Should We Be Skeptical

About Synodality?
We are currently amid what has been termed the largest consultation process in human history. Launched at Pentecost 2021, the Synod on
Synodality—the hallmark of Pope Francis's pontificate—will take place this October, just months away. The Working Document for the
Continental Stage has been compiled from submissions from national Bishops’ Conferences. It has been reviewed by each Continental
Assembly, the reflections of which will feed into the Instrumentum Laboris for the October Synod. Yet, skepticism about this colossal process
is rife. At best, there are mission-rooted frustrations that the “Synod on synodality” is a vague, tautologous, and self-referential meeting about
meetings. At worst, there are deep-seated fears about hijacks of the ecclesiological process for the sake of radical doctrinal reform.

This article has a couple of starting assumptions: first, that the synodal process is a sincere endeavor of the universal Church to pursue
renewal for the sake of communion, participation, and mission, even with the presence of undoubted hijacking attempts; second, that the
synodal process is less about the destination (the October Synod—and, by implication, less about doctrinal change) than about the process of
building a culture of synodality—“synodal muscle,” if you will—at every level of the Church’s life. Accepting with goodwill Pope Francis’s
conviction that “it is precisely this path of synodality which God expects of the Church of the third millennium,” it is a quest to understand—
cutting through the ecclesial jargon and conceptual language—what synodality looks like practically.

I approach these questions as a practitioner, from the standpoint of my work with hundreds of parishes in the UK—and thousands around the
world—through the parish renewal ministry, Divine Renovation. Having seen parishes buck trends of decline against the odds, in one of the
most secular countries in the world, by adopting new methods more adapted to the post-Christian age, I have witnessed truly lived
“communion, participation, and mission”: the fruits that Pope Francis hopes synodality will help dwindling parishes achieve. Divine
Renovation is just one of a growing number of ministries in a “parish renewal movement” (Rebuilt, Amazing Parish, and many others now
work in this space). Divine Renovation’s particular flavor leverages what we call the “three keys” of parish renewal: the primacy of
evangelization, the best of leadership principles, and the power of the Holy Spirit. Each of these “three keys” strikes me as characteristic of
how the Church understands synodality. And I believe the parish renewal movement offers a unique gift in concretizing what synodality looks
like.

Most overworked and pragmatic pastors and parish leaders have a simple desire: “Just tell me what works.” While, of course, the spirit of
synodality is important, “synodal muscle” will develop in parishes only if it translates into concrete, replicable practices. My goal in this
article is to share practical expressions of synodality through each of the “three keys” noted above. Only by getting practical will the dream of
a synodal Church come to life.

Please indulge one small theological diversion before getting practical: we cannot proceed before defining synodality. One of the greatest
frustrations of understanding synodality is finding an adequate definition. A good definition should contain no circular references, and its
attributes should be simple and binary. “Journeying together” gives the literal meaning of “synodality” (“on the way together”) but, being a
circular reference, is unsatisfying as a definition.[1] Having found no definitions that satisfied my quest for a precise and specific statement, I
(rather tentatively) crafted my own definition drawing on the International Theological Commission’s document, “Synodality in the life and
mission of the Church.” I offer this definition cautiously, very open to critique, and desirous of its improvement:

The Church best lives out her identity when she makes real and tangible the communion of life and love between God and human
beings. Synodality is a way of living and operating in the Church that makes the communion between God and human beings tangible. It
has implications for how we lead, live together in community, serve those in need, and evangelize. 

In the ITC’s document, I found what I think is a key description: “synodality . . . reveals and gives substance to [the Church’s] being as
communion when all her members journey together, gather in assembly and take an active part in her evangelizing mission” (§6). Synodality
is “the specific modus vivendi et operandi of the Church”—in other words, it is a “constitutive” (non-optional) way of being the Church that
encompasses every aspect of a parish’s life: leadership, community, ministry, pastoral care, teaching, evangelization. It
both reveals and gives substance to the Church’s being as communion.

Some sacramental theology helps to unpack this description. “The Church in this world is the sacrament of salvation, the sign and instrument
of the communion of God and men” (CCC §780). The Church, united to Christ (see De Lubac, 1956: 152), continues to make present the
communion in God’s life open to humanity, and she is a sacrament of this communion: that is, both a sign of it, and one who effects the
communion it signifies. The sacramentality of the Church as an efficacious sign of communion is summed up in §8 of Lumen Gentium.

The sacramentality of the Church means that the visible, human reality of the Church is intended to express the divine reality. Too often, the
human reality has fallen far short of expressing the divine reality of communion with God. Too many scandals, tragedies and woefully poor
experiences of the Church mean that many have not experienced the Church as opening the possibility of communion in the life of God—
quite the opposite. Because of the glaring human brokenness of the Church at every level, it is a timely moment for renewal: the synodal
process invites the Church to renew her most authentic self-expression and express humanly what we know to be true yet invisible of the
Church’s divine reality.

This is the theological understanding behind my definition: “Synodality is a way of living and operating in the Church that makes the
communion between God and human beings tangible.” Now, as promised, to get practical.
Key #1: The Primacy of Evangelization
At the beginning of this year, 2023, Pope Francis embarked on a new series of catechesis on mission and evangelization. His uncompromising
passion for evangelization—epitomized in the defining and inspirational Evangelii Gaudium—has catalyzed a new missionary zeal within the
Church. His direct style, which has turbocharged missionary efforts, is encapsulated well in these recent words:

When Christian life loses sight of the horizon of evangelization, the horizon of proclamation, it grows sick: it closes in on itself, it becomes
self-referential, it becomes atrophied. Without apostolic zeal, faith withers. Mission, on the other hand, is the oxygen of Christian life: it
invigorates and purifies it.[2]

Fr. James Mallon points out an important link between the root of the Greek word for synodality, “syn-hodos” and the similar word, exodus,
or “ex-hodos.”

“Syn-hodos” means “on the road together”; “ex-hodos” means leaving to go on the road. The problem is that so many of our churches are
still locked up into a kind of fortress mentality. You’re not going to be on the road together if you’re locked up in the fortress. I think there
needs to be an “exodus” first and foremost.

Synodal meetings that have had a whiff of self-referentiality about them—hand-wringing, insular politics, and tired doctrinal debates—have
likely been attempting the “syn-hodos” without the “ex-hodos”: communities that have not left the building, that are “closed in on
themselves” and “locked up,” blind or ambivalent to the disengaged falling away in droves.

And yet, when the “syn-hodos” is effectively defined by the “ex-hodos,” we see the gift to the evangelization of building “synodal muscle.”
While we may have experienced a fair amount of eye-rolling at the phrase, “listening Church,” countless small testimonies across the world
have witnessed to the evangelizing power of listening. Deep listening is a step towards “making room” or empathy, overcoming divisions
through getting into the shoes of the other, with a desire to understand his or her otherness. A synodal approach calls us to acquire these new
skills or muscles which are so needed in a Church marked by deeply anti-missionary culture wars.

Using listening in this way can be a powerful pre-evangelization tool—not the kerygmatic proclamation itself (see General Directory for
Catechesis  §31–37 for the stages of evangelization). Many have described listening as a healing or bridge-building process (cf. Sherry
Weddell’s first threshold of conversion, “trust”[3]). If you are actively engaged in walking with someone to faith, whether from no religion, or
in the case of someone who has lapsed, back to the Church, you will know that a good proportion of your evangelistic activity is spent
listening. Fr. Mallon comments,

I’m in an Alpha small group right now with a group of young people several of whom have no connection with the Church and almost see
the Church as an enemy, and yet here we are, sitting in a circle opening our hearts to each other. And some of the things that are said are
pretty wild and crazy, and there’s that voice that says, “shut up and listen.” Because it’s in the listening, in hearing the heart of another
person that builds relationship, that builds trust. It’s this process that can open people up to hearing the truth of the Gospel.

Sr. Nathalie Becquart shares that, “synodality begins with a cup of coffee . . . In a diocese in the United States, . . . they organized 60,000 cups
[to be distributed to parishes]. They asked each person in the pews to have coffee with three people who are not part of the community.” It is
a clear and tangible example of synodality with a missional (exodus) heart.

While there are countless communities that have not yet left their churches to go on the road (maybe walking together around the insides of
their parish halls?), there are growing numbers of other communities that have left their church buildings: for these communities, listening
to those far from the Church is leading to profound moments of healing and conversion. It is precisely the power of evangelization tools such
as Alpha, which have the wisdom and experience to listen before teaching.

