Synod group calls for gender-equality mechanisms in Church workplaces

The General Secretariat of the Synod on Tuesday, Sept. 8, published the final report of Study Group 6, which presents concrete proposals for renewing relations among bishops, consecrated life, and ecclesial associations, including specific mechanisms to promote greater equality between men and women in Church workplaces.

The document, originally written in Italian and also available in an English translation and a Spanish summary, states: “A clear mechanism for implementing gender equality in the workplace must be developed.”

It also proposes publishing new criteria for approving the establishment of institutes of consecrated life and appointing a delegate for consecrated life in every diocese.

The nonbinding report, which will now be reviewed by Pope Leo XIV, is part of the work undertaken by the 10 study groups created by Pope Francis in 2024 in connection with the Synod on Synodality. The groups are dissolved once their respective final reports have been published.

The working group was coordinated by Cardinal Joseph William Tobin, the archbishop of Newark, New Jersey. Its members included Cardinal Kevin Farrell, prefect of the Dicastery for the Laity, the Family, and…