VATICAN CITY: Five religious sisters will now be eligible to vote at the synod, a papal advisory body, despite previously being unable to view the event from a distance. Men will still make up the majority of voters. Pope Francis has announced that voting rights will be extended to 70 specially chosen non-clerical members of the religious community. This is a departure from convention, and the Pope has expressed his wish that half of those involved will be women. This is another departure from convention.
The reforms are considered a significant change because men have historically dominated the Roman Catholic Church. The Women’s Ordination Conference has referred to the reform as “a significant crack in the stained glass ceiling”.
The organisation claimed that bishops and Vatican representatives had resisted for years, changing their positions on why women couldn’t vote with each synod. They hope that the synod will grow into a fully representative body of the people of God.
Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich described the synod as an important change, not a revolution. Christopher Lamb, the Vatican correspondent for The Tablet, predicted that the Pope would face “significant resistance” from some church members due to the reforms. This is a reflection of a long-running conversation about the issue of female representation.
Cardinal Mario Grech has announced that 21% of the gathering representatives at the October meeting will not be bishops, with half of them being women. Despite the discomfort Francis’ inclusive vision of the church has caused, he also acknowledges that the synod itself will continue to have a majority of bishops making decisions.
Hollerich declined to clarify how the meeting’s female participants would be known, saying it would be up to the women to decide. Francis has not changed the Catholic Church’s prohibition against ordaining women as priests but has taken more steps to give women a greater voice in positions of power inside the church.
Although he has appointed some women to high-level Vatican positions, there isn’t a woman in charge of any of the dicasteries or major Vatican institutions or departments.
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