At the opening of the Synod’s Second Session on October 2, significant media attention was brought to Cardinal Victor Fernández’s remarks on the possibility of ordination of women deacons.

While discussions about ordained deaconesses have often stolen the spotlight during the preparatory stages, the Synod’s focus seems to be moving in a different direction.

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Not Just Hot Buttons: Addressing Concrete Issues

During his intervention, Cardinal Fernández remarked, “There’s the question of the access of women to the diaconate… We know the public position of the Pontiff, who does not consider this question to be yet mature.”

The Prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith highlighted the work of two existing commissions on the topic and said their conclusions will be incorporated into the final document.

The Cardinal noted several of the Holy Father’s “rarely listened to” interventions, such as Evangelii Gaudium #103-104, Querida Amazônia #99-103, and Antiquum Ministerium #3.

These interventions emphasize the importance of lay ministries while cautioning against the “clericalization of women,”—the notion that women “would be granted a greater status and participation in the Church only if they were admitted to Holy Orders.” This would equate the ministerial priesthood with “power and domination,” not as a service “totally ordered to the holiness of Christ’s members”.

“There’s still an opportunity for further in-depth study, but in the mind of the Holy Father there are other topics that must be deepened and solved,” the Cardinal noted, “otherwise, the diaconate would become a kind of consolation for some women, and the most decisive questions of the participation of women in the Church would be neglected.”

During an October 4 press briefing, Bishop Anthony Randazzo, a member of the Synodal Assembly’s Information Commission, offered further clarification on this issue.

“Now, there is a question with regards ordination that has been going on and on and on for years, not just for the Synod. The Holy Father has asked for it to be studied on more than one occasion and there is a study group at the moment that he has asked for, to take it aside from the floor at the moment.”

Bishop Randazzo explained that this was not to remove the topic from the general conversation, but to go more deeply into it in other venues. However, this should not be done “at the cost of the dignity of the women in the Church and in the world.

“At the moment, when we talk about women in the Church, that’s the hot button issue, and as a consequence, women who in many parts of the Church and the world are treated as second-class citizens are totally ignored. This is scandalous, in the Church and in the world, all because a small minority with a large powerful Western voice is obsessed with pushing this issue.”

Not only women deacons but also many other controversial topics, including the discussion on most LGBTQ matters, have been removed from the main discussion agenda of the meeting.

Already in 2023, during the Synod’s First Session, Pope Francis urged journalists to shift their focus away from controversial issues, emphasizing instead that the Synod’s primary task is to listen to the promptings of the Holy Spirit.

During the Synod on the Family, public opinion, the fruit of our worldliness, [thought] that communion was going to be given to the divorced, and in that spirit we began the Synod.  When we had the Synod for the Amazon, public opinion, pressure, [thought] that viri probati were going to be [ordained], and we went in under that pressure.  Now there is speculation about this Synod: “What are they going to do?”, “Maybe ordain women”… I don’t know, those are things they are saying out there.

The Holy Father urged the members of the press to do their work well and fairly, so that the Church and people of good will can understand that also in the Church, listening has priority. “Communicate this: it is so important,” he added.

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The Bigger Picture: Listening, Mercy, and Embracing the Spirit

During his opening speech of the First General Congregation, Pope Francis challenged the participants to reflect on “how to be a synodal, missionary, and merciful Church.”

Previously, at a Penitential Vigil on October 1, the Holy Father explained that we cannot be “a synodal Church without reconciliation.” Sin always wounds relationships—whether with God or others. “Only by healing these broken relationships can we become a synodal Church.”

The Vigil included testimonies from people impacted by war, social injustice, and the Church abuse crisis. Seven cardinals sought forgiveness on behalf of all the baptized for sins committed by the Church. A notable moment came when Cardinal Fernández spoke about “sins against synodality”:

“I ask forgiveness, bearing shame, for all the times we failed to confirm our brothers and sisters in the faith, by not being able to watch over and propose the Gospel as a living source of eternal novelty, indoctrinating it and reducing it to a pile of dead rocks to throw at others.”

The Cardinal also apologized for instances when “doctrinal justifications” were used to defend “inhuman behaviors,” or when the Church failed as a “credible witness” and did not provide a “legitimate inculturation of the truth of Jesus Christ,” Who encounters all those throughout history who seek Him.

His Eminence added to this the sins of “action and omission” that have hindered—and continue to hinder today—the unity of the Christian faith and the authentic fraternity of all humanity.

The following day, Pope Francis celebrated Mass in St. Peter’s Square to open the General Assembly of Bishops. During the homily, the Holy Father stressed that the synod is not “a parliamentary assembly, but rather a place of listening in communion.”

To achieve this, the Synod must receive all the contributions collected during the three years of the synodal process, “with respect and attention, in prayer… so as to discern together the voice of God speaking to the Church.”

“Those who arrogantly claim to have the exclusive right to hear the voice of the Lord cannot hear it,” the Pope explained, “we do not have the solutions to the problems we face, but the Lord does.” Francis then warned against the illusion of self-sufficiency.

“It is not about majorities and minorities… what is important is harmony, the harmony that only the Holy Spirit can achieve. The Holy Spirit is the master of harmony and is capable of creating one voice among so many different voices. Consider how the Spirit created harmony among differences on the morning of Pentecost.”

Francis revisited this theme in his opening speech to the General Congregation. Cautioning against the danger of “breaking communion by pitting the hierarchy against the lay faithful,” he said:

“It is certainly not a matter of replacing one with the other, rallying to the cry: “Now it is our turn!” No, this does not work: “now it is up to we the lay faithful”, “now it is up to we priests”. No, this does not work. Rather, we are being asked to work together symphonically, in a composition that unites all of us in the service of God’s mercy, in accordance with the different ministries and charisms that the Bishop is charged to acknowledge and promote.”

In summary, the Synod is meant to be a process of “journeying together, with everyone, everyone, everyone,” in which the “Church, in docility to the working of the Holy Spirit and sensitive to reading the signs of the times, continually renews herself and perfects her sacramentality.”

At the First General Congregation, participants were introduced to the 10 theological study groups composing the proceedings, along with other commissions focused on specific topics, such as the pastoral care of Christians in polygamous marriages in Africa.

The participants are now invited to engage in discussions on these subjects. The Synod will run until October 27.

This article was originally published at “The City and the World.” Click here to subscribe to this Catholic journalism project by Pedro Gabriel and Claire Domingues.