Practically Speaking
Synodal evangelization, I would suggest, entails three realities:

1. Evangelizing Collectively (As Well As Individually)

For decades, Catholics have known they are commissioned to evangelize, and yet individuals without a strong personal charism of evangelism
will be defeated by a powerful, non-evangelizing Catholic culture. The only way to shift culture is the power of everybody. Building “synodal
muscle” reminds us that we are more powerful when we go out together. Parishes normalize evangelizing culture over years through
multiple, overlapping means: preaching about invitation; evangelizing collectively through tools such as Alpha; pastors modeling invitation
by engaging their own unchurched friends; prayer campaigns where every parishioner prays at the same time each day for those they plan to
invite; testimonies of conversion at big gatherings or at Mass. Relentless, determined energy is needed to change stubborn and ingrained
cultural behaviors and this is where support from ministries like Divine Renovation can be invaluable.

2. Pre-Evangelization Tactics Such as Listening are Only the Warm-Up Act to Kerygmatic
Proclamation
All our patience in listening reaches its climax in the proclamation, the main event. “We have rediscovered the fundamental role of the first
announcement or kerygma, which needs to be the center of all evangelizing activity and all efforts at Church renewal” (Evangelii
Gaudium §164). Evangelization that stops with listening, or with great hospitality and welcome, is not evangelization. And proclaiming the
kerygma always invites a response: “Conversion means accepting, by a personal decision, the saving sovereignty of Christ and becoming his
disciple” (Redemptoris Missio §46).  

3. Going Out, Not Just Welcoming In

Churches developing inviting environments, hospitality, and welcome ministries are undertaking admirable preliminary groundwork for
evangelization: but they are still missing the all-important “ex-hodos” and have not left the building. Building the culture of a collective
approach (“everybody’s doing it”) normalizes a culture where parishioners grow in natural evangelization: building relationships, witnessing
to, and inviting friends, colleagues, family members, and even strangers.

Key #2: The Best of Leadership Principles

Understandably, as a pastor considers synodality and what it might mean for his parish, he wonders what it means for his own
leadership: am I doing this right? We hear much about how synodality is a corrective to the risk of an overly hierarchical approach to
leadership.

The structure of the Second Vatican Council Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium, itself reveals that the hierarchical Church (chapter
3) should be understood through the lens of the Church as People of God (chapter 2), which in turn flows from the mystery of the Church as
sacrament of the life of God (chapter 1). Synodality, it is argued, is Vatican II’s ecclesiology lived out, and “offers us the most appropriate
framework for understanding the hierarchical ministry itself.”[4] Pope Francis spells it out:

Sometimes there can be a certain elitism in the presbyteral order that detaches it from the laity; the priest ultimately becomes more a
“landlord” than a pastor of a whole community as it moves forward. This will require changing certain overly vertical, distorted and
partial visions of the Church, the priestly ministry, the role of the laity, ecclesial responsibilities, roles of governance and so forth (“Address
of His Holiness Pope Francis for the Opening of the Synod”).

Yet, in his concern to avoid an “overly vertical” approach to leadership, a pastor may understandably swing too far in the opposite direction
and here lies peril too: the risks of directionless, passive, paralyzed, and ultimately negligent leadership. To lead a parish that will thrive in a
secular milieu is entirely different from leading one where the surrounding culture is even nominally Christian. To evangelize in the post-
Christian west, horizontal, consensus-based leadership is just as perilous as an authoritarian approach.

Pastors around the world recognize this. In their hunger for practical leadership coaching never received in seminary is a recognition that, if
their parishes are to thrive amid aggressive secularism, they need something that parishes did not need seventy years ago: vision. To reach a
vision for a parish, we invite pastors to dream: what kind of evangelistic presence do they want their parish to have in the local community?
What type of impact do they dream of? Whose lives could be transformed?

The vision approach to parish leadership walks the tightrope between the overly vertical and the overly horizontal.

First, the indispensable vertical element: vision cannot be created by a committee. Committee-crafted visions are of the blandest, vanilla
variety that inspire no one. In scripture and throughout the history of the Church, God plants vision in the hearts of individuals. That is why
we define “vision,” adopting evangelical pastor Bill Hybels’ phrase, as “a God-given picture of the future that produces passion in you.”
Through casting vision, which is by its nature particular and not general, leadership exercises its important role of defining boundaries. This
is essential before any consultation within any community such as a parish: what is up for grabs, and what is off the table? Leadership’s gift to
a community is to make such boundaries clear.

The ITC document supports this vertical dimension of leadership by acknowledging the important distinction within the People of God:
the ecclesia docens (bishops or “teaching Church”) from the ecclesia discens (laity or “listening Church”). Furthermore, it names that there
exist both “deliberative and consultative votes” (ITC §68), delineating the processes of “decision-making” (whole community) from those of
“decision-taking” (bishops) (§69). An analogous distinction might be made within a parish, too, recognizing that every single individual in a
parish community cannot have responsibility for “decision-taking.” The “authority of Pastors is a specific gift of the Spirit of Christ” and “not
a delegated and representative function of the people” (§67).

And yet, as with all good Catholic theology and pastoral practice, there is a “both/and” to this picture: the vertical dimension must be
balanced by the indispensable horizontal element. Vision ultimately remains a castle in the air unless others are engaged through a relational
approach, unless they mold it, share their reactions, buy into it, and make it their own. The best visions are those that have been formed in
the heart of a pastor through his humble listening to the Holy Spirit and to the people around him. The best kind of leadership, according to
Catholic business leader Patrick Lencioni, consists of one-third advocacy and two-thirds inquiry. Fr. James Mallon comments, “I find that
I’m at my best as a pastor and as a leader when I’m listening twice as much as I’m speaking.”

A pastor with a desire to lead well will discern and sacrifice his own pet ideas that do not resonate with those with whom he shares his vision,
and likewise, he will facilitate a process where the fingerprints and inspired dreams of many may be incorporated. By these practical means, a
synodal approach to leadership avoids charismatic “hero-leader” clericalism and leaves potentiality for the action of the Holy Spirit.

Practically Speaking
Here are three practical suggestions for synodal leadership in the parish:
1. Lead Out of a Team
If the goal of synodality is to make God’s communion with humanity tangible ecclesiologically, a practical expression at every level of the
Church is for every pastor and bishop to lead out of a team. A leadership team “consists of a small group of [4 to 6] people who gather around
the pastor to help him make tactical decisions” (Mallon, 2020: 179). Rarely would a leader in any sector other than the Church make isolated
decisions as their normal modus operandi. The purpose of the leadership team—as any business leader will tell you—is not to reach
consensus but to make the best possible decisions.[5] This is not the abdication of leadership, but the sharing of authority. Fr. James Mallon
comments,

The pastor must make the internal shift from talking about “I” to talking about “we.” . . . Priests [we coach] generally identify the Senior
Leadership Team model as the single biggest game changer for them. Many of the pastors . . . report that this approach has transformed
their priesthood. They no longer feel alone as leaders. There is no burden related to leadership that they cannot speak about with their
teams, and they see greater fruitfulness in the growth and transformation of their parishes (2020: 179–80).

The leadership team model is a concrete, structural expression that allows “a reciprocal exchange of gifts” (ITC §9) among the Church’s
members, consigning to history an ecclesiological model where clergy are active ministers and laity the passive recipients of ministry. It is a
model that allows a “singularis conspiratio between the faithful and their Pastors, which is an icon of the eternal conspiratio that is lived
within the Trinity” (ITC §64). This evokes an image of pastors and laity “breathing together.”[6]

Any pastor or bishop who starts leading out of a living, breathing leadership team soon realizes that there is no room for formalism in this
approach, “satisfied with appearances alone” (“Address of His Holiness Pope Francis for the Opening of the Synod”). The leadership team—
avoiding any artificial harmony—should be a place of robust disagreement, debate and even conflict, as the best decisions are reached. Such a
culture of openness contributes towards building a “parish of closeness” where there is ‘no distance or separation between the community
and its Pastors’ (ITC §69). In Ratzinger’s words, “Being truly ‘synodal’, therefore, means moving forward in harmony, spurred on by the Holy
Spirit.”[7]

2. Build a Servant Leadership Model Throughout the Parish

While a leadership team at the parish (and even diocesan) level may fulfill a “decision-taking” role, one must be wary of simply creating a new
clerical caste or “small elite.”[8] “All the baptized, whatever their position in the Church or their level of instruction in the faith, are agents of
evangelization, and it would be insufficient to envisage a plan of evangelization to be carried out by professionals while the rest of the faithful
would simply be passive recipients” (EG §120). It is not enough to have a leadership team: a culture of healthy leadership can be embedded
throughout the parish where every single individual has an understanding of their own leadership, of the power of the Holy Spirit that dwells
within them, of their extraordinary capacity to influence and make disciples of others. Two leaders from parishes that are actively building a
leadership culture commented,

All of our ministries have a leadership pipeline. So we have people that we raise up into more influential roles and more responsibility
because they have the capacity and the desire for it. I just asked a young woman to come on as my apprentice. Apprenticeship is a big
value of our parish culture. She’ll basically be with me whenever I’m developing anything, she’ll have input into it, ask questions,
understand the ins and outs of how I do what I do.

