A senior Vatican official has confirmed that several recently released doctrinal texts — along with two more forthcoming — represent the final phase of theological work commissioned under the pontificate of Pope Francis. The clarification came during the November 25 presentation of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith’s new doctrinal note on marriage, titled Una Caro.
According to LifeSiteNews, Father Armando Matteo, secretary of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, explained that the note on monogamy, the note on Marian titles, and two additional documents form a unified set belonging to the late pope’s legacy. “Together with the note on Marian titles and the note on monogamy,” Matteo said, “the dicastery is currently carrying out another study on the theme of the transmission of the faith, and is then completing the final report of the well-known Study Group No. 5 on the participation of women in the life and leadership of the Church, which will be delivered directly to the Secretariat of the Synod, which in turn will hand it over to Pope Leo.”
Matteo added that these four texts complete the mandate assigned by Pope Francis two years before his death. “In this way, with these four documents, the mandate Pope Francis had given us two years ago comes to an end,” he said, according to LifeSiteNews. The dicastery will now await a full meeting with Pope Leo XIV in January to receive direction on future doctrinal work.
The doctrinal note on Marian titles, released earlier this month, was also part of this earlier mandate. The Vatican official acknowledged that its development “had been conceived under the reign of Pope Francis and desired by him,” according to the report.
Among the remaining documents soon to reach the pope’s desk is the long-anticipated final report of Study Group No. 5 — a confidential working group established during the Synod on Synodality. The report concerns theological and canonical questions involving ministerial roles and the participation of women in the Church’s life and leadership.
The study group has been a point of controversy for several years. During the synod’s first assembly in October 2024, delegates raised concerns about transparency when it became known that the group’s membership and internal discussions had not been publicly disclosed. As LifeSiteNews reported, there was a “widespread perception” that the group functioned as a “strategic laboratory” for exploring proposals with potentially far-reaching implications, including discussion of “the possible admission of women to the diaconate.”
Throughout Pope Francis’ pontificate, several gestures and initiatives prompted debate about the role of women in the Church’s ministries. These included the 2016 modification of the Holy Thursday foot-washing rite to include women, the establishment of two commissions studying female deacons, and passages in Amoris laetitia addressing cultural barriers to women’s dignity. Vatican publications such as L’Osservatore Romano and Civiltà Cattolica also advanced discussion on women preaching and ordination, according to the report.
The final document from Study Group No. 5 will be submitted “directly into the hands of the Secretariat of the Synod,” which will then transmit it to Pope Leo. It remains unclear how Pope Leo XIV will receive, interpret, or act upon the proposals prepared under his predecessor.
As the transition between pontificates continues, these four documents — two already released, two still forthcoming — will serve as a closing chapter to the doctrinal initiatives inaugurated under Pope Francis and a starting point for the new pope’s own direction.
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