On women, top cardinal says church has no room for ‘lobby groups’

ROME – One of the leading protagonists in organizing Pope Francis’s Synod of Bishops on Synodality has addressed the issue of women, calling for further dialogue and condemning what he said was an effort to “lobby” for one position or another.

Speaking to Crux, Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich of Luxembourg addressed the issue of women and calls for their increased involvement in church leadership and governance, including calls for the women’s diaconate and women’s priestly ordination.

When discussing hot-button issues such as women in the church, Hollerich said it is important not to be “a lobby group. Lobbying is not part of church culture; it should not be. We have other tools, like prayer, discussion, listening to each other, etc.”

The issue of women has been one of the most debated and contentious throughout the Synod on Synodality, a multi-year process that began in 2021 and has included consultations at the local, continental, and universal levels.

During the first of two Rome-based month-long meetings in October of last year, the issues of women and the inclusion of LGBTQ+ Catholics were among the most emotional and hotly debated issues.

In the lead up to the second Rome-based discussion, to be held from Oct. 2-27 this year, bringing the process to a close, organizers have largely left these issues out of the official preparatory working document, entrusting them instead to a series of working groups established to delve further into specific topics brought up during the synod, about which there was little to no consensus.

RELATED: Synod working document skips women, LGBTQ+, married priests

One of those groups, composed of members of the Vatican Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith and the General Secretariat for the Synod of Bishops, has been tasked with studying some theological and canonical questions surrounding specific forms of ministry for women.

The Vatican has not disclosed the members of that working group, nor what specific ministries they will be exploring, however, it is widely believed they will study the women’s diaconate and women’s priestly ordination, despite the fact that Pope Francis recently told CBS that women would not be allowed access to either position.

In his comments to Crux, Hollerich declined to offer details on the working group for women, saying he is not a member of the synod secretariat and thus is not participating in the study.

When it comes to the issue of women, Hollerich said that as a church, “we have to commit to a very sincere dialogue, because the situation is not the same in all the continents.”

“In all of western Europe, women are asking to be admitted also to ordained ministry,” whereas this is not the case in other areas of the world. “Then there is still the difference with the diaconate, which is still an ordained ministry, but it’s not the priesthood, and then also to priesthood.”

“This is not a change the church can do easily, and it’s not a change that can be done just in one part of the world, it would tear the church apart,” Hollerich said.

Rather, he voiced his belief that the only path forward on the issue of women and their involvement in church life and governance is “a very sincere dialogue.”

“Perhaps in that dialogue women will say, ‘oh but, yes, I understand, I want to fully participate, and also participate in decision-making, but perhaps I do not need to be a priest for that,’” and others might still want women’s priestly ordination, he said.

Given the vastly differing views on the matter, he said an “open dialogue” is the only way to engage the issue, “not in order to convince the other one of my position, but the dialogue where we are looking for the guidance of the Holy Spirit, how the church can proceed in the future.”

Despite the polarized nature of today’s ecclesial debates, Hollerich voiced his belief that this dialogue is possible, and said it has been happening in the synod.

“In the synod, of course you have people at the right, people at the left, and so on, but people committed to real dialogue also through the methodology of conversation in the spirit,” he said, saying, “I think it’s very important to give ourselves a methodology and to be a lobby group.”

“Lobbying is not part of church culture; it should not be. We have other tools, like prayer, discussion, listening to each other,” and more, he said.

Hollerich is currently in Rome following an annual joint summer pilgrimage to Rome for altar servers from throughout Europe, which this year took place from July 29-Aug. 1.

Speaking during a press conference Thursday, Hollerich addressed the issue of women and whether it was part of the discussion during the pilgrimage.

Calling it a “difficult question” to address, he said the pilgrimage showed that the church “is very young and it’s full of life…it’s not just grandmothers going to church.”

The issue of the women’s diaconate and women priests did not come up, he said, but acknowledged that the issue was important for many of the young people he spoke with.

“For me it’s important to listen to them. I think as a bishop and as a cardinal, I always have to change my opinion listening to people, I don’t want to have predetermined answer,” he said, and stressed the importance of “listening all the time.”

He said that it was “completely normal” to see both young girls and boys as altar servers, and that “it should be like that.”

“I don’t think that the baptism of boys is more than the baptism of women. It’s based on our baptism. I’m very happy there were so many young women, they are very good, they know how to commit themselves and how to bring the church forward,” he said.

Though it has been common practice in many areas of the world for decades, Pope Francis only changed the church’s rules permitting girls to be altar servers in 2021.

In comments to the press, a young pilgrim and server named Mia Rothermel said she personally has seen “no difference between boys and girls” in altar serving, and that her experience has been positive, and that things have “changed compared to the past.”

Hollerich in his comments to Crux also spoke of Pope Francis’s upcoming Sept. 26 visit to Luxembourg, saying “We are very happy to receive him,” and that the trip coincides with Luxembourg’s “Year of Pilgrimage.”

The pilgrimage year, he said, is dedicated to Our Lady of Consolation, who is patron of the city and of the country, devotion to whom spread through the Jesuits beginning in 1624, 400 years ago.

“That’s a big event and we are very happy that the pope can open this Year of Pilgrimage, which can also be a year of renewal for us,” Hollerich said.

Follow Elise Ann Allen on X: @eliseannallen