Frankfurt/Main (dpa) – The synodal assembly for the reform of the Catholic Church passed a text on women in sacramental offices with a large majority on Saturday in Frankfurt. 177 synod members voted in favor of the text with 12 votes against and 13 abstentions. The necessary two-thirds majority of the bishops was also achieved. While 42 bishops voted in favor of the text, ten voted no and six abstained.
A priestly ordination for women, however, is still a long way off: The text is about opening up the diaconate for women and this in the sense of an advocacy, also in a conversation within the universal church. Only the Pope can make the final decision on this. The debate was nonetheless emotional.
“Gender discrimination must end in the Catholic Church,” said one delegate. “We need eye level at the altar,” demanded another synod. The Frankfurt priest Johannes zu Eltz had warned of the consequences of the failure of the text. A decision against women’s access to the diaconate will have repercussions in the congregations: “If the text fails, some will leave.” Bishop Gebhard Fürst from the diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart also campaigned for the document to be “overdue”. The Bishop of Regensburg, Rudolf Voderholzer, was skeptical: “Perhaps the church is the last bulwark in the appreciation of a difference between the sexes.”
Sister Katharina Ganz made it clear how heavy the current law in the church weighs on women who feel called to an office in the church. “My inner wound will only heal when we have full access to the offices,” she said, her voice choking on tears. She likes to live as a nun, “but I can’t live part of my vocation”. Similarly, the nun Scholastika Jurt expressed: “We have a law, and according to this law, vocations of women must die,” she said.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:230311-99-913474/3
