In December, I attended a Mass marking the start of the Jubilee 2025 celebrations. I sat next to a young mom and her three daughters. During the homily, I overheard the youngest daughter, about 7 years old, ask, “Mommy, can a girl be like Father?”
“You mean, can a woman be a priest?” the mom asked. “Hopefully, by the time you’re an adult.”
The bishop continued his beautiful homily, noting that many young couples are hesitant to have children, fearing the challenges of raising them in today’s world, and the importance of remaining hopeful.
Then, however, he made an interesting remark: “Couples nowadays just want to have dogs! If couples just have dogs, what are we going to do about vocations? Dogs can’t be priests.”
The young mom mumbled to herself, “Well, here are three potential vocations,” while looking at her daughters. “He went from boys to dogs, completely skipping the girls!”
While I don’t think the bishop intended to overlook women, the mom made a good point. Just a month prior to this Mass, the Association of U.S. Catholic Priests held a listening session to allow young women to talk about their experiences and hopes for the church. Many participants reflected on their hope for a church that fully supports the gifts and vocations of women, including those to ordained ministry—whether priesthood or the diaconate.
Our snail-paced progress with this topic is resulting in young women leaving the church. But make no mistake, it is not just young women—it’s their mothers, friends, allies, and others who are disappointed by the institutional church’s lack of action.
In the final document for the Synod on Young People, the Vatican asks us to reflect more deeply on women in the church:
The young . . . clamor for greater recognition and . . . valuing of women in society and in the Church. . . . The Synod recommends that everyone be made more aware of the urgency of an inevitable change.
Can we envision a hopeful future where women’s vocations are listened to and recognized as valid? If not, what is getting in the way?
Deacons’ wives participate in their husbands’ formation process, yet they don’t serve in the same capacity. Why? The answer is often a mix of theological reasoning, biblical precedent, and tradition. Yet, I will say something that most Catholic women—and many men—think: These arguments are not sound in light of the gospel.
Biblical reflection on many topics, when divorced from its context, can and has often resulted in arguments to justify injustice, including colonialism and slavery. We know Jesus included women in his group of disciples, even going against religious rules. We know he uplifted the dignity of women.
This collective understanding allows people to discern what aligns with true Christian teaching through a kind of spiritual instinct guided by the Holy Spirit, also known as the sensus fidelium. People might not always be able to respond with elaborate theological arguments, but they sense the incoherence around these “hot button” topics. As a result, they leave the church because this incoherence is too much to bear, and they lose hope.
We must continue on our pilgrimage of discernment as we undergo spiritual renewal during this jubilee year. We should not be afraid to push for inevitable doctrinal developments that are sound in light of the gospel. We must all move this conversation forward in any spaces we are part of. Have hope! One day soon, the calling Jesus made to women will be fully recognized in all possible ways.
This article also appears in the March 2025 issue of U.S. Catholic (Vol. 90, No. 3, page 9). Click here to subscribe to the magazine.
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