The journey towards synodality: an African woman's perspective

How does the Church listen? This was the central question of a recent address by Dr Nora Nonterah, a theologian, mother and African delegate at the most recent Synod on Synodality. Sharing her own stories of being judged or misunderstood for challenging norms, she illustrated the tension many women face in the Church, and contributions they make to the faith. She argued that the journey towards a more inclusive and listening Church begins in Rome, but also in the heart of every baptised person and in every family home.

When Dr Nonterah returned from the Vatican to her home in Ghana after participating in the Synod on Synodality, she found herself at the centre of three very different reactions. A Catholic friend told her, ‘That’s not your place.’ A Protestant friend proudly shared her contributions online. And a Catholic priest dismissed her as ‘one of those women looking for trouble.’

These responses reflect a broader tension of who belongs at the table, and who gets to speak. Dr Nonterah clarified that synodality is not a new program but a return to the Church’s foundational call to journey with one another, lay and clergy alike. ‘Pope Francis was only calling us to renew this important aspect of being a church, to renew in us a style in which we listen, work together and do it together.’

She also directly addressed common fears and misconceptions: ‘Synodality is not about ordination of women. Synodality is not about same sex marriages. Synodality is not about “everybody can do everything”. No, these are misconceptions of what synodality is. Synodality is about all of us … listening to each other, and above all, to the Holy Spirit.’

In indigenous African understanding, a woman is considered as a repository and an embodiment of knowledge and wisdom.

From her Ghanaian perspective, which she suggested is largely true for the rest of Africa, Dr Nonterah said that women’s participation is inhibited by a culture of passivity among the laity and by clericalism. These are issues perpetuated by all members of the Church, both ordained and laity, she said, and result in decision-making processes that exclude the majority of the faithful, who are women.

‘There are priests who advance clericalism and there are laity who advance clericalism. My Catholic friend, I spoke about before, is a laity who felt that I shouldn’t have been in the Vatican having conversations. For me, that’s a form of clericalism.’

African conceptions of womanhood, Dr Nonterah said, shows its immense value to a Church that is moving towards synodality. ‘In indigenous African understanding, a woman is considered as a repository and an embodiment of knowledge and wisdom. It is a woman who passes on the wisdom of the community to children. It’s a woman who teaches children ways of being, who teaches women a sense of awareness of who they are.

‘She teaches them the history of the community, the clan, the family. She tells them stories about failures and successes of their ancestors, and what led to those failures and what led to those successes, with the hope that it helps them to construct their own path in a better way.’

For the first time, the authentic perspective of women was brought to the table, because this time, women were there to tell their own truths.

African women as custodians of cultures allows them to transmit and expand knowledge. ‘The African woman speaks and cares for all they speak to [on] those issues that matter. The traditional African woman does not monopolise access to life or sources of life in the culture but opens it up to every member of the society, by speaking to those issues that matter and those issues that are interesting to her.’

This inherent wisdom was evident, Dr Nonterah observed, when African women joined the Synod on Synodality, at Pope Francis’ invitation. ‘Something happened for me, as someone who had participated in the whole process, the gender bias sense of responsibility was quickly diffused.

‘An African woman came to the table with all the ideas that were suppressed over the years and swept under the carpet. For the first time, I like to say that the authentic perspective of women was brought to the table, because this time, women were there to tell their own truths and their own stories.’

Their contributions were not limited to women’s issues but extended to broader themes vital for the Church in Africa, such as self-reliance and safeguarding.

‘They [also] spoke about how the church can be independent in Africa, and we all know that self-reliance is very important in Africa, because it is a problem in the church and in society. The culture of dependency [for] women was very strong that we must come out of that safeguarding of vulnerable and children, irrespective of gender, and so many other things.’

Moving from diagnosis to solution, Dr Nonterah argued that good intentions were insufficient. She called for concrete, mandatory structural changes and quotas to ensure women’s inclusion in decision-making bodies, diocesan advisory boards, and even the core formation teams in seminaries. ‘We must be deliberate to bring about structural changes that take affirmative action for the inclusion of women,’ she said.

We are richer when we do it together.

Dr Nonterah said the entire synodal vision rests in the shared dignity of baptism, the common denominator that brings everyone to the table. She also stressed that synodality must begin in the family, the domestic church, where listening and shared responsibility are first learned. ‘Synodality has to start from the home, so that people grow knowing that listening and being equally responsible for the mission of the church is as normal as being Catholic.

‘[There is a] need for shared formation in which men and women, laity, consecrated persons, ordained ministers and candidates for ordained ministry participate together, thus enabling them to grow together in knowledge and mutual esteem and in ability to collaborate. We are richer when we do it together.’

Drawing on the African philosophy of Ubuntu—‘I am because we are’—she reminded her audience that inclusion is a practical necessity for the Church’s future, a compelling vision for the Catholic Church as it embraces a truly synodal way of being a community of faith.