Despite urgings from Pope Francis, the report from the 2023 Synod on Synodality which concluded in Rome last weekend fell far short of the inclusivity towards the LGBT+ community than was expected.
Nor did it inspire hope there would be a greater official role for women in the Catholic Church any time soon.
Prior to the opening of the synod, Pope Francis had dropped something of a theological bolt from the blue when he suggested that priests — albeit on a case-by-case basis — could bless same-sex couples if such a benediction fell short of the sacrament of marriage.
It then transpired at the month-long gathering in the Vatican that support for such inclusivity was in short supply as senior clerics from Eastern Europe and Africa in particular took a much more conservative approach than that envisaged by Pope Francis.
The concluding report from the synod, approved by a two-thirds majority of the voting members, fell far short of the inclusivity the Pope had aspired to.
This was expected to be a very different synod from previous gatherings of the churches’ highest consultative body, especially as it included lay people and women voting members for the first time, but the concluding report failed even to mention “LGBT+”.
It ventured only that “people who feel marginalised or excluded from the Church, due to their marital situation, also ask to be listened to and accompanied and that their dignity is defended”.
Furthermore, the report contained no mention of women in the priesthood and contained little enthusiasm for the idea.
Conservatism, it appears, still stalks the Vatican’s hallowed halls.