Catholic Church at ‘tipping point’ over role of women

One of the members of a silent protest over the role of women at the Catholic Church’s last Plenary Council is urging young ­people not to abandon the church.

Madeline Forde participated in a silent protest over the role of women in the Catholic Church at the church’s Plenary Council in Sydney this month. Picture: Nikki Short

One of the members of a silent protest over the role of women at the Catholic Church’s last Plenary Council is urging young ­people not to abandon the church.

Madeline Forde, 26, said she felt “crushed” after two motions aimed at elevating the role of women within the church failed at the decision-making event in Sydney this month,

Ms Forde, previously an Adelaide delegate who now lives in Sydney, walked out of the meeting in tears. She said the role of women in the church had repeatedly been raised with her and she feared the failed motions could be a “tipping point” for young people considering leaving the church.

Madeleine Forde at the Plenary Council after the two women’s motions failed to pass. Picture: Fiona Basile

Ms Forde cautioned against viewing the council as a failure and said although it left her feeling weary, positive steps were taken on climate change and Indigenous reconciliation.

“Young people are often invited to the table to be a tokenistic young person, but when they are in that space they are told they don’t have the wisdom or knowledge to contribute to that conversation,” she said. “I’m grateful to have been given an opportunity to make our voices heard.”

The church’s fifth Plenary Council plunged into chaos after the two motions on the role of women failed, prompting organisers to suspend proceedings.

A vote on the motion to support women becoming deacons with Vatican approval fell short, prompting a silent protest of about 60 participants who refused to take their seats.

A second motion, also rejected, said the Australian church should “foster new opportunities for women to participate in ministries and roles that are stable, publicly recognised, resourced with appropriate formation”. A reworked version of both motions later passed after heated debate.

Gemma Thomson.

Perth delegate Gemma Thomson, 33, said the failure of the two votes to pass was more complex than depicted in media reports and some chose to vote the motions down because of particular clauses in the initial motions.

Ms Thomson said it was upsetting to see so many female religious leaders and women who’d dedicated their lives to the church deeply affected by the outcome of the vote.

She commended the council for hosting the raw and honest dialogue and said she remained “hope-filled in this messiness”, saying the discussion around the reworked motions was positive.

Monica Doumit, 40, a delegate from the burgeoning Maronite community in Sydney who voted against both initial motions and does not support female deacons, said it was important to acknowledge that there was diversity of views among women in the room on the issue.

She said she was had been ­labelled a “crumb maiden”, a woman who upholds power structures to benefit from the crumbs, but remained unperturbed.

Monica Doumit.

“There are so many roles available to women in the church; we make up 77 per cent of all church employees and lead ­nationally in educational, social services, safeguarding,” Ms Doumit said.

“The only ‘advancement’ not available to women is ordination so we should be honest that’s what we are talking about.

“In a culture that is confused about whether there is any difference at all between men and women, I don’t think it is a bad thing for us to be keeping up some distinctions.”