‘Crack in the stained glass ceiling’: Pope gives women a new vote

World
By William

Dozens of women will be allowed to vote at an upcoming bishops’ meeting, Pope Francis has decreed, in a groundbreaking move aimed at broadening the voice of women and lay people in the male-only life of the Catholic Church.

Francis approved changes to the standards governing the Synod of Bishops, a Vatican body that brings together the world’s bishops for periodic meetings, after years of women’s demands for the right to vote.

The Vatican on Wednesday published amendments approved by the pope, highlighting his view that the lay faithful will play a greater role in Church affairs long left to clergy, bishops and cardinals.

Catholic women’s groups that have long criticized the Vatican for treating women as second-class citizens hailed the move as historic in 2,000 years of the Church.

“This is a significant crack in the stained glass ceiling and the result of continued advocacy, activism and testimony” from a campaign by Catholic women’s groups demanding the right to vote, said Kate McElwee of the Women’s Ordination Conference, who advocates for female priests.

Over the years, Francis has enforced the Catholic Church’s ban on ordaining women as priests, but he has done more than any pope in recent times to empower women in decision-making roles in the Church.

He has appointed several women to senior Vatican positions, though none lead any major Vatican office or department.

Since the Second Vatican Council, the meetings in the 1960s that modernized the Church, popes have called the world’s bishops to Rome for a few weeks at a time to discuss certain topics. At the end of the meetings, the bishops vote on specific proposals and submit them to the pope, who then prepares a document that takes their views into account.

Until now, only men were allowed to vote.

But under the new changes, five religious sisters will join five priests as voting representatives for religious orders. In addition, Francis has decided to nominate 70 non-episcopal members of the synod and has asked that half of them be women. They also get a vote.

The aim is also to include young people among these 70 non-episcopal members, who will be nominated by regional blocs, with Francis making a final decision.

“It’s an important change, it’s not a revolution,” said Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, a top organizer of the synod.

The next meeting, scheduled for October, will focus on the topic of making the Church more reflective and receptive to the laity — a process known as “synodality” that Francis has championed for years.

So far, only one woman is known to be a voting member of that October meeting, Sister Nathalie Becquart, a French nun who is undersecretary in the office of the Vatican’s Synod of Bishops. When she was appointed to the position in 2021, she called Francis “brave” for pushing the boundaries of women’s participation.

Catholic Women’s Ordination, a UK-based group that says it is committed to fighting misogyny in the church, welcomed the reform but asked for more.

“CWO would like transparency, and lay people elected from dioceses rather than elected by hierarchy, but it’s a start!” said Pat Brown of the CWO.

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