Who Should Form Future Priests?

A recent Vatican report connected to the Synod on Synodality recommends giving “due weight” to women’s views and assessments in the formation of future priests. It doesn’t propose changing Holy Orders or ordaining women, but it does suggest a structural shift in how seminarians might be evaluated and accompanied during their formation. In this monologue, I break down what the report actually proposes and explain why it caught my attention. The idea is framed as part of a broader push for “synodality” — a vision of the Church where more voices from the wider community, including women, participate in processes that have traditionally been handled within clerical structures. But that raises a deeper question. The priesthood is a masculine vocation, and priestly formation has historically been rooted in men forming men. Introducing women into the evaluative side of seminary formation may sound harmless or even “inclusive,” but does it actually strengthen priestly formation — or does it reflect a broader instinct to reshape the Church according to secular expectations about participation and gender roles? In this episode, I explain why I think the proposal misunderstands the nature of male formation, why seminarians should not feel as though they are being assessed by “their mothers,” and why this conversation risks focusing on the wrong problem altogether. The real crisis in the Church today isn’t primarily how priests are formed — it’s the collapse of priestly vocations in the first place. So rather than theorizing new structures for seminary evaluation, perhaps the more urgent question is much simpler: How do we raise and call forth more men willing to become priests? This short monologue unpacks the story, the reasoning behind the proposal, and why I believe the discussion reveals something deeper about the direction of Catholic leadership today. Follow me on X | Instagram | TikTok | FB | YouTube Thanks for reading The Forge ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.theforge.fm/subscribe