{"id":657662,"date":"2026-10-17T15:54:09","date_gmt":"2026-10-17T15:54:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/657662\/"},"modified":"2026-10-17T15:54:09","modified_gmt":"2026-10-17T15:54:09","slug":"women-in-ministry-among-main-issues-at-historic-irish-catholic-assembly-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/657662\/","title":{"rendered":"Women in ministry among main issues at historic Irish Catholic assembly \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

A historic National Synodal Assembly of the Catholic Church<\/a> in Ireland, the first of its kind, is taking place behind closed doors at a hotel in Gormanston, Co Meath<\/a> on Saturday. <\/p>\n

It is attended by over 280 lay, religious, and clergy delegates from across the island of Ireland, including 23 bishops led by the Catholic Primate, Archbishop Eamon Martin.<\/p>\n

Cardinal Mario Grech, from the Vatican\u2019s General Secretariat of the Universal Synod was due to address the event remotely, attended by representatives of the Church of Ireland, the Methodist Church and the Irish Council of Churches. <\/p>\n

The assembly is the culmination of a five-year process which began in October 2021, during which seven priorities for Church renewal were established \u2013 belonging; co-responsibility and lay ministry; family; formation and catechesis; healing; women; and youth.<\/p>\n

Delegates are considering 35 proposals in a working document which, if agreed, will be presented to the full Irish Episcopal Conference.<\/p>\n

One of those proposals recommends \u201cthat the Church in Ireland advocate for ongoing exploration of women\u2019s ministry, including the diaconate\u201d. It reminds delegates that \u201ca voice for the full and equal inclusion of women in all areas of the life of the Church, including the ordained ministry, has been heard at all moments of the Synodal Pathway\u201d over the past five years.<\/p>\n

It speaks of rebalancing \u201cour Church\u2019s unconscious bias\u201d where women are concerned and calls for \u201ca thorough and systematic examination and correction of texts, hymnals, and other materials that do not recognise the baptismal dignity of all persons\u201d.<\/p>\n

The language \u201cof the Divine Feminine, as expressed throughout our scriptures, and by women saints, mystics, and scholars\u201d should be \u201cproactively rediscovered and normalised as expressions of God,\u201d it said. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0Dublin\u2019s Liberties bells ring after 20 years\u2019 silence following revival projectOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

The working document also calls for the establishment of \u201ca liturgical season (eg Easter season) [to] be upheld as a season of special focus in which we highlight the discipleship of the women of our scripture.\u201d<\/p>\n

It also recommends \u201cthe establishment of a national office for women\u201d which would \u201coversee and support root and branch culture change, which would enable the full participation of women in line with the equal dignity bestowed by Baptism and recognised in the Church\u2019s documents\u201d.<\/p>\n

More generally, another proposal calls for \u201cgreater recognition and affirmation of lay ministry as an integral part of the Church\u2019s mission. Increased participation of lay women and men in pastoral, liturgical and leadership roles\u201d.<\/p>\n

Where LGBT+ people are concerned, a proposal recommends \u201cthat the Church in Ireland would ask the universal Church to develop a more respectful and life-giving vocabulary when speaking about LGBT+ people\u201d and says the Irish Catholic Church should \u201ctake a lead in calling the universal Church to employ respectful language in relation to LGBT+ people\u201d.<\/p>\n

Other proposals being considered call for \u201creal partnership with migrant communities\u201d; for the dismantling of \u201cthe systemic prejudice, misunderstanding, and social exclusion endured by the Travelling People within the Church and wider society\u201d; that \u201cthe Church at all levels foster appreciation of the principles of Catholic social teaching\u201d; and for all Christians in Ireland \u201cto renew the sense of ecumenical dialogue and accompaniment locally\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A historic National Synodal Assembly of the Catholic Church in Ireland, the first of its kind, is taking…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":657663,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[111980,12780,61,60,43],"class_list":["post-657662","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-archbishop-eamon-martin","tag-catholic-church","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/657662","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=657662"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/657662\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/657663"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=657662"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=657662"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=657662"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}