In Rome, Halyna Vasylytsia Defended a Licentiate Thesis on Women in the Catholic Church and Synodality

On May 19, 2026, a licentiate thesis defense took place at the Pontifical Salesian University. The thesis, titled “Women and the Catholic Church in the Vatican Magazine Donne Chiesa Mondo: A Thematic Survey of 2023,” was written by Halyna Vasylytsia and received the highest evaluation from the examination committee.

“I sincerely rejoice in the successful defense of Halyna Vasylytsia’s licentiate thesis. Halyna carries out important communications work in the Archeparchy with creativity and competence. The two-thousand-year life of our Church is being marked by the new voice of women theologians. I hope that for many years to come, Halyna will continue to make a positive contribution to our theological and social discussions, as well as to the life of the Church in America and beyond,” commented Metropolitan Borys Gudziak.

In her research, the author examined how the Vatican magazine Donne Chiesa Mondo (“Women Church World”) addressed the topic of women in the Catholic Church throughout 2023 within the context of the Synod on Synodality — a process emphasizing greater participation of the laity, particularly women, in the life and ministry of the Church. Published since 2012 as a supplement to L'Osservatore Romano, the official newspaper of the Holy See, and available in several languages, Donne Chiesa Mondo has become one of the few official Catholic media platforms where women’s voices are consistently heard and where issues such as women’s dignity, ministry, social justice, synodality, and the contemporary challenges facing Catholic women are regularly discussed. The study highlights how the magazine seeks to foster dialogue between Church tradition and the challenges of the modern world, creating space for open conversation about women’s presence in the life of the Church and their participation in processes of discussion and decision-making.

The thesis combines a historical overview of the role of women in the Church with both quantitative and qualitative analyses of the magazine’s publications, exploring how Catholic media contribute to shaping contemporary ecclesial discourse. The research emphasizes that the question of women’s presence in the Church remains one of the significant challenges facing the modern Catholic world. The author demonstrates that women played an active role in the life of early Christian communities and held important positions in the Church’s ministry and missionary activity. At the same time, over the centuries, the influence of patriarchal structures gradually narrowed women’s participation in Church governance.