Catholic Social Teaching, Women, and the Synod

This article offers a participant observer analysis of the Synod on Synodality through the interpretive framework of Catholic social teaching (CST), focusing on the interrelated themes of human dignity, subsidiarity, and the participation of women. Drawing on the author’s involvement across the local, continental, and universal stages of the Synod, the study demonstrates how gendered patterns of appointment, visibility, and role allocation shaped the possibilities for women’s substantive influence within synodal processes. A close reading of major Synod documents reveals that CST was only marginally engaged and that the principle of subsidiarity was ultimately overshadowed by the less normatively precise language of “differentiated co-responsibility.” This conceptual shift, combined with persistent structural asymmetries, limits the Church’s ability to reconcile its social teaching on equal human dignity with the lived experiences of women within ecclesial life. The article employs imaginative positionality—considering the author’s potential contributions as a theological expert and as a voting member—to explore how women’s fuller participation in interpretive and decisional ministries could strengthen synodal discernment and governance. The conclusion identifies avenues for further research on integrating CST more robustly into synodal structures, processes, and the development of teaching, thereby enhancing the credibility of the Church in addressing its mission.