SAN DIEGO — What role should women play in Church leadership?
That question was explored in detail in a 48-page report produced by the Women’s Advisory Committee, a 15-member diocesan task force appointed by Cardinal Robert W. McElroy and co-chaired by diocesan Chancellor Marioly Galván and University of San Diego President Emerita Mary Lyons, Ph.D.
“Catholic Women in Leadership Study: Final Report” was written by Maureen Day, Ph.D., a research affiliate at USC’s Center for Religion and Civic Culture. The full report can be read on the diocesan website, sdcatholic.org/chancellor.
The formation of the advisory committee was preceded by a parish census and a pastor survey. The census revealed that a majority of parish ministries are dominated by women, with a few exceptions, like parish finance councils and hospitality ministries; the pastor survey revealed that a majority of them support having women in leadership roles.
Lyons said the pastors’ responses reflected a recognition that women “keep the trains running on time in a lot of their parishes.”
Galván agreed that the surveyed priests were “very affirming” of women’s involvement in the Church, considering it “vital and very valuable.”
The advisory committee subsequently conducted a survey of female Catholic leaders. The committee emailed the survey to 2,182 women and received 445 responses.
Day said that, even though the response rate was about 20%, the respondents represented a wide demographic.
“Because we captured such diversity,” she said, “I feel really confident that what we have is representative across our diocese.”
Lyons noted that the responses show that women are “generally very positive” about their experience of serving in Church leadership.
“With a couple of exceptions, they really felt respected,” she said. “Overall, they felt that their gifts were recognized. They felt what they were doing was truly making a contribution.”
Most of the women who participated in the survey are between 40 and 64 years old. Sixty-eight percent serve in parishes, 24.5% in Catholic schools, and the remainder in diocesan or regional ministry, Catholic social services, or a lay apostolate. They are about evenly divided between those serving in paid versus volunteer positions.
Among the respondents 60.7% strongly agreed and another 30.5% somewhat agreed with the statement: “I am supported, respected and encouraged within the context of my role as a Catholic leader.” When asked to rate their experience as a female Catholic leader within the community they serve, 68.2% described it as very positive and another 20.3% as somewhat positive.
Elsewhere, respondents were asked whether they agreed or disagreed with the statement: “I have experienced sexism, felt marginalized or been the target of female stereotypes while serving in my capacity as a Catholic leader.” In response, 46.5% registered strong disagreement and another 12.2% said that they disagreed somewhat with that statement.
Some 77.4% strongly agreed and 16.5% somewhat agreed that they view “my role as a Catholic leader as part of my vocation or calling.”
Day said this shows that, for the women leaders surveyed, their ministry is not just “a cool thing to do,” but “part of how I serve God and my Church.”
The final report also included a summary of the responses to four open-ended questions included in the survey. These questions asked respondents to share “graces or fruits” that they had seen or experienced from having women in leadership roles; “challenges or obstacles” faced by such women; additional roles in which they would like to see more female leaders; and insights that might better support women in Catholic leadership.
From among 211 responses to Question 3, some 94 expressed support for the ordination of women to the diaconate and 32 for female priests. Another 13 specifically stated that they were opposed to the ordination of women.
Lyons said that, overall, the survey’s respondents are “not clamoring” for ordination.
“Ordination is not at the top of mind for most of these women at all,” she said.
In 1994, in his apostolic letter “Ordinatio Sacerdotalis,” Pope John Paul II wrote, “I declare that the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women and that this judgment is to be definitively held by all the Church’s faithful.”
In 2019, Cardinal McElroy expressed his hope that women might be admitted to the diaconate, as long as it’s “not doctrinally precluded.”
“I think, if it’s not precluded, it would be good to do,” the cardinal told the National Catholic Reporter.
However, in an interview with “CBS Evening News” last May, Pope Francis reaffirmed that the sacrament of holy orders is reserved to men. When asked directly about the possibility of ordaining female deacons, he replied with an emphatic “no.”
“If it is deacons with holy orders, no,” the pope said. “But women have always had, I would say, the function of deaconesses without being deacons, right? Women are of great service as women, not as ministers … within the holy orders.”
Regarding women’s ordination, Galván acknowledged, “There are things that are just not going to occur.” But the final report provides an impetus to find other ways in which women can “feel validated and … like they’re contributing.”
Some respondents expressed a desire to see women preaching, including homilies at Mass. However, Church law forbids all laypeople – both male and female – from delivering homilies.
Galván suggested that the sentiment expressed in the survey, the desire to preach, is something the diocese could work with, albeit outside of that context.
She explained that women with theological training might lead retreats, Advent and Lenten reflections, or parish missions.
“The effort would require sufficient theological formation, preparation and a well-planned process,” Galván said.
Lyons explained that the advisory committee’s work “didn’t just come out of thin air.”
She referenced the final document of the Synod on Synodality, which was released by the Vatican on Oct. 26, 2024.
That document called for “full implementation of all the opportunities already provided for in Canon Law with regard to the role of women, particularly in those places where they remain underutilized,” and said that there is “no reason or impediment that should prevent women from carrying out leadership roles in the Church.”
Lyons said that the committee’s work represents “our first response, in good faith, to the mandate of the final synodal document, so that we can think of ways in which we all participate in the shared mission of the Church.”
Galván echoed that sentiment: “There’s more to come. Obviously, this is just … the beginning, because it’s an ongoing process.”
Day said that, while the women who participated in the survey described having had an “overwhelmingly positive and joyful experience in their leadership roles the vast majority of the time,” the negative experiences that they recounted are also real.
“It’s not a matter of things being ‘good enough’ in Church life,” she said. “I think that we’re really called to holiness.”
That means “being aware of the ways that we hurt one another as members of the Church,” she said.
“I think that this is an invitation for people who might not be fully aware of the ways that women have joys and challenges within their vocations as Catholic leaders and how we might better support them,” Day said.
Now that the final report has been published, what’s next?
Day said that, among the advisory committee’s “first inklings of discussion” is a recommendation to provide more formational and educational programs for women. She noted several factors that would need to be considered. For instance, some women might be unable to attend classes in the evening because that conflicts with the time that they are engaged in their ministry, and Imperial County residents would find it difficult to attend programs at the diocesan Pastoral Center because of its location in San Diego.
She said that there is no desire to have “a men’s track and a women’s track” when it comes to Catholic leadership, but for everything to be integrated.
“I believe that this report implicitly highlights the fact that, whenever any component of our Church is strengthened, the whole Church is strengthened,” said Day. “So, one thing I hope that readers of the report take away is … there is a special role for all of us in the Church.”
Galván said, “It’s important to distinguish the various forms of leaders there are and the decision-making roles they have.”
“For instance, a catechist has a significantly different ‘leadership and decision-making’ role than an executive leader in a Catholic organization,” she said. “The (latter) type of leadership carries weight whenever decisions are made.”
She said that the diocese will seek to compile a list of those “decision-making roles” that are open to women but that they “might not know even exist” and to pair this with the requirements for such positions.
“There is a lot of wisdom that can be shared … when you invite the female voice into that,” said Galván, who added that it’s important “to be mindful” of “the variety of gifts that we all … can contribute” and to recognize that this diversity “enriches our Church and enlivens the experience of being Church.”
