In an interview with Reuters, Pope Francis said more space has to be created for women to take on leading roles in the Roman Curia, but that priestly ordination is not an option.
Responding to a question about women’s ordination to the priesthood, the pope said “there is the temptation to ‘functionalize’ the reflection on women in the Church, what they should do, what they should become.”
“We cannot functionalize women,” he said, explaining that while the Church is referred to as a woman, the Sacrament of Holy Orders is out of the question “because dogmatically it doesn’t work.”
“John Paul II was clear and closed the door, and I will not go back on this. It was something serious, not something capricious,” he said, adding, “it cannot be done.”
However, Francis stressed that while the priesthood is out, women do need to be given more opportunities for leadership in the Roman Curia – a view he said has at times been met with resistance.
Women in the Curia “are few, we need to put more,” he said, adding that it can be either a religious sister or a laywoman, “it doesn’t matter,” but there is a need to move forward with an eye for quality and competency in the job.
“I don’t have any problem naming a woman as the head of a dicastery, if the dicastery doesn’t have jurisdiction,” he said, referring to the fact that some Vatican departments have specific functions in Church governance that require a bishop to do the job. Lay men are also ineligible to oversee offices that require the jurisdictional authority of a priest or bishop.
For example, the Vatican’s Congregation for Clergy has jurisdiction, so it has to be led by a bishop, but for others, such as the Vatican’s Secretariat for the Economy, “I would not have a problem naming a competent woman,” Francis said.
Women must continue to be promoted, but without falling into “a feminist attitude,” the pope said, adding that “in the end it would be machismo with a skirt. We don’t want to fall into this.”
“Women know how to manage conflicts better. In these things, women are braver,” he said, adding, “I think it would be so also in the Curia if there were more women.”
Full story at Catholic News Agency.
And the women he will push into leadership roles all seem to want to be priests. That’s a problem! How about pushing for lay MEN to get involved? Look at all the women participating at Mass – they typically outnumber men by a mile. Let’s face it, when it comes to religious practice, when you let the women lead, the men leave.
Some see this as second class citizenship, perhaps the Vatican version of ‘separate but equal’
“separate but equal”: like a husband and wife in every successful marriage, michael m! the phrase need not always have a sinister meaning, as you imply. we’re not talking about Plessy v. Ferguson here.
Pope Francis is a very wise man! Some folks will not appreciate his teaching on the priesthood for women, however, his insightful comments regarding the need for more women in leadership positions in the Church are spot on!
Bravo for His well articulated observation:
“Women must continue to be promoted, but without falling into “a feminist attitude,” the pope said, adding that
“in the end it would be machismo with a skirt.
We don’t want to fall into this.”
No woman, no cry
We have enough “priestesses in training”. Enough already!
It should be remembered that Saint John Paul did not make the decision about women priests. He was simply reaffirming the 2,000-year-old tradition of the Church, going back to the Apostles and Our Lord Himself. The role of a Pope, among other things, is the unity of the Church and serving as a guardian of the Faith that comes to us from the Apostles. It is not like a change in presidential administrations.