CNN
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The sense of urgency has grown after the role of women became a dominant theme as Catholics from around the world were asked for their views ahead of a meeting of bishops and laity – a synod – that officially ended on Sunday.

The synod assembly's final document, approved by Pope Francis, states that women must be given all the opportunities offered by canon law to serve as leaders. However, the possibility of ordaining women as deacons remained an “open” question requiring further consideration.

Disappointment with the slow pace of reform was expressed during the meeting when the pope's doctrinal adviser ruled out the ordination of women as deacons and then failed to appear at a meeting on the issue. He later apologized and held a 90-minute meeting with members of the congregation.

Some are unimpressed by what they see as the Vatican pushing the issue of deacons into the background.

Phyllis Zagano, a research professor at Hofstra University in New York and an expert on women deacons, said that “there is ample evidence of the sacramental ordination of women as deacons in the Church in the East and West until the 12th century” and that “at some point …”A decision must be made.”

Francis has also faced criticism recently for expressing what a Belgian Catholic university denounced as “reductive” views on the role of women in the church. In an interview earlier this year, he ruled out the possibility of ordaining women deacons who, in addition to saying Mass and hearing confessions, can also perform priestly functions.

The problem in the church is compounded as women make up the majority of churchgoers and decision-making is controlled by an all-male hierarchy. In addition, Catholic teaching prohibits women from being ordained to the priesthood, a decision that Francis has maintained, although he has allowed female deacons to study.

In previous papacies, the question of the ordination of women was not even discussed. The big difference now is that the 87-year-old Argentine pope has shown that he is willing to listen carefully to the voices of Catholics.

In a significant move, Francis declared for the first time that he would not issue a doctrinal document in accordance with the Vatican Synod's recommendations and approved its decisions, giving them additional authority. “It's a revolution that no one notices,” a cardinal told CNN afterwards about the pope's move.

During his pontificate, Francis also sought to create cracks in the Vatican's glass ceiling. He has selected women for senior positions in the church's central administration, including a nun to help run the synod and the first female members to sit on the board of a powerful Vatican department that decides on the appointment of bishops.

For the first time, women were also included as voting members: 54 of the approximately 360 delegates were female voters. One of them was Julia Oseka, 23, who studies theology and physics at St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and is the youngest woman ever to be a voting member of a Vatican synod.

“There is definitely an urgent need to not only recognize and accept that women have the same baptismal dignity as men in the Catholic Church, but also to take action,” she told CNN.

Oseka added that while she is sometimes “frustrated” by the “slow pace” of decisions, some parts of the church are experiencing “difficulties” when it comes to women’s inclusion and it is important to maintain unity.

Francis' approach is also marked by resistance to any reform of women's roles: the Vatican Assembly's declaration on women received 97 “no” votes, the most in any section of the final document.

“There is resistance because there is still fear of this shared responsibility in the Catholic Church. But the participation and role of women is really a central issue,” Helena Jeppesen-Spuhler, a church worker from Switzerland and election delegate, told CNN.

She said the pope recognized that the issue of women deacons could not be “closed” and that it was important for the Catholic Church to send a message to the world where there is increasing discrimination and violence against women. “If we don’t take a clear stand, it contradicts our own message,” she said.

For some, the Pope and church leaders don't go far enough. “Women are looking for concrete changes and reforms that urgently recognize their equal rights,” Kate McElwee, executive director of Women's Ordination Worldwide, told CNN. “How much longer do women have to wait?”

Still, for a church that thinks in terms of centuries, what seem like small steps to those on the outside are big strides to many on the inside.