[Our pastor] empowers us. He encourages us to step out of our little box and see the bigger picture, and gives us confidence in who we are
and what we believe. He has faith and confidence in us to share things and lead groups. I think it’s important to empower people, to ask
people to give a witness . . . People love to be asked, they really do.

Such a leadership model replicates Jesus’ own, where he invested much of his time into Peter, James, and John, and then into the wider
Twelve, who ministered to the disciples, who were sent out to the crowds. It is a model that is not just good leadership; it also allows more
effective evangelization. It is a scalable model of multiplication that enables more lives to be transformed.  

3. Build a Culture of Vulnerability-Based Trust and Healthy Conflict

Here is where “synodal muscle” is strengthened. We noted that, when a pastor authentically leads out of a team, it will not be long before
conflict arises. A healthy leadership team will be united unanimously around the parish’s vision, but their diverse insights, backgrounds, and
strengths will mean they are likely to disagree about how to get there: in other words, there should be debate over strategy and tactics. Fr.
James Mallon writes,

[Conflicts] force proponents of a particular path to consider all the angles, to defend their position, and to modify the plan based on the
truth behind opposing arguments. When it comes to tactics, if you are not in conflict, you have a serious problem. Perhaps the team has
succumbed to groupthink, or people are not authentically sharing their points of view (2020: 195).

Creating such a culture allows space for a priest’s own weaknesses and vulnerability, too, which can be a transformative experience for both
priests and laity. One parishioner shared such an example,

I remember one particular staff meeting where [our pastor] profusely apologized. He said, “I’m so sorry I have allowed this to happen.”
And he said, “I’m going to change, and I’m going to [take the necessary steps] to make the change.”
Key #3: The Power of the Holy Spirit 
While I present the next key to parish renewal last, it is truly the first. I present it last as the culmination or as the summit because without
the power of the Holy Spirit all our efforts in renewing our parishes are in vain. Pope Francis has long emphasized this point about the Synod
too: listening to the Holy Spirit is the first call of synodality. He says:

It is not about garnering opinions, not a survey, but a matter of listening to the Holy Spirit, as we read in the book of Revelation: “Whoever
has ears should listen to what the Spirit says to the churches” (2:7). To have ears, to listen, is the first thing we need to do. To hear God’s
voice, to sense his presence, to witness his passage and his breath of life (“Address of His Holiness Pope Francis to the Faithful of
the Diocese of Rome”).

I want to say again that the Synod is not a parliament or an opinion poll; the Synod is an ecclesial event and its protagonist is the Holy
Spirit. If the Spirit is not present, there will be no Synod . . . The Synod then offers us the opportunity to become a listening Church, to break
out of our routine and pause from our pastoral concerns in order to stop and listen. To listen to the Spirit in adoration and prayer. Today
how much we miss the prayer of adoration; so many people have lost not only the habit but also the very notion of what it means to
worship God! (“Address of His Holiness Pope Francis for the Opening of the Synod”).

We need to interrogate ourselves: do we believe that the Holy Spirit is the “protagonist” or are these just words? When we say we believe in
the power of the Holy Spirit to renew our parishes, do we expect anything different to happen in our parishes when he comes? When we pray,
“Come, Holy Spirit,” are we expectant for his consuming and transforming presence? Are we ready for the Holy Spirit to blow up our plans?!
The then Cardinal Ratzinger commented that bishops and other Church leaders “must not turn their own pastoral plans into the criterion of
what the Holy Spirit is allowed to do” (The Ecclesial Movements: A Theological Reflection on Their Place in the Church).

As the world becomes darker, as God disappears from the human horizon, and as humanity “loses its bearings with increasingly evident
destructive effects,”[9] the desperate need for new outpourings of the Holy Spirit becomes manifestly clear.

In defining synodality, I claimed that it should give tangible expression to the communion between God and humanity, concrete models of
how we lead, live together in community, serve those in need, and evangelize. If synodality is for the sake of mission, God’s love urgently
needs to be made tangible in the world too: it is not enough, when “so many of our brothers and sisters are living without the strength, light
and consolation born of friendship with Jesus Christ” (EG §49), that we proclaim the Gospel in powerless words alone. Rather, its
proclamation must be accompanied by healings, signs and wonders that make God’s love experienced and felt.

Pope Francis’s conviction is that synodality is the model that best gives space for the Holy Spirit to act, so that we do not just talk about him,
but truly experience him.

Practically Speaking
What might this look like practically?

1. Expect the Holy Spirit to Show Up in Power

A mantra for us at Divine Renovation is, “parishes change when people change.” We are not concerned with training parishes to implement
effective leadership techniques. We believe God wants nothing less than for lives to change. Evangelization tools such as Alpha introduce the
expectation that the Holy Spirit will change us right from the beginning, from the proclamation of the kerygma. At the Alpha weekend away,
unchurched people have an opportunity to encounter Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit. The ancient prayer, “Come, Holy Spirit” can bring
about a powerful, personal Pentecost moment when

the Spirit of God [is] poured out in superabundance, like a cascade capable of purifying every heart, extinguishing the fire of evil and
kindling the flame of divine love in the world (Pope Benedict XVI, Homily for the Solemnity Pentecost, 11 May 2008).

One university student at a parish in England who never previously came to church attended such a weekend and said,

A few hours later that evening, I felt this overwhelming need to just tell people about Jesus and express my love for Him.

The Holy Spirit will transform the culture of our parishes to one of expectation and faith, where people have their lives changed, if we let him.

2. Build a Culture of Adoration

Pope Francis is convicted that, “we miss the prayer of adoration; so many people have lost not only the habit but also the very notion of what
it means to worship God!” As God becomes displaced from the human horizon, parishes need to be places where the supernatural is
unashamedly central. The formalist approach of nominal “nods” to prayer (like beginning a meeting with “a quick Our Father”) is not enough
to counteract the “tsunami of secularism.”[10] Our meetings and pastoral planning processes need to be prayer-soaked. Some parish
leadership teams that we coach take one out of every four meetings just for prayer, engaging in corporate intercession for the needs of the
parish. Some will pray novenas before making important decisions. Some will fast and offer sacrifice for specific intentions. We encourage all
parishes to have a dedicated intercessory prayer team. Eucharistic Adoration is transformative since, in adoring the Eucharist, “we enter into
this movement of love from which flows forth all interior progress and all apostolic fruitfulness” (John Paul II, Speech of the Holy Father
John Paul II in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Montmartre, 1 June 1980).
3. Rely on the Holy Spirit in Discernment
The synodal pathway is understandably marked by Ignatian approaches to discernment and listening to the Holy Spirit. Ignatian spirituality
supplies some extremely helpful principles that, if adopted into parish culture, will greatly increase potentiality for the Holy Spirit to act. One
such principle is that of “indifference” or “detachment”:

Thus as far as we are concerned, we should not want health more than illness, wealth more than poverty, fame more than disgrace, a long
life more than a short one, and similarly for all the rest, but we should desire and choose only what helps us more towards the end for
which we are created. (Ignatius of Loyola, The Spiritual Exercises §23)

Such a principle is invaluable for a pastor discerning vision or for a leadership team involved in decision-taking.

Yet, there are myriad spiritualities of discernment within the rich heritage of the Catholic Church, many of which might be adopted by
parishes. Think of the uniquely Benedictine, Carmelite, Dominican (and other) spiritualities that give guiding principles for discerning how
the Holy Spirit is acting. There are models of prophetic listening where a team or ministry may follow steps of discernment based on an
understanding that God can speak directly into a situation through individuals, whose words are confirmed by others. What matters is that
we build traditions and cultures of prayer, listening, and discernment that are more than perfunctory, box-ticking exercises.

