reflective of and responsive to the needs of rank-and-file Catholics.

Most recently, the cardinal held a conference called The Synodal Babel in Rome on the eve of the Pope's synod, or meeting of bishops, last month.

The recent Vatican gathering of bishops and laypeople, known as a synod, backed off language explicitly calling for welcoming LGBTQ+ Catholics.