LGBTQ+ Issues May Not Be on the Synod’s Agenda This October. I Still Have Hope.

What big decisions are going to come out of the Synod on Synodality’s General Assembly at the Vatican in October, especially decisions related to LGBTQ+ Catholics?

Recently, we got a pretty clear answer: probably not much.

But still there’s an important silver lining, or even hopeful horizon, that should be of some comfort to LGBTQ+ Catholics and those seeking continuing reform and renewal in our church.

At a March 14th press conference, Cardinal Mario Grech, the Secretary of the Synod, released documentation identifying ten issues that will be studied in the coming years by special study groups set up by the Pope Francis. While these study groups may give interim reports at the October Synod meeting, they are expected to issue their final reports and recommendations by June 2025 – after the completion of the current Synod on Synodality. What might these groups’ study topics mean for LGBTQ+ Catholics?

At first glance, the list of group names, all derived from 2023 Synod assembly’s synthesis report, seem a bit vague or general. This categorization may be intentional, preventing any of these study groups from being instantly labeled as “the LGBTQ group” or “the women’s ordination group.” Moreover, these study groups indicate what Pope Francis’ priorities for this October’s gathering are. His priorities seem to be about structural reform, not topical examination.

While some of the groups focus on broad topics like poverty, ecumenical dialogue, and digital media, most focus on structural issues. A number of the  groups treat more particular church institutions, such as revising the major Vatican document regarding seminary instruction and formation, examining the office of the bishop, reviewing the relationship of bishops to religious communities, and studying the relationships between the Eastern Catholic Churches and the Latin Church. As I’ll explain in more detail below, the structural changes that Pope Francis is putting in place offer the most long-term hope to LGBTQ+ Catholics.

Two of the study groups, though, may indeed have more immediate relevance to LGBTQ+ Catholics, or at least begin to provide mechanisms for responding to the most important areas for growth and development that U.S. and other Catholics have identified. One group will treat, “Some theological and canonical matters regarding specific ministerial forms (SR 8 and 9).” The vague and seemingly innocuous title of this study group hides the fact that some of the most contentious issues fall under the purview of this group, including ministries exercised by the lay faithful, including LGBTQ+ lay people, and the role of women in the church. This group could cover topics such as more formal recognition of ministries exercised by lay Catholics, the question of women being ordained to the diaconate, and the responsibilities of permanent deacons, catechists, and theologians, all of which have been major topics in the synod’s deliberations.

Similarly, another group will treat “Theological criteria and synodal methodologies for shared discernment of controversial doctrinal, pastoral, and ethical issues (SR 15).” The rather bland title of this group might leave unnoticed that it may be examining the status of LGBTQ+ Catholics. Section 15 of the previous Synod assembly’s synthesis report referred to “certain issues, such as those relating to matters of identity [gender identity in the Italian text] and sexuality [sexual orientation in the Italian text], the end of life, complicated marital situations, and ethical issues related to artificial intelligence,” and recommended further research and synodal conversation into fundamental questions of theological anthropology and the relation between church teaching and pastoral experience.

Many of us were frustrated last October when the sentence quoted in the previous paragraph was the only one that seemed to address LGBTQ+ issues directly, and that Synod assembly attendees could not find consensus on a final document that said more. The establishment of the SR 15 study group suggests that no change, bold or otherwise, is likely until this group finishes its work in 2025.This outcome may not be surprising. Pope Francis may be trying  to keep same-sex blessings from coming up at the October synod meeting.

Furthermore, this study group is one step removed from discussing actual LGBTQ+ issues themselves; instead, it will be focused upon developing better strategies and models for how to discuss controversial theological, moral, and anthropological issues. The need for a group to study a process for discussion indicates that while synod delegates are taking LGBTQ+ issues seriously, they don’t even have a basic consensus about how to come to decisions on LGBTQ+ issues, never mind what these issues might be.

All of this can sound rather depressing, I admit. After all, if issues like the ordination of women to the diaconate, the formalization of lay ministries, and serious discussion of LGBTQ+ issues are being largely taken off the table for October 2025 while the study groups do their work, what’s left? Why should LGBTQ+ Catholics continue to take the synodal process seriously?

I see two reasons for hope, one in relation to this October’s gathering, and one larger one in relation to the long-term ecclesial path Pope Francis is working to ensure–often against great opposition. The hope that tempers some of my impatience (“Another set of study groups? Another call for more research?”) is that we could be entering a new, synodal epoch of the church.

First, and most immediately, the Holy Spirit may still have some surprises up her sleeve this October. While the study groups will not have completed their work, they will have space to report on their labors to date, and the synod delegates will have the opportunity to evaluate how well (or poorly) the groups are responding to the concerns and suggestions they made last October.

Second, and perhaps most importantly, I want to highlight my long-term hope in the structural reforms the synod is promoting that will, with God’s grace, long outlast Pope Francis’s papacy and provide a surer foundation for LGBTQ+ Catholics than the particular decisions of one pope or one synod. As an ecclesiologist, I want to emphasize the quantum leap that embracing synodality at all levels of the church would be for the church in the third millennium, not only for LGBTQ+ issues but for our way of being Catholic.

In addition to the document naming the 10 study groups, the Vatican also released a text entitled “How to be a synodal church in mission?” in preparation for October. The italics here are key: while no major decisions regarding LGBTQ+ issues may result from the  October meeting, this document signals that the gathering will focus upon the mechanisms and methods of synodality, and its greater implementation at all levels of the church.

If successful, this wide-scale institutional reform will be the bigger achievement. If synodal dialogue, consultation, transparency, and shared decision-making in the service of the mission of the church begins to occur as a regular, constitutive part of ecclesial governance, then we might finally have the space for church members to really hear each other, to really hear the voices of LGBTQ+ Catholics, and in doing so, to really hear the voice of the Holy Spirit speaking through our experiences. LGBTQ+ Catholics will become more and more a regular part of shared life together as church, rather than depending upon the arbitrary invitation of a particular bishop or a particular pontiff.

So if this October focuses solely upon the “how” of synodality and its widespread implementation rather than LGBTQ+ issues or other specific topics, I’d invite LGBTQ+ Catholics to retain their  “holy impatience” and join me in waiting just a little bit longer.

—Brian Flanagan (he/him), New Ways Ministry, March 27, 2024