Conclusion
In a time of immense darkness and confusion, the world needs the light of Christ to shine in the Church brighter than ever before. Millions
are thirsty for the love at the heart of the Trinity, and the Church is God’s irrigation system to bring his love into the world. It is Pope
Francis’s conviction that synodality is the concrete way of being the Church that will best demonstrate and offer the communion at the heart
of God to broken humanity so desperately seeking it.

In the earliest days of the Church, it was the way the early Christians lived their lives that made Christianity spread contagiously. They
“devoted themselves to . . . the communal life . . . All who believed and had all things in common; they would sell their property and
possessions and divide them among all according to each one’s need” (Acts 2:42, 44–45). Once again, we need parishes to display the love of
God in a way that is infectiously attractive:

Not only with words, but by a presence that can weave greater bonds of friendship . . . A Church that does not stand aloof from life, but
immerses herself in today’s problems and needs, bandaging wounds and healing broken hearts with the balm of God. Let us not forget
God’s style, which must help us: closeness, compassion and tender love (“Address of His Holiness Pope Francis for the Opening of the
Synod”).

Models for parish renewal demonstrate concrete, synodal approaches to evangelization and leadership, but strategies for these alone are not
enough. Ultimately, this is a “spiritual path”: only when we empty ourselves and become dependent upon the Holy Spirit to change us will
our parishes become sanctuaries “where the thirsty come to drink in the midst of their journey” (EG §28).

EDITORIAL NOTE: Many of the insights of this article originated in a Divine Renovation webinar in which I hosted a conversation between
Fr. James Mallon (Founder of Divine Renovation) and Sr. Nathalie Becquart (Under-secretary to the Synod of Bishops), which can be
viewed here.

[1] “To put it in a nutshell, synodality is journeying together . . . It is about looking at the Church and living the Church as People of God,
altogether, missionary pilgrims on the road. It is about putting into practice three key words: communion, participation, mission. It means
that in a parish all the processes will foster communion among the community. It’s about enabling people to participate, be protagonists, be a
missionary disciple as [the] baptised, it’s about carrying on the mission together. It’s always for the mission” (Sr. Nathalie Becquart).

[2] “Mission is the oxygen of Christian life,” L’Osservatore Romano, 13 January 2023.

[3] Weddell, Forming Intentional Disciples.

[4] Pope Francis, “Ceremony Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the Institution of the Synod of Bishops,” 17 October 2015.

[5] “When you work towards consensus, you often end up ‘negotiating down’ from the best decision, settling on a suboptimal approach in
order to secure the support of the entire team” (Mallon, 2020: 180).

[6] It is an image first developed by St. John Henry Newman who spoke of the ‘conspiratio fidelium et pastorum’ in his On Consulting the
Faithful in Matters of Doctrine.
[7] See J. Ratzinger, “Le funzioni sinodali della Chiesa: l’importanza della communion tra I Vescovi” in L’Osservatore Romano, 24 January
1996, 4.

[8] Cf. Pope Francis’s comment: “It is impossible to think of a conversion of our activity as a Church that does not include the active
participation of all the members of God’s People. Indeed, whenever we have tried to replace, or silence, or ignore, or reduce the People of God
to small elites, we end up creating communities, projects, theological approaches, spiritualities and structures without roots, without
memory, without faces, without bodies and ultimately, without lives” (Letter of His Holiness to the People of God, October 9, 2019).

[9] Pope Benedict XVI, “Letter of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI to the Bishops of the Catholic Church Concerning the Remission of the
Excommunication of the Four Bishops Consecrated by Archbishop Lefebvre”

[10] Cardinal Wuerl, press conference at the Holy See Press Office, Oct 8, 2012.

Towards a Scientifically
Sound Analysis of the
Problem of Gender Dysphoria
In contemporary society, many have advocated conceptions of sexual identity that deviate substantially from the universal historical
understanding of sex as related to reproductive purpose.[1] Several tenuous arguments have been put forward for abandoning a rigid binary
definition of man and woman and for embracing a more fluid meaning of these terms.[2] This has included the introduction of the concept of
“gender” as distinct from “sex,” and sometimes conflating the two.[3]

Within this context, physicians are confronting a rising number of adolescent children who express a perceived gender identity that is
discordant with their sex. By some estimates, including a recent survey of the Pew Institute, nearly 5% of young adults now claim a sex-
discordant or non-binary gender identity.[4] Many in this category experience significant morbidities including depression, anxiety,
substance abuse, and eating disorders.[5] Elevated rates of suicidal ideation and attempts are the most concerning symptoms of the anguish
these individuals experience.[6] Better understanding of the etiology of this condition and the development of interventions that provide real
and lasting alleviation of associated suffering are urgently needed. Rather than perpetuating the ongoing politicization of medical practice, a
rigorous and objective scientific analysis of sex-gender incongruence can provide a starting point for a productive path forward. Critical
appraisal of the published literature and consideration of basic anthropological principles expose a multitude of limitations, weaknesses, and
outright errors in this highly contentious social dialogue.

The terminology used in such discussions has undergone considerable development over the past decade. It is therefore necessary to define
with precision the scientific understanding of sex, i.e., of sexual differentiation. As an objective biological trait, sexual differences are
intrinsically oriented toward specific roles in the conception and development of new members of a species. Both males and females
contribute genetic information in distinct yet complementary ways. Males have the role of delivering sperm produced by testes, and the
father’s unique DNA contained therein, to a female. Females have the role of receiving this male genetic information to join with the mother’s
genetic information contained in ova produced by ovaries. For humans, gestation of this new living being occurs within the body of the
female. Following birth, both sexes participate in the rearing of offspring to the point at which they reach physical and intellectual
competency for successful reproduction. As with the initial act of copulation, there are biological differences between sexes that contribute to
success in distinct maternal and paternal roles in reproduction and child rearing. Examples include differences in lean versus adipose tissue
mass oriented toward protective versus nutritive goals.[7] In this respect, societal roles that encompass gender expression are integral to the
process of bringing males and females together in sexual union and raising children.

The dissociation of sexual interactions and reproductive telos serves as a basis for assertions that sex occurs along a continuum. A highly
probable hypothesis for the genesis and evolution of this distorted portrayal of sexual identity is the widespread acceptance and use of
contraceptive agents. The rare existence of individuals who are born with a disorder of sexual development[8] that leads to genital ambiguity
does not change basic understanding of sex. It is an objective biological fact that there are only two types of gonads: testes and ovaries, which
participate in the generation of new human life. In the majority of cases of genital ambiguity, genomic testing, radiological imaging, and
measurement of sex steroid hormone levels, together with identification of environmental influences affecting the normal process of pre-
natal sexual differentiation, allows accurate determination of sexual identity.[9] For most severely affected people, reproductive potential is
absent or significantly impaired.[10] Proper diagnosis and prompt medical treatment can be lifesaving in conditions such as congenital
adrenal hyperplasia.[11] For some, this can also aid efforts to preserve or restore fertility.

For the medical profession, recognition of sex as a biological variable is necessary to assess both disease risk and response to medications.
[12] Requirements by the United States National Institutes of Health to include both males and female subjects in research studies reflect this
necessity.[13] Failure to do so because of the use of gender as a replacement for sexual identity, or because of the conflation of the two,
introduces serious risk of adverse outcomes and failure to achieve the ultimate goal of medicine, the restoration of health. In this regard, it is
important to recognize that nearly all of the individuals presenting to gender clinics for medical treatment of gender dysphoria have normally
formed and functioning sexual organs prior to the initiation of hormonal and surgical interventions intended to align the appearance of the
body to self-perceived sexual identity.
For medical interventions that are intended to alleviate the suffering of people who experience sex-gender incongruence to have potential for
success, it is important to recognize and critically assess the scientific premises and hypotheses that underlie proposed treatments. Until
recently, the prevailing understanding was that sex-discordant gender identity represents disordered psychological perceptions. Integral to
this premise is understanding and acceptance of normal formation and function of the body. Formal diagnosis of this condition previously
reflected this perspective. As recently as 1994, with the publication of the 4 th edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental
Disorders (DSM-IV),[14] an individual who experienced a perception of their sexual identity discordant with their sexual anatomy was
understood to have gender identity disorder (ICD10 diagnosis F64.2).[15] Accordingly, medical providers directed therapeutic efforts toward
understanding the basis of psychological distress and actively worked to reintegrate sex and gender identity.

