Pope Francis Allows Women To Join Group Of Bishops Advising Him

Pope Francis Approves Women and Lay People to Vote on Major Issues at Bishops’ Conference

Pope Francis has taken another step towards revamping the Roman Catholic Church by formally approving the participation of women and lay people in voting on major issues, including LGBT relationships, at a bishops’ conference. This move is part of the upcoming “Synod on Synodality” to be held between October 4-29, which will feature significant changes, including the addition of 70 non-bishop voting members. Half of these members will be women, and the 10 male representatives of various Catholic religious orders who previously had voting rights will be replaced by five male clerics and five nuns with voting rights. Nathalie Becquart, a nun, will also vote as the synod undersecretary.

Advisory Role of the Synod

Although the synod does not have the formal power to effectuate change, it acts in an advisory role to the Pope about decisions he makes. After the vote on a final document for the assembly, the Pope alone decides whether to take any actions based on the recommendations in the final text or whether to adopt it as an official Church document.

Reactions to the Change

Some observers were delighted with the change, calling it a significant crack in the stained-glass ceiling. Kate McElwee, executive director of the Women’s Ordination Conference, said, “It’s an incredible development in the church’s history.” Deborah Rose, co-director of Future Church, cheered, “It is paradigm changing, it is literally restructuring one of the most important ways that the church makes decisions and looks at pastoral issues within the church. … what he has done is open a dam and opened a door, and I think there’s no going back.”

However, the conservative Catholic site Silere non possum charged that Francis and the cardinals in charge of the synod “are trying, in every way, to bring into this institution all those people who have an interest in disrupting the church for their own personal ambitions.” The post added, “No longer finding many bishops willing to trample on Christ’s teaching, they are now turning to ambitious lay people.”

Francis’ Efforts to Empower Women

As far back as 2013, Francis theorized that the roles of women should not be limited “to altar girls or the president of a charity. There must be more.” In 2021, Francis amended the laws of the church to permit women to act as Bible readers at Mass and distribute communion. The next year, he added women to the committee that counsels which bishops he should select.