Pope Francis
Pope Francis In Biden, the media finally has a religious president to celebrate Pope marking Holocaust Remembrance Day with a warning against extremism Pope to miss three upcoming events due to hip bone pain MORE this weekend, two women were appointed to posts previously held only by men.
Reuters reports that the Pope has appointed Nathalie Becquart, 52, as co-undersecretary of the Synod of Bishops on Saturday. Becquart, a French member of the Xaviere Missionary Sisters, will now be part of the department that organizes important meetings between world bishops every few years.
Becquart’s new position will give her the power to vote in all-male meetings, Reuters notes. While women have observed and consulted in previous synods, previously only male representatives were allowed to vote on documents sent to the Pope.
“A door has been opened. We will see what other steps can be taken in the future, ”Synod Secretary General Cardinal Mario Grech told the official Vatican news site.
Pope Francis also appointed Catia Summaria, an Italian magistrate, on Friday as the first female promoter of justice in the Vatican’s Court of Appeals, Reuters added.
As the news service points out, the Pope has previously appointed women to several other senior positions. Last year, he reportedly appointed six women to senior positions in overseeing the Vatican’s finances and appointed women as deputy secretaries of state, director of the Vatican Museums and deputy chief of the Vatican press service.
Francis has maintained the Church’s stance on banning women priests, Reuters notes, although he has set up committees to examine the history of women deacons in the early history of the Catholic Church.