Vatican Synod Report Plays Down LGBTQ Issues, Disappointing Progressives

ROME—A Vatican gathering called to debate potentially far-reaching changes in the Catholic Church adjourned on Saturday with a final report that barely referred to one of its most controversial questions: the place of LGBTQ people in the church. Proponents of women’s ordination received slightly more encouragement, as the Vatican meeting called for further research into the possibility of women deacons. An official 42-page summary report issued at the conclusion of the meeting, called a synod, referred only obliquely to LGBTQ Catholics, despite what synod participants said was extensive discussion of the topic during the monthlong assembly, which opened Oct. 4.