Catholic aid groups are among those preparing for migrants fleeing violence in Central America—and who may face a U.S. border slammed shut to asylum seekers.

New calls for greater synodality—and the inclusion of many more voices than just bishops—may complicate the role of collegiality in church governance.

“We have a picture of what the goal looks like—the dignity of women, women feeling appreciated, their gifts being used—but how do you get there?”

Many of the migrants in the caravan are fleeing Central America’s “Northern Triangle”—El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. These countries are beset by “the world’s highest murder rates, deaths linked to drug trafficking and organized crime and endemic poverty.”

About 5,000 people leave Venezuela every day. According to the U.N. Refugee Agency, at least 1.9 million Venezuelan citizens have left the country since 2015, fleeing from the economic and political crisis that the country is experiencing under President Nicolás Maduro.

“I was surprised that they even listened to me,” said Rev. Martina Viktorie Kopecká. “I am quite young and a woman. I wore a white stole. They are not pushing me away.”