Yet, despite these efforts toward sex-gender identity re-integration, practitioners recognized that some individuals with this experience
persist in a sex-discordant gender identity. Based upon empirical observation that the majority of pre-pubescent children who experienced
gender dysphoria had spontaneous realignment of gender and sexual identity,[16] some have advocated for an expectant approach (i.e.,
“watchful waiting”). With the lack of an objective biological test to identify those who persist versus desist in sex-discordant gender identity,
it is felt best to support affected individuals on their developmental journey without any pre-conceived desire for a particular outcome. While
desistence is not a specific goal, advocates of this approach consider this as a positive outcome since it obviates inducing a lifelong medical
dependency coming from altered sexual anatomy. An important component of the expectant approach is the provision of care to address any
co-morbid psychiatric conditions. This approach has become more difficult to follow within legal and educational structures that encourage
“social affirmation,” which includes the practice of allowing affected individuals to change their names, pronouns, and dress and to have
access to sex-segregated facilities according to gender identification. Emerging data indicate that socially affirmed children are more likely to
experience persistence of gender dysphoria beyond the start of puberty, in contrast to the historical observation of desistance.[17]

In contrast to the cautious expectant approach, several professional societies including the American Academy of Pediatrics,[18] the
American Medical Association,[19] and the American Psychological Association[20] endorse uncritical social affirmation and directed efforts
to alter the appearance of the body to conform to an individual’s self-perception of sexual identity. These organizations often present this
gender-affirming medical approach as the only prudent option for affected adolescents. Foundational to this affirmation-only paradigm is the
premise that with sex-discordant identity the mind is functioning normally and the physical appearance of the body is defective. Accordingly,
psychotherapy to address the emergence of gender dysphoria is actively discouraged as a barrier to receiving hormones to stop normally
timed puberty and the introduction of sex steroids of the opposite sex.[21]

Efforts to provide scientific evidence of a “brain in the wrong body” have failed to prove this ideologically constructed hypothesis.[22] On the
one hand, scientific investigation has revealed structural and functional differences between male and female brains and many have used
these data as a basis to understand sex-influenced differences in behavioral traits.[23] However, such studies have at best shown sex-
influenced average differences in gene expression, neuronal structure, and signaling responses. The wide overlap in these brain
characteristics between males and females makes it impossible to determine sex or gender identity based upon these findings.
[24] Furthermore, such studies fail to appreciate that neuronal plasticity (i.e., the ability of the brain to change in response to external
stimuli) may significantly influence these structural and functional observations.[25]

Inherent limitations and weaknesses in study design and interpretation continue to plague the field of “gender medicine” in efforts to assess
the relative risk versus benefit of the affirmation model. Frequent unrecognized or unacknowledged deficiencies of the published literature
include small sample size, lack of control groups, short duration of follow-up, high subject dropout rates, and lack of randomized trial design.
[26] Critical assessment of the papers published in this area also reveals highly prevalent biases. Non-probability and convenience sampling
such as internet-based surveys introduce selection bias.[27] Questionnaires that require participants to recall memories of prior events
introduce recall bias as these memories may be incomplete or inaccurate.[28] Knowledge of the investigator’s aim in conducting the study
introduces demand bias (a.k.a. the “good subject” effect).[29] Finally, the conduct of experiments to support existing beliefs or the ignoring of
information that contradicts existing belief results in observation bias. Rather than seeking to find evidence to reject the null hypothesis,
many investigators appear to have started with a predetermined conclusion and have sought to find evidence to support this conclusion.
Furthermore, in propagating the results from such studies, advocates of the affirmation model endorse unjustified claims of causal
relationships in studies with cross-sectional design where data can only show associations between intervention and outcome.

Perhaps most concerning is the unwillingness to acknowledge ongoing equipoise (i.e., uncertainty about the relative therapeutic merits of
different treatments) for achieving the goal of alleviating suffering from gender dysphoria. Affirmation advocates falsely assert that
randomized trials are unethical in the “gender medicine” field. An erroneous conception of randomized controlled trial design contributes to
this accusation. Specifically, the perception is that a control arm would receive no intervention. However, in properly designed and conducted
randomized controlled clinical trials, both arms of a study receive the same degree of care apart from the independent variable tested.

Recently, several European countries including Sweden, Finland, and the United Kingdom have recognized that the scientific evidence
frequently referenced to support the affirmative approach is weak and that serious questions remain about long-term efficacy in preventing
suicide. These countries have shifted to a more cautious approach that prioritizes psychological testing and treatment.[30] In the United
States, rather than seeking high-quality evidence, there continues to be high reliance on eminence-based treatment recommendations by
medical societies and dismissal of the concerns raised by the European systematic reviews. The presumed authority of these medical
associations fails to recognize that such pronouncements have generally come from small special interest panels within these organizations,
where many members often have inherent biases and conflicts of interest.[31] While battles are currently being fought in courtrooms, state
legislatures, and on social media, there remains an opportunity to more fully engage the scientific community in efforts to better understand
the etiology of sex-discordant gender identity. This can aid in the design and conduct of high-quality clinical trials to test the relative safety
and efficacy of novel approaches to treating gender dysphoria that preserve sexual integrity.

In acknowledging current errors in understanding sexual identity and misuse of basic scientific principles in efforts to promote an ideological
agenda, it is essential to remember the inherent dignity of the people who experience a sex-discordant experience of gender identity. While
their individual struggles may be unique and varied, all are ultimately seeking to be understood and loved. With appreciation that what is
discovered by faith is not in contradiction with what can be learned by reason,[32] which is the rightful domain of science, the nature of this
love can be illuminated in and through our sexuality. Beyond the reproductive purpose of sex is a much deeper reality of sexual
complementarity that can only find fulfillment in that which exists outside of the individual male or female person.[33] Search for a
scientifically sound solution to the problem of gender dysphoria will be well served by keeping sight of this reality.
[1] H. Breithaupt, “The science of sex”, EMBO Rep. 2012 May 1; 13 (5) 394. doi: 10.1038/embor.2012.45. PMID: 22546705; PMCID:
PMC3343355; P.A. Aashta, T.C. Arbor, K. Krishan, Embryology, Sexual Development. 2022 Sep 8. In: StatPearls [Internet]. (Treasure
Island, FL: StatPearls Publishing, 2022) Jan–. PMID: 32491533, accessed 1/15/23.

[2] C. Ainsworth, “Sex redefined”, Nature. 2015 Feb 19; 518 (7539) 288-91. doi: 10.1038/518288a. PMID: 25693544.

[3] See https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/232363#summary (accessed 1/16/23).

[4] https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2022/06/07/about-5-of-young-adults-in-the-u-s-say-their-gender-is-different-from-their-sex-
assigned-at-birth/ (accessed 1/16/23).

[5] F. Pinna, P. Paribello, G. Somaini, A. Corona, A. Ventriglio, C. Corrias, I. Frau, R. Murgia, S. El Kacemi, G.M. Galeazzi, M. Mirandola, F.
Amaddeo, A. Crapanzano, M. Converti, P. Piras, F. Suprani, M. Manchia, A. Fiorillo, B. Carpiniello; Italian Working Group on LGBTQI
Mental Health. “Mental health in transgender individuals: a systematic review”. Int. Rev. Psychiatry. 2022 May-Jun; 34 (3–4) 292-359. doi:
10.1080/09540261.2022.2093629. PMID: 36151828.

[6] While gender dysphoria is presented as the cause of suicidal ideation, the prevalence of suicidality is similar to rates found in other
mental health disorders and often pre-dates the onset of sex-gender discordance. See https://acpeds.org/assets/for-GID-page-1-The-Myth-
About-Suicide-and-Gender-Dysphoric-Children-handout.pdf (accessed 1/22/23).

[7] J.D. Finley, A. Sodergren, C. Buskmiller, L.J. Welch, P.W. Lappert, P.W. Hruz,. Sexual Identity: The Harmony of Philosophy, Science,
and Revelation. (Steubenville, OH: Emmaus Road Publishing, 2022).

[8] L. Sax. “How common is intersex? a response to Anne Fausto-Sterling”, J. Sex Res. 2002 Aug; 39 (3)174-8. doi:
10.1080/00224490209552139. PMID: 12476264.

