ROME (AP) – A French nun who became the first woman to hold a vote in the Vatican said on Wednesday that her appointment was “proof that the ‘patriarchal mindset is changing’ as more and more women take responsibility for decision-making. at a high level accept the Catholic hierarchy.
Sister Nathalie Becquart told a news conference that her appointment as deputy secretary of the Vatican’s Synod of Bishops was a “brave signal and prophetic decision” by Pope Francis, who repeatedly stressed that women should have a greater say in church government. .
Women have long complained that they have a second-rate status in the Catholic Church, where the priesthood and top offices of the Vatican, including the papacy, are reserved for men.
Francis appointed Becquart and a Spanish theologian, Rev. Luis Marín de San Martín, as deputy secretaries in office this weekend, arranging thematic, week-long meetings of bishops in the Vatican.
The meetings, known as synods and usually held every two to three years, became increasingly important under Francis, given his call for more decentralized and collegial leadership that focused more on local bishops than on the Holy See.
Francis has nominated about half a dozen women in sub-secretarial positions in various Vatican congregations, but the appointment of Becquart has brought a special and in some respects historical novelty: she will probably have the right to vote in the next synod of bishops, scheduled for 2022, given her professional rank.
“A door has been opened,” the head of the Synod of Bishops, Maltese Cardinal Mario Grech, told the Vatican media. “We will then see what other steps can be taken in the future.”
It was a reference to calls to allow female superiors, who also attend synods of bishops, to have the right to vote on proposals that are urgently needed in the life of the church. The religious sisters may speak and participate in the debate of the bishops, but may not vote.
Their calls took public form during a 2018 synod of bishops over youth, with prominent nuns calling for the vote and a popular movement promoted by progressive women’s groups #VotesForCatholicWomen.
As a result, the appointment of Becquart was applauded with praise, but also bitterness that in 2021 it is actually newsworthy that a lonely woman can vote with hundreds of male bishops on the future life of the Catholic Church.