Australian Catholic women are echoing their international sisters' desire for church reform, according to new research from the University of Newcastle.
Analysis of the world-first International Survey of Catholic Women, released on Tuesday, has found widespread support of church reform across the 1769 respondents identified as living in Australia - about 11 per cent of the full dataset.
The analysis was completed by Tracy McEwan, Kathleen McPhillips and Miriam Pepper from the University of Newcastle.
The results come ahead of the landmark Synod on Synodality at the Vatican in October - a rare invitation for members of the global church to contribute thoughts on church matters.
The researchers hope their analysis will contribute to conversations about the status and inclusion of women across the church.
"Australian survey respondents were primarily found to be active in their parishes and listed their Catholic identity as very important to them, however they also expressed frustration at the discriminatory structures of the church. It is vital that the upcoming Vatican synod does not discount the insights of this cohort," Dr McPhillips said.
The survey generated unparalleled insight into the thoughts and concerns of Catholic women, including poignant first-hand accounts of their experiences across all ages.
Questions related to issues including abuses of power, LGBTQIA+ inclusion, female leadership and sexual and reproductive freedom.
Some Australian responses included: "I love my Church, but I wish my Church loved me more (56-70 years)"; "I feel as though I am not welcome as a woman and as a member of the LGBTQIA+ community (18-25 years)"; and "I am deeply embarrassed and hurt by the way that the Catholic Church has handled years and years of sexual abuse (26 to 40 years)".
Despite the overall support for reform, Australian Catholic women were more conservative than their international counterparts, with strong differences by age not seen in other countries, the survey revealed.
"Older respondents were more supportive of reform and change than their younger counterparts across most themes, with younger respondents more likely to convey conservatism," Dr Pepper said.
Conservatism in younger respondents was echoed in questions on LGBTQIA+ inclusion and freedom of conscience about sexual and reproductive decisions.
"However, it's important we don't overemphasise these differences. On the whole, we still see high levels of concern for women in the Church in Australia," Dr Pepper said.
In response to the question "I support reform in the Catholic Church", just 21 per cent of respondents aged 18-40 strongly agreed, compared with 83 per cent of those aged older than 70.
Dr McEwan said the difference could reflect life stages.
"They've [the older generation] experienced frustration, having worked for reform and seen resistance, so they're expressing a desire for reform more strongly," she said.
"Another possible reason is that the young women who completed the survey, are slightly more conservative than the Catholic population of young women as a whole."
The survey was commissioned by international group Catholic Women Speak. More than 17,000 Catholic women in 104 countries shared their insights about the church in March and April last year.
"We hope that the Australian representatives to the upcoming synod meeting will take note of the findings of this analysis, and convey the views of Australian Catholic women," Dr McEwan said.