[9] P.A. Lee, A. Nordenström, C.P. Houk, S.F. Ahmed, R. Auchus, A. Baratz, K. Baratz Dalke, L.M. Liao, K. Lin-Su, L.H. Looijenga III, T.
Mazur, H.F. Meyer-Bahlburg, P. Mouriquand, C.A. Quigley, D.E. Sandberg, E. Vilain, S. Witchel; Global DSD Update Consortium. “Global
Disorders of Sex Development Update since 2006: Perceptions, Approach and Care.” Horm. Res. Paediatr. 2016; 85 (3) 158-80. doi:
10.1159/000442975. Epub 2016 Jan 28. Erratum in: Horm. Res. Paediatr. 2016; 85 (3) 180.

[10] J.P. Van Batavia, T.F. Kolon, “Fertility in disorders of sex development: A review,” J. Pediatr. Urol. 2016 Dec; 12 (6) 418–425. doi:
10.1016/j.jpurol.2016.09.015. Epub 2016 Nov 3. PMID: 27856173.

[11] P.W. Speiser, R. Azziz, L.S. Baskin, L. Ghizzoni, T.W. Hensle, D.P. Merke, Meyer-Bahlburg, W.L. Miller, V.M. Montori, S.E. Oberfield, M.
Ritzen, P.C. White; Endocrine Society. “Congenital adrenal hyperplasia due to steroid 21-hydroxylase deficiency: an Endocrine Society
clinical practice guideline,” J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 2010 Sep; 95 (9) 4133–60. doi: 10.1210/jc.2009-2631.

[12] A. Bhargava, A.P. Arnold, D.A. Bangasser, K.M. Denton, A. Gupta, L.M. Hilliard Krause, E.A. Mayer, M. McCarthy, W.L. Miller, A.
Raznahan, R. Verma, “Considering Sex as a Biological Variable in Basic and Clinical Studies: An Endocrine Society Scientific
Statement”, Endocr. Rev. 2021 May 25; 42 (3) 219–258. doi: 10.1210/endrev/bnaa034. PMID: 33704446; PMCID: PMC8348944.

[13] Public Health Service Act sec. 492B, 42 U.S.C. sec. 289a-2. See https://grants.nih.gov/policy/inclusion/women-and-
minorities.htm (accessed 1/15/23).

[14] DSM-IV: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, by the American Psychiatric Association, ISBN 0-89042-061-0,
(Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association, 1994).

[15] World Health Organization (WHO). (1993). The ICD-10 classification of mental and behavioural disorders. World Health Organization.

[16] K.D. Drummond, S.J. Bradley, M. Peterson-Badali, K.J. Zucker, “A follow-up study of girls with gender identity disorder”, Dev. Psychol.
2008 Jan; 44 (1) 34-45. doi: 10.1037/0012-1649.44.1.34. PMID: 18194003; T.D. Steensma, J.K. McGuire, B.P. Kreukels, A.J. Beekman, P.T.
Cohen-Kettenis, “Factors associated with desistence and persistence of childhood gender dysphoria: a quantitative follow-up study,” J. Am.
Acad. Child Adolesc. Psychiatry. 2013 Jun; 52 (6) 582-90. doi: 10.1016/j.jaac.2013.03.016. PMID: 23702447. D. Singh, S.J. Bradley, K.J.
Zucker, “A follow-up study of boys with gender identity disorder”, Front. Psychiatry. 2021 Mar 29; 12:632784. doi:
10.3389/fpsyt.2021.632784. PMID: 33854450; PMCID: PMC8039393.

[17] K.J. Zucker, “The myth of persistence: Response to “Critical commentary on follow-up studies and ‘desistance’ theories about
transgender and gender non-conforming children,” by Temple Newhook et al. (2018). International Journal of Transgenderism, 19 (2) 231–
245. https://doi.org/10.1080/15532739.2018.1468293.
[18] J. Rafferty, Committee on Psychosocial Aspects of Child and Family Health; Committee on Adolescence; Section on Lesbian, Gay,
Bisexual, and Transgender Health and Wellness, “Ensuring Comprehensive Care and Support for Transgender and Gender-Diverse Children
and Adolescents”. Pediatrics. 2018 Oct; 142 (4) e20182162. doi: 10.1542/peds.2018-2162. Epub 2018 Sep 17. PMID: 30224363. AMA APA.

[19] https://www.ama-assn.org/system/files/2019-03/transgender-coverage-issue-brief.pdf (Accessed 1/20/23).

[20] American Psychological Association. “Guidelines for psychological practice with transgender and gender nonconforming people”, Am.
Psychol. 2015 Dec; 70 (9) 832-64. doi: 10.1037/a0039906. PMID: 26653312.

[21] A. Kumar, U.O. Amakiri, J.D. Safer, “Medicine as constraint: Assessing the barriers to gender-affirming care”, Cell Rep. Med. 2022 Feb
15; 3 (2) 100517. doi: 10.1016/j.xcrm.2022.100517. PMID: 35243420; PMCID: PMC8861822.

[22] J. Ristori, C. Cocchetti, A. Romani, F. Mazzoli, L.Vignozzi, M. Maggi, A.D. Fisher, “Brain sex differences related to gender identity
development: genes or hormones?” Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2020 Mar 19; 21 (6) 2123. doi: 10.3390/ijms21062123. PMID: 32204531; PMCID:
PMC7139786; E. Luders, F.J. Sánchez, C. Gaser, A.W. Toga, K.L. Narr, L.S. Hamilton, E. Vilain, “Regional gray matter variation in male-to-
female transsexualism”, Neuroimage. 2009 Jul 15; 46 (4) 904-7. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2009.03.048. Epub 2009 Mar 31. PMID:
19341803; PMCID: PMC2754583; J.N. Zhou, M.A. Hofman, L.J. Gooren, D.F. Swaab, “A sex difference in the human brain and its relation to
transsexuality”, Nature. 1995 Nov 2; 378 (6552) 68-70. doi: 10.1038/378068a0. PMID: 7477289.

[23] M. Ingalhalikar, A. Smith, D. Parker, T.D. Satterthwaite, M.A. Elliott, K. Ruparel, H. Hakonarson, R.E. Gur, R.C. Gur, R. Verma, “Sex
differences in the structural connectome of the human brain”, Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. 2014 Jan 14; 111(2) 823-8. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1316909110.
Epub 2013 Dec 2. PMID: 24297904; PMCID: PMC3896179.

[24] “Why Sex Differences Don’t Always Measure Up”. https://sugarandslugs.wordpress.com/2011/02/13/sex-differences/ (accessed

1/21/23).

[25] N.W. Tien, D. Kerschensteiner, “Homeostatic plasticity in neural development”, Neural Dev. 2018 Jun 1; 13 (1) 9. doi: 10.1186/s13064-
018-0105-x. PMID: 29855353; PMCID: PMC5984303.

[26] P.W. Hruz, “Deficiencies in scientific evidence for medical management of gender dysphoria”, Linacre Q. 2020 Feb; 87 (1) 34-42. doi:
10.1177/0024363919873762. Epub 2019 Sep 20. PMID: 32431446; PMCID: PMC7016442.

[27] S. Tyrer, B. Heyman, “Sampling in epidemiological research: issues, hazards and pitfalls”, B. J. Psych. Bull. 2016 Apr; 40 (2) 57-60. doi:
10.1192/pb.bp.114.050203. PMID: 27087985; PMCID: PMC4817645.

[28] S.S. Coughlin, “Recall bias in epidemiologic studies”, J. Clin. Epidemiol. 1990; 43 (1) 87-91. doi: 10.1016/0895-4356(90)90060-3.
PMID: 2319285.

[29] A.L.Nichols, J.K. Maner, “The good-subject effect: investigating participant demand characteristics”, J. Gen. Psychol. 2008 Apr; 135 (2)
151-65. doi: 10.3200/GENP.135.2.151-166. PMID: 18507315.

[30] https://palveluvalikoima.fi/documents/1237350/22895838/Summary+transgender.pdf/2cc3f053-2e34-39ce-4e21-becd685b3044/
Summary+transgender.pdf?t=1592318543000; https://cass.independent-review.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Cass-Review-Interim-
Report-Final-Web-Accessible.pdf ; https://segm.org/Sweden_ends_use_of_Dutch_protocol (accessed 1/21/23).

[31] S.L. Norris, H.K. Holmer, L.A. Ogden, B.U. Burda, “Conflict of interest in clinical practice guideline development: a systematic review”,
PLoS One. 2011; 6 (10) e25153. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0025153. Epub 2011 Oct 19. PMID: 22039406; PMCID:
PMC3198464; https://genderreport.ca/bias-not-evidence-dominate-transgender-standard-of-care/ (accessed 1/22/23).

