Catholic synod ends with no resolution on women

What happened

Pope Francis on Saturday approved the final document of his yearslong global synod, or dialogue among the world's 1.4 billion Catholics on the direction of the church. He took the unusual step of saying it speaks for the church, requiring no additional action by him.

Who said what

The final document, approved by 368 delegates after three years of discussion "at every level of the Catholic Church," laid out a "vision for structural reform" that would give "lay leaders, especially women," a greater role and more equal voice in the church, Religion News Service said. The bishops, nuns and laypeople affirmed "there is no reason or impediment that should prevent women from carrying out leadership roles in the church," but the final document ruled out ordaining women as priests and said the question of women deacons "remains open."

Catholic deacons can preside over baptisms, weddings and funerals, but only priests can celebrate mass. Ordaining women deacons was a "fringe proposal pushed by Western progressives" before the synod, The Associated Press said. By the end it had become "something of a litmus test of how far the church was going to go" to include women in leadership roles.

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Progressive Catholics "may be disappointed" in the outcome, "but some conservatives were upset about the whole summit from the beginning," the BBC said, "opposed to opening up this consultation process," traditionally reserved for bishops, to lay Catholics.

What next?

The question of women deacons was relegated to a Vatican study group, CNN said, but "for a church which thinks in centuries, what may seem like small steps to those on the outside are major leaps forward for many inside."