Pope Francis has made it known that he wants to increase the number of top-level positions for women in the Vatican and that, for the first time, he will appoint women to the traditionally all-male Vatican committee that assists him in choosing the world’s bishops.
In an interview with Reuters that was released on Wednesday, July 6, the 85-year-old pontiff spoke about a variety of subjects, including the position of women in the Vatican.
The Pope’s remarks follow the implementation of a new constitution for the central government of the Holy See last month, which permits any baptized Catholic, including laymen and women, to lead the majority of Vatican departments.
During the 90-minute conversation, when the subject of the Curia’s new constitution came up, he stated, “I am open to giving (women) an opportunity.”
He added that Sister Raffaella Petrini became the highest-ranking woman in the world’s smallest country last year when he for the first time appointed a woman to the second post in the governorship of Vatican City.
He said, Two women will be appointed for the first time in the committee to elect bishops in the Congregation for Bishops.”
The action is very significant because, for the first time, women will have a voice in choosing the world’s bishops, who are all men.
This way, he continued, “things are opening up a bit.”
Francis, however, did not give the women’s names or a date for the official announcement of their appointment.
The committee’s members, who currently consist of cardinals, bishops, and priests, often convene in Rome twice a month.
Francis stated that the Apostolic Library and the Department for Catholic Education and Culture, both of which are currently run by male clergy, could be among the other Vatican departments that could be led by a layman.
He has also appointed Nathalie Becquart, a French Xaviere Missionary Sister, to the position of co-undersecretary of the Synod of Bishops, which organizes significant gatherings of global bishops every few years.