Bishop Francis and Women

by Sue Rakoczy · January 15, 2014

It has been nine months plus since Pope Francis was elected. He has made some encouraging statements about women in the Church: that we are needed, that we need to share leadership in the Church, even as he has re-stated the prohibition against women’s ordination. I wonder how many women held positions of leadership in the Archdiocese of Buenos Aires when he led the archdiocese. What positions did they hold? What were his relations with women religious?

One way to bring women into major leadership positions in the Church such as the head of the Congregation for Religious and Secular Institutes would be to break the link between jurisdiction and ordination. The only ecclesial requirement should be baptism and confirmation.

He has also called for a “theology of woman”. In the Church, there are many “theologies of women” today, ranging from the traditional “complementarity” which means women are “completed” by men, to the many feminist theologies, including those of African women, which begin with women’s fundamental dignity and equality as human beings.

I am waiting to see what concrete steps he will take to bring women into leadership and to encourage the bishops to make sure this happens in every diocese.