Pope Francis meets with women participating in or assisting the Synod of Bishops in the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican Oct. 19, 2024. (CNS/Vatican Media)
Vatican City — March 10, 2026
In a frank assessment of the complex role of women in the Catholic Church and its leadership, a Vatican study group called for broader access to positions of authority for Catholic women worldwide and for the church to confront what it described as persistent patterns of clericalism and "machismo."
The unsparing analysis, rare for a Vatican document, came from a study group created as part of the Synod of Bishops on synodality tasked with examining women's participation in the life and leadership of the church. Its final report was published March 10.
The church must move beyond a view of women limited to certain characteristics "such as motherhood, tenderness or care" that can "leave little room for other equally important feminine qualities, such as leadership, counsel, the capacity for teaching, listening and discernment," the report said.