2023-04-27 02:42:27
- Kathryn Armstrong
- BBC News
image source, Archyde.com
The reforms are part of Pope Francis’ efforts to give women greater representation in the religious community.
The pope will for the first time allow women to vote at an influential global meeting of bishops in October, a welcome historic change.
The new rules announced this Wednesday will give voting rights for five religious sisters in the synod, a papal advisory body.
In the past, women were only allowed to attend the meeting as observers.
Men will continue to cast the majority of votes at the influential gathering.
However, the reforms are seen as a significant change for the Church catolicwhich has been dominated by men for centuries.
The Women’s Ordination Conference, which advocates for the inclusion of women priests, described the reform as “and break significativo on the roof of stained glass“.
“For years, representatives of the Vatican and bishops resisted, raising the bar with every synod on why women were not allowed to vote,” the group wrote on Twitter. “The unspoken reason was always sexism,” he added.
“In the near future, we hope that the synod will continue to evolve into a body fully representative of the people of God,” he said.
In a new break with tradition, Pope Francis, promoter of the reform, announced that voting rights will also be extendedonno 70 members no bishops carefully selected within the religious community, making the synod cease to be a meeting solely of the hierarchy of the Church.
The Vatican said it expects half of them to be women and that “the presence of young people is valued.”
“It is an important change, it is not a revolution,” said Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, one of the main organizers of the synod.
Christopher Lamb, Vatican correspondent for the Catholic news publication The Tablethe told the program Newshour of the BBC World Service that the changes are “highly significant” and an attempt by the Pope to make decisions regarding the future of the Church in a more inclusive way.
She added that the reforms regarding women reflect an “unprecedented” dialogue on the issue of female representation that has been going on for some time.
However, Lamb expects the pope to face “significant resistance” from some parts of the Church over this latest decision.
image source, Getty Images
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