[32] Pope John Paul II, Encyclical Letter, Fides et Ratio, of the Supreme Pontiff John Paul II: To the Bishops of the Catholic Church on the
Relationship between Faith and Reason. United States Catholic Conference, 1999.

[33] Pope John Paul II, Man and Woman He Created Them: A Theology of the Body. Translated by Michael Waldenstein. Second ed.
(Boston, MA: Pauline Books & Media, 2006).

The Varieties of Cardinal

Newman's Reception by
Women
The Oxford Movement is often associated with scholarly men, particularly John Henry Newman and Edward Bouverie Pusey, but also John
Keble, Richard Froude, and Robert Wilberforce, all of whom were fellows of Oriel College, Oxford. We also tend to think of those responsible
for the Tracts for the Times—known as the “Tractarians.”

While it is true that most of the central texts of the Oxford Movement were composed by men, the movement itself was not devoid of female
voices. It can even be argued that the reception of the movement was in fact more female than male. Nineteenth-century Anglicanism
experienced a gender imbalance in which women made up the majority of those present in congregations, and it was often at the hands of
women that the church functioned on a day-to-day basis, both financially and practically. Women were often the ones physically present for
the sermons and passing along the High-Church message to their peers. To put it bluntly, the pastoral nature of the Oxford Movement would
not have been so successful without the women, who were most of those subject to the pastoring. These women also sought (as well as gave)
spiritual and theological advice, kept the churches running, and disseminated the message of the Oxford Movement to their friends. Because
of this, historians today must look carefully at how women were involved in and influenced by the Oxford Movement if we are to gauge the
reach of the Oxford Movement more fully within the context of the greater Anglo-Catholic movement of the nineteenth century.

Introduced here are women who were deeply influenced by Newman particularly, as well as by the greater Oxford Movement. These three
women had varying degrees of interaction with Newman personally. The first is Newman’s mother, Jemima Newman, who was one of his
greatest supporters in his ministry at Littlemore. As a beloved member of his family, Newman cared deeply for his mother, as he did also for
his Aunt Elizabeth and sisters. The second, Mary Holmes, was a governess and musicologist to whom Newman provided spiritual direction at
the height of the Oxford Movement, though the friendship would continue until her death in 1878. The final person discussed here is poet
Christina Rossetti, who never corresponded directly with Newman, though she was quite influenced by Newman’s writings and the greater
Oxford Movement’s ethos and body of literature, particularly after the movement had spread to London. Because of her stature as a
published poet and relationship with the Pre-Raphaelites, much more scholarship exists on her life, what influenced her, and her work itself.

Jemima Newman
Some of the most intimate correspondence between John Henry and his mother is witnessed in their letters concerning the people and
church at Littlemore. In these letters we see the development of Newman’s pastoral opinion of how the parish ought to be run, as well as his
growing enthusiasm for his responsibilities to his lower-middle-class parishioners. At the beginning of his tenure at the parish of St. Mary the
Virgin—which originally included the people of Littlemore, who were located a couple of miles from Oxford City Centre—Newman would
spend the vast majority of his time at Oriel and St. Mary the Virgin Church, while the people of Littlemore, who were without a chapel at the
time, were often an afterthought.

At the consistent encouragement of his mother, Newman would come to realize that the people of Littlemore had their own distinctive needs,
which led to his founding the chapel of Saint Mary and Saint Nicholas, as well as a school in the Oxford suburb. Many of the letters exchanged
between Newman and his mother at this time explained these particular needs, such as a governess to teach the children and someone to
make sure the children had proper clothing and combed hair for Easter Sunday. Newman became deeply involved in the life of Littlemore
and would eventually prefer it over the hustle and bustle of academic life in Oxford. Writing to his mother and sister, both named Jemima,
Newman would eventually say how he wished he could spend all his time in Littlemore because he had become quite fond of the people,
particularly the children.[1]

Much of what Newman did for the people of Littlemore was at the encouragement of his mother. In a letter dated 26 June 1836 Newman
reminisced on his relationship with his mother shortly after her death about which he said, “I can never repent it for the good she has done to
Littlemore.”[2] Newman dedicated the chapel he built at Littlemore to his mother, and we can observe the monument at St. Mary and St.
Nicholas church still today.

Mary Holmes
Mary Hester Holmes (1815–1878) was a convert to Tractarianism who eventually converted to Roman Catholicism in 1844, the year before
Newman’s conversion. She was a published musicologist and governess, who corresponded frequently with the likes of Anthony Trollope,
William Makepeace Thackeray, and of course John Henry Newman. Her upbringing encouraged her to become proficient in literature and
languages, including French, German, and Latin. Mary Holmes was never married and tended to change jobs frequently, which as her
correspondence with Newman demonstrates, caused both her and Newman trepidation at times. Holmes inquired with Newman about help
in publishing her first book, Aunt Elinor’s Lectures on Architecture, Dedicated to the Ladies of England (1843), which reflected the
Tractarian interest in Gothic church architecture, as opposed to the neoclassical style common to England at the time. This would not be
Mary Holmes’s sole publication.

From May 1850 until January 1851, the Lady’s Newspaper and Pictorial Times of London featured a series of Holmes’s articles entitled, “A
Few Words about Music.” These articles were signed only by her initials “M.H.” In 1851, these articles were expanded into a book entitled, A
Few Words about Music: Containing Hints to Amateur Pianists; to Which Is Added a Slight Historical Sketch of the Rise and Progress of
the Art of Music, published by J. Alfred Novello. Like the newspaper articles before, Holmes published these articles under her initials M.H.
As Christine Kyprianides discusses in her article, “A Few Words about Miss Mary Holmes,” despite Holmes’s accomplishments, she remains
an elusive figure for historians. This is in part due to a cataloging error, which attributed her publications to a “Mrs. Hullah,” rather than Miss
Holmes. It took nearly a century to notice this clerical error, and the error is still in place in many locations, as can be seen in the link directly
above.

What was the nature of Holmes’s and Newman’s relationship?

Mary Holmes initiated correspondence with Newman in 1840 due to her growing interest in the Oxford Movement. Their correspondence
quickly became almost daily, and sometimes even multiple letters per day, for the subsequent four years. Holmes and Newman did not meet
in person until two years into their friendship, though by the time they physically met they were well acquainted with one another.
Their letters were often cordial, especially at first, though Newman became frustrated with Mary in the months leading up to her conversion
to the Roman Church because Newman advised her against conversion and implored her to wait. Newman’s main source of frustration, aside
from Mary’s conversion, was that she sought spiritual direction from both Newman and a Roman Catholic priest simultaneously. Sometimes
comparing the advice, Mary followed the path in which she thought God was leading her, even though it caused some friction between herself
and Newman.

The frustration that Newman felt toward Mary eased upon her conversion, and there is even an air of admiration in Newman’s tone as he
wrote to Mary after his own conversion to Catholicism in 1845. While the letters after Mary’s conversion became less frequent, they remained
friends until her death in 1878. Much of their correspondence is theological, in which they discuss the sacraments and the differences
between Protestantism and Catholicism. They also discussed architecture and liturgy, even the minutiae of liturgical performance and
theology. Newman’s admiration for Mary Holmes likely led to his decision to transcribe the series of letters under the title, “The History of a
Conversion to the Catholic Faith: In the Years 1840–1844.”

What spiritually or theologically drew Holmes to Newman?

As Mary Holmes’s interest in the Oxford Movement grew, she would eventually ask Newman to become her spiritual director. While Newman
destroyed the more confidential letters exchanged between the two to preserve Miss Holmes’s privacy, in 1863 he transcribed the extant
letters into a single document as a way to preserve the story of her conversion, though he did not attach her name to it to maintain the
confidential nature of their letters. The significance of this transcription, and what Newman seems to have wanted to preserve, is how Miss
Holmes went from an interest in Anglo-Catholicism to Roman Catholicism. Holmes converted prior to Newman’s own conversion, and what
is preserved in this series of transcribed letters is how she came to understand various doctrines from a Roman perspective, such as the
communion of saints and transubstantiation. Felt in these letters on the part of both Newman and Holmes is an excitement for her faith
transformation. Newman also expresses his feelings of betrayal when she speaks of conversion to the Roman Church, though this would be
forgiven once she had actually converted, and Newman would even later agree conversion was the right decision after his own conversion to
the Roman Church. We also experience in these letters doubt and frustration and joy from both Newman and Holmes as her spiritual journey
unfolds.

