Synod on Synodality Giving Women Opportunity to Voice Concerns: South African Theologian

On August 13, Catholic women gathered at the Christ the King Cathedral of Johannesburg Archdiocese to review the Archdiocesan Synod document. During the workshop that was organized by Catholic Women Theologians, participants manifested the desire to have “ongoing listening sessions for women”.

Reflecting on the August 13 event, Ms. Mphuthi told ACI Africa, “During our sharing sessions, some women shared having been denied reception of the Eucharist or being removed from ministries simply because they are unmarried or divorced. In some parishes women are denied leadership roles, and girls are not allowed as altar servers.”

She said participants in the workshop emphasized the need to foster “ecumenical movements, of support groups and workshops for women.”

“These workshops provide safe spaces for women to freely share their experiences, to talk about the challenges they experience. We need to introspect, to pray,” the South African female theologian said, and added, "We must have a paradigm shift and not pull each other down.”

“We also need to pay attention to victims of gender-based violence, victims of rape," she told ACI Africa during the August 15 interview, and posed, "How are we helping them? Do we have safe spaces in our Parishes to deal with such issues?" 

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Ms. Mputhi underscored the value of the discussions around synodality, saying it is "very important that we continue with the synod process through workshops or gatherings to listen to each other."

During the August 15 interview, the South African theologian lauded initiatives by the Archdiocese of Johannesburg to organize workshops aimed at educating women about the moral teaching of the Catholic Church as important because “most women endure unfair treatment simply because they do not know the teachings of the Catholic Church.”

“The moral teachings of the church weigh disproportionally on the marginalized, especially women,” the member of the Catholic Women’s Council (CWC) told ACI Africa August 15.

“It's very important for women to know these teachings. Most of the unjust treatment unmarried mothers, divorced women and widows are subjected to in most parishes are not written in any of the Church documents,” she lamented, and added, “People come up with rules and ideas that despise these group of women simply because they are in leadership positions.”

Ms. Mphuthi continued, “Good theological and biblical education, catechetical formation and training in spiritual direction need encouragement and support especially for women. The voice of feminist scholars in theology and scripture should be incorporated into such training and education.”

“We welcome Pope Francis' efforts in giving us this opportunity to come together to address issues pertaining to us the Church,” she said in reference to the ongoing preparations for the synod on synodality, and added, “Let us stand-up as women and speak up. Information is key and critical; we need to look into Church dogmas and documents, resources, we need to find a way for implementation.”

Sheila Pires is a veteran radio and television Mozambican journalist based in South Africa. She studied communications at the University of South Africa. She is passionate about writing on the works of the Church through Catholic journalism.