An important synodal conference is coming up in the Roman Catholic Church that will shape and profoundly affect how the Church operates, probably for generations.

You may have seen the headlines a few days ago trumpeting the fact that Pope Francis is allowing women to vote in that conference. Every article I read in major newspapers characterized the development as a major advancement in women's equality inside the Church.

Every article was dead wrong.

The pope is adding a number of lay people to the conference, half of whom will be women. When you add the numbers up, a ridiculous 5% of the people allowed to vote in the conference will be women. 95% of the voters will be men instead of 100% like usual.

It's hard for me to believe how anyone could characterize that as an advancement. Once again, women will be all but completely shut out from decision making in the Roman Catholic Church. Women will continue to have almost exactly zero influence.

It's hard to imagine how a major institution like that can be so blatantly and completely sexist and that people can just think it's okay.

It's harder to imagine that people could praise a ridiculously symbolic move that lets only a tiny number of women in the door.

It's propaganda over substance, and people are buying it. Because way too people don't, not deep inside where it counts, believe that women are fundamentally entitled to all the rights and equality that men are entitled to.