My reason for describing this exchange in these broad strokes, rather than the minutia of her doctrinal exploration, is to demonstrate what
Newman had invested in this woman whom he only met a handful of times in person. He cared deeply for her opinions and displayed an
openness to her observations that we do not see in all his correspondences.

Christina Rossetti
Christina Georgina Rossetti was an English Romantic author and poet. Her major publications include “Goblin Market” and “Remember.”
Her widest-reaching and best-remembered poem today is a Christmas carol by the title “In the Bleak Midwinter,” which was later set to
music by Gustav Holst.

Christina Rossetti is the sister of poet and artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti, who was one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood,
along with William Holman Hunt and John Everett Millais. Christina Rossetti is featured in many of her brother’s paintings and was
intimately involved with the Brotherhood. A combination of her own publications along with her ties to the Pre-Raphaelites led to her fame,
though her life was far from simple.

Beginning early in life, Rossetti would suffer from bouts of depression. She had a nervous breakdown at the age of fourteen, which led to her
leaving school and returning home. It was during these bouts of depression in her teenage years that Rossetti became engrossed in the Anglo-
Catholic movement sweeping the Church of England at the time, the Oxford Movement being one of the most well-known of this Anglo-
Catholic movement.

Rossetti spent her life in London, where she attended Christ Church, Albany Street, which is known as the leading church of the Oxford
Movement once the movement had spread to London. Along with her sister, Maria, Rossetti supported many Anglican sisterhoods,
including The Society of All Saints, of which Maria would become a fully professed sister in 1876. Rossetti’s regular religious devotional
practices were encouraged by members of the Oxford Movement (such as confession and receiving Holy Communion) would play a major
role in her life and writings.

How was Rossetti influenced by the Oxford Movement?

Noted in the introduction to the 1925 edition of Rossetti’s Verses is that “Her [Christina Rossetti’s] religious views were Tractarian, that is to
say, Anglo-Catholic without any leaning toward Roman Catholicism and strongly Puritan.”[3] Found in her private library are copies of
Keble’s Christian Year, which she carefully illustrated herself, as well as Isaac Williams’s The Altar.[4] Rossetti held the writings of Isaac
Williams in special esteem during the last years of her life, and in 1892 as she convalesced from cancer surgery, she enjoyed having her
brother read from the Autobiography of Isaac Williams.[5]

Elizabeth Ludlow demonstrates how

Tractarianism informed the early Pre-Raphaelite aesthetic and how Rossetti took this aesthetic forward and, in turn, used it to inform and
disseminate Anglo-Catholic theology, contributing to the maturing of the Movement’s theology rather than being simply an [and I quote
from Tennyson] “inheritor of the Tractarian devotional mode in poetry.”[6]
This dissemination is demonstrated when, as Ludlow explains, “a number of her poems appeared in seminal Anglo-Catholic anthologies,”
particularly, Orby Shipley’s Lyrica Mystica: Hymns and Verses on Sacred Subjects (published in 1865) and Lyrica Eucharistica: Hymns
and Verse on the Holy Communion (1864).

Much of Rossetti’s religious poetry can be seen as a typological depiction of “the church as a space prepared for an experience of divine
revelation.”[7] This is seen prevalently in the final lines of her unpublished poem “Yet a Little While”:

We have clear call of daily bells,

A dimness where the anthems are,
A chancel vault of sky and star,
A thunder if the organ swells:
Alas our daily life—what else?—
Is not in tune with daily bells

You have deep pause betwixt the chimes

Of earth and heaven, a patient pause
Yet glad with rest by certain laws:
You look and long: while oftentimes
Precursive flush of morning chimes
And air vibrates with coming chimes.[8]

According to James Pereiro, much of the ethos of the Oxford Movement “considered religion and poetry closely related, for God has used
poetical language to communicate himself to man, employing symbolical associations—whether poetical, moral, or mystical—to reveal a
world beyond sense perception.”[9] This interplay between the earthly and the mystical can be seen in these lines of Rossetti’s poem.

How was Rossetti influenced by Newman’s writings in particular?

Christina Rossetti owned a copy of Newman’s Dream of Gerontius and admired Newman’s life and work, particularly his more poetic works.
[10] Her poem, aptly entitled, “Cardinal Newman,” which was published on 16 August 1890, in honor of his death, demonstrates her
admonition for Newman.

O weary Champion of the Cross, lie still:

Sleep thou at length the all-embracing sleep:
Long was thy sowing-day, rest now and reap:
Thy fast was long, feast now thy spirit’s fill.
Yea take thy fill of love, because thy will
Chose love not in the shallows but the deep:
Thy tides were spring-tides, set against the neap
Of calmer souls: thy flood rebuked their rill.
Now night has come to thee—please God, of rest:
So some time must it come to every man;
To first and last, where many last are first.
Now fixed and finished thine eternal plan,
Thy best has done its best, thy worst its worst:
Thy best its best, please God, thy best is its best.[11]

Many of the themes present in her poetry demonstrate the importance of aesthetics for our experience and understanding of the Christian
experience, which are themes also found in the work of John Henry Newman, particularly within his Parochial and Plain Sermons. While
Newman and Rossetti never physically crossed paths, it is important to note how Newman indirectly influenced her thought.

Conclusion
This article is only a small part of a much larger project that seeks to understand the female reception of the Oxford Movement. Represented
here are three “profiles” or “categories” of influence. The first are the women family members of the core participants of the Oxford
Movement. Represented here by Jemima Newman, John Henry Newman’s mother, these women can be sisters, aunts, wives, daughters, in-
laws, or even grandmothers. The second category, represented here by Mary Holmes, features those who were contemporaries of the
Tractarians and had direct contact, but who were not family. As we see in the case of Mary Holmes, these women are often drawn to the
movement for spiritual or theological reasons, and they sometimes sought spiritual direction or theological or religious advice from the
Tractarians. The third category, represented here by Christina Rossetti, are both contemporaries and later generations of women who were
influenced by the Tractarians, but who were never correspondents. The published authors, such as Christina Rossetti, Edith Stein, Sara
Coleridge, and Maisie Ward to name just a few, are the easiest to study because the source materials are plentiful and easily attainable, and
we are able to trace elements of influence within their published works.

More difficult to study, however, are those women in the pews, silently listening to the Tractarian sermons and perhaps discussing the
contents with their friends, or those reading the Tracts and allowed the preaching to influence the way they conducted their lives and the
lives of their families. The source material for these women are often personal journals, letters, and parish registries and notes from parish
council meetings, etc., which are often more difficult to track down, though the work is necessary to comprehend the nature of the Oxford
Movement and its reception history more fully. The motivations of these women, who often made up the vast majority of those physically
present in Anglo-Catholic parishes in the nineteenth century, are a major key to understanding what the Oxford Movement really was and
how influential the movement was in its own day, as well as in the subsequent decades.
Editorial Note: This article was originally published in the National Institute for Newman Studies’ Newman Review.

[1] This becomes a frequent sentiment beginning around 1840. See LD vii.

[2] LD v, 314.

[3] Diane D’Amico and David A. Kent, “Rossetti and the Tractarians,” Victorian Poetry 44, no. 1 (Spring 2006): 93.

[4] See Lorraine Janzen Kooistra, Christina Rossetti and Illustration: A Publishing History (Athens, OH: Ohio University Press, 2002).

[5] D’Amico and Kent, “Rossetti and the Tractarians,” 93.

[6] Elizabeth Ludlow, “Christina Rossetti and the Pre-Raphaelites,” in The Oxford Handbook of the Oxford Movement, ed. Stewart J. Brown,
Peter B. Nockles, and James Pereiro (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017), 427–38.

[7] Ludlow, “Christina Rossetti and the Pre-Raphaelites,” 434.

[8] Quoted in Ludlow, “Christina Rossetti and the Oxford Movement,” 434.

[9] James Periero, ‘Ethos’ and the Oxford Movement: At the Heart of Tractarianism (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008), 98.

[10] See Rebecca Rainof, “Victorians in Purgatory: Newman’s Poetics of Conciliation and the Afterlife of the Oxford Movement,” Victorian
Poetry 51, no. 2 (Summer 2013): 227–47.

[11] Christina Rosetti, “Cardinal Newman,” in New Poems by Christina Rossetti, hitherto unpublished or uncollected (New York: Macmillan,
1896), 261–62.