The Catholic Church is tormented by sex… the female sex. Men of the Church, who claim a privileged insight into the mind of God, are sincerely concerned about what women can be and do. Above all, what they cannot be and cannot do. Obstat sexus: “his sex prevents him”. It is omnipresent and exceeds Christ’s great commandment to “love one another as I have loved you.”

Three years ago, the Catholic Church around the world embarked on what it called a synodal journey, described as the largest consultation process ever, in theory involving at least all members of the Church. This resulted in two assemblies in Rome, one last year and the last one which just ended last weekend.

A 520-page document is the result of this process. Each of the 155 paragraphs was voted on by members, mostly bishops, but also a few “non-bishops,” including 14 percent women. Women campaigned long and hard to get those few votes.

In September, an obituary of American Sister Teresa Kane reminded us how, in 1979, she made headlines around the world when she publicly implored John Paul II: “The Church, in its struggle to be faithful to its call for respect and dignity for all people, must be answered by providing the opportunity for women as individuals to be included in all ministries of our church. Not only did it fall on deaf ears, but the closed doors became even more locked and woe betide anyone who dared to raise the issue.

Throughout his pontificate, Pope Francis has reaffirmed: “This door is closed.” Not just in the priesthood. When asked if a young girl could dream of becoming a deacon, her answer was curt: “No.”

It is therefore not news when in 2024 the Synodal Document declares: “By virtue of Baptism, women and men have equal dignity as members of the People of God. However, women continue to encounter obstacles in obtaining greater recognition of their charisms, their vocation and their role in all areas of the life of the Church. This comes at the expense of serving the shared mission of the Church.”

The issue of the second-class status of women in general and their ordination to the diaconate and presbyterate has been raised in many countries during earlier consultation phases, including here in Ireland, but has been filtered out. Any mention of female priests has been carefully removed. Out of sight, out of mind.

Women deacons will continue to be studied “indefinitely” by a Vatican commission. This is the 4th commission and the second under the leadership of Pope Francis; the first, created in 2016, has never published its conclusions, and this one, created in 2020, has still not produced an interim report. There is no hurry since in any case the female diaconate is considered “not mature”.

Women represent half of the Church but end up being a category, an issue, a problem in a patriarchal institution where entrenched misogyny reigns.

In fact, this women’s issue was deemed too controversial to discuss at last month’s synodal meeting. Pope Francis has entrusted it to the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) which will report on it, if possible, next June.

The DDF is an all-male clerical body made up of 28 consultors, mostly Italian theologian priests, and six women. They study the saints, the mystics, the doctors of the Church. Dead women, safely canonized, are easier to manage than living ones, especially those whose vocation is deemed impossible because “her sex prevents it.”

It doesn’t matter if we have the same thought as in Jesus Christ, we must have the same sex.

Coinciding with the opening of the Assembly last month, Pope Francis published a book on women: Sei Unica (You Are Unique), subtitled: A Hymn to the Feminine Genius. The seven special talents he lists are obviously not needed in ordained ministries. It’s hard not to cringe at stereotypes. All the papal plámás in the world cannot replace equality, justice and an end to discrimination.

When I read in the document the recommendation that more women become involved in training men for the priesthood, I thought of another woman who had also just died. As a Dominican sister in South Africa, Patricia Fresen courageously fought the apartheid regime.

Later, when she trained seminarians to deliver homilies, she realized that as a woman she could never preach at Mass and her eyes were opened to gender apartheid in the Church. , which is no more pious than racial apartheid. To fulfill her calling, she was ordained into the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests and served as a priest and bishop.

No more need to walk the synodal path desperately kicking on the road. This gender apartheid must be dismantled now. The Gospel demands it and the Spirit shows the way.

Soline Humbert is spiritual director and author of the upcoming memoir God Calls, Rome Stalls