Carrying the Synodal Dream Forward: A Tribute to Pope Francis

Discerning Deacons joins with you and with people of diverse faiths throughout our world in mourning the passing of Pope Francis.

We are grateful for the gift of his remarkable life and papacy which sparked hope for a Church that recommits to going outside of itself to encounter, listen and walk with those on the peripheries. He encouraged us as people of faith to love todos, todos, todos (everyone, everyone, everyone) – no one is outside our circle of concern.

In his final Easter message, Pope Francis was pained by the violence and division throughout our world, and he urged us to rekindle our hopes for peace:

“On this day, I would like all of us to hope anew and to revive our trust in others, including those who are different than ourselves, or who come from distant lands, bringing unfamiliar customs, ways of life and ideas! For all of us are children of God! I would like us to renew our hope that peace is possible!”

At Discerning Deacons we believe that creating the conditions for peace and recognizing women’s leadership gifts for peacemaking and for human flourishing are inextricably linked. There will be many words written about the extent to which Pope Francis enlarged the Catholic tent to include more women in leadership. At this moment we express our gratitude for the ways he entrusted more women into leadership roles at the Vatican. His three-year global Synod on Synodality, opened the door for women worldwide to participate in local, continental and global Synod processes.

Significantly, Pope Francis unlocked the possibility for women to have a vote in our Church’s Synod for the first time in history, and the votes women took in the Synod became magisterial Church teaching (not just consultative). Paragraph 60 articulates the hopes of many Catholics for increasing women’s participation in our Church and world.

Pope Francis approved the Synod’s Final Document as his own, and it will be a part of his legacy that parishes and Church institutions can continue to make progress in recognizing women’s vital contributions to the Church’s mission.

Discerning Deacons participated in each stage of the Synod process. Many of you organized synodal listening sessions in your parishes and dioceses. We built bridges and friendships across continents, beginning with our sisters in the Amazon region of Latin America. Twice we had the opportunity to meet Pope Francis – following the opening Synod Mass in October 2021 and before the start of the Second Synod Assembly in September 2024. His warmth and humor, his reception and blessing of an icon of St. Phoebe, and his words to us as women in ministry – Firme adelante (keep going) – kindled in our hearts the hope and strength to keep constructing pathways of synodal encounter and mutual understanding, undeterred by setbacks.

Pope Francis saw himself as initiating processes and setting in motion paths of renewal that others, in time, would be called to continue and fulfill. While we have lost a remarkable world spiritual leader, he had been preparing us for his passing, and now we get to carry on his synodal dream of encounter, mercy, hope and joy in Jesus’ Gospel. We will continue to walk forward together – with the Easter hope of rushing along in unison.