Pope on women

May 13, 2016

Pope Francis has done it again. He’s spoken out forcefully in defence of women, saying they deserve more respect all over the world.

“We have done little for the women who are in very difficult situations — despised, marginalized and even reduced to slavery,” the Pope said in a new video in which he urges believers to use this entire month of May to pray for women.

“We must condemn sexual violence against women and remove the barriers that prevent their full integration into social, political, and economic life,” he continues.

And then he delivers the powerful punch line:

“If you think this is clearly right, join my petition. It is a prayer — that in all countries of the world, women may be honoured and respected and valued for their essential contribution to society.”

Despite his strong words, Francis has done very little to show that he really does believe the contribution of women is essential. At least in the Church. That’s where he has the authority to promote women to decision-making positions where their contributions could be more consequential.

He has been pledging to do so since the early months of his pontificate, most clearly in the important interview he gave to La Civiltà Cattolica.

“It is necessary to broaden the opportunities for a stronger presence of women in the Church,” he said.

“The challenge today is this: to think about the specific place of women also in those places where the authority of the Church is exercised for various areas of the Church,” he concluded.

How long will the Pope go on thinking — and talking — before he actually does something that marks a significant step forward for women in the Church?

It is not a question of being charitable or benevolent. It is about recognizing women as full members of the Church. It is about repenting and making reparation for excluding women from the discernment and decision-making processes that shape the life of the Church.

Practically the only women of stature one sees with the Pope are political leaders or envoys. He was meeting on Friday with probably the most powerful woman today, German chancellor Angela Merkel. And soon he’ll be receiving the credentials of the new women ambassadors from Great Britain and Australia, who will join more than 20 other women who currently represent their governments at the Holy See.

But after more than three years in office, Pope Francis has still not named a woman to a top position at the Vatican, even though his spin doctors have touted as “significant” the recent appointment of a Slovenian lay woman as director of the “theological-pastoral department” of the fledgling Secretariat for Communications.

Cardinal Peter Turkson, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, has been hinting that Francis will likely appoint a woman to a top position in the new Vatican department that his office, and at least two or three others are expected to be folded into, sometime in the near future.

And Cardinal Pietro Parolin said he envisioned that one day, a woman might even occupy his post as the Pope’s Secretary of State.

But so far, Pope Francis has been all talk and no action when it comes to women and in showing that he really does believe that their voices must be part of the most important conversations at the highest levels of the Church.

It’s time the Pope remove the stained glass ceiling that, for too long, has deprived half the Church’s population from fully sharing its hopes, wisdom and talents. -- Global Pulse