Vatican Publishes Final Report of Study Group No 5 On ‘Women’s Participation in the Church’

The General Secretariat of the Synod has published the third final report of the Study Groups established by Pope Francis following the First Session of the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops.

Known as Study Group 5, the report focused on the role of women in the Catholic Church, their participation in the life and leadership of the Church.

Available in five languages (including Italian and English), the report is divided into three parts:

The first, which centres on the history of Study Group No 5 and its working method. The second focuses on the themes that emerged from the synodal study. A result of listening to the experiences and contributions of women who hold positions of responsibility in the Church, to discern what the Holy Spirit is accomplishing and inspiring. The final part catalogues a considerable body of materials received and collected by the Dicastery on the study, which is divided into six parts.

One, the female figures in the Old and New Testaments. Two, centres on significant female figures in the history of the Church. Contemporary testimonies of women participating in the leadership of the Church make up the third part. The Marian Principle and the Petrine Principle: a critical perspective is the fourth part. The Ecclesial Potestas, and the contributions of Pope Francis and Pope Leo XIV on the role of women in the life and leadership of the Church make up the fifth and sixth parts, respectively.

The General Secretariat published the report alongside Study Group No. 3 and a Note outlining the origin and mandate of the Study Groups, the nature of the reports, and the envisioned operational follow-up.

The Secretariat termed the reports working documents, and, at the direction of Pope Leo XIV, all final reports from the Study Groups will be published progressively as they are presented to the General Secretariat of the Synod, in the spirit of transparency.