An open dispute over the future role of women has overshadowed the final week of the synod of Catholic bishops in Rome, participants said on Saturday. According to attendees of the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, there were protests at a meeting about the role of women because the Vatican only sent two minor representatives to address the issue. The participation of women in the Church, up to and including the ordination of female priests, has for years been a major contentious issue in the Catholic Church. At the behest of Pope Francis, the topic was outsourced to a wo…