Catholic Church grapples with LGBT issues and female ordination in landmark Vatican meeting

What may be the most important meeting for the Catholic Church in more than a half-century began Wednesday, as bishops and other leaders of the Church convened in the Vatican under a cloud of controversy for the Synod on Synodality.

Synods, which are meetings of bishops to discuss pressing issues in the Catholic Church, have been a part of the Church's governing structure for several decades. The purpose of the body is to advise the pope on various matters.

But the "Synod on Synodality," which will conclude next year, has...