ANALYSIS
The MoveMenT To AppoinT More WoMen To vATicAn posTs: Who BenefiTs? n BY JANE ADOLPHE
* Pope Francis with the women who were auditors at the Synod on the Amazon region In the circle below, Sr. Nathalie Becquart Opposite, top, some of the auditors who attended the sessions of Vatican II Below, an image from the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, May 26, 1995, and two main UN leaders at the meeting: Harvard Professor of Law Mary Ann Glendon and Mrs. Gertude Mongella
W
hen Pope Francis appointed a woman (Sr. Nathalie Becquart)[1] as one of the two Under-Secretaries to the General Secretariat of the Synod Bishops, the reaction was predictable. Some praised the appointment as a step closer to female ordination,[2] while others criticized the decision as fruit from the poisonous tree of the Second Vatican II.[3] Missing was any consideration of whether the environment of the Roman Curia, understanding that each dicastery has its own milieu, might benefit from competent, professional, and faithful female employees in positions not requiring the sacrament of orders.
WHAT’S SO SPECIAL ABOUT WOMEN? In his “Letter to Women,” June 29, 1995, for the United Nations’ Fourth World Conference on Women, held in Beijing, Saint Pope John Paul II notes the complementarity between men and women in their diversity of roles, building up the Christian community and the service of humanity.[4] He writes: In this vast domain of service, the Church’s two-thousand-year history, for all its historical conditioning, has truly experienced the ‘genius of woman’; from the heart of the Church there have emerged women of the highest 16
INSIDE THE VATICAN MAY-JUNE 2021
caliber who have left an impressive and beneficial mark on history. I think of the great line of women martyrs, saints and famous mystics. In a particular way I think of Saint Catherine of Siena and Saint Teresa of Avila, whom Pope Paul VI of happy memory granted the title of Doctors of the Church. He continues: And how can we overlook the many women, inspired by faith, who were responsible for initiatives of extraordinary social importance, especially in serving the poorest of the poor? The life of the Church in the Third Millennium will certainly not be lacking in new and surprising manifestations of ‘the feminine genius.’” In his previous letter to Mrs. Gertude Mongella, Secretary General of the Fourth World Conference, May 26, 1995, he had underlined that solutions raised at the Conference should be “based on the recognition of the inherent, inalienable dignity of women, and the importance of women’s presence and participation in all aspects of social life… [and] a true vision of women’s dignity and aspirations, a vision capable of inspiring and sustaining objective and realistic responses to the suffering, struggle and frustration that continue to be a part of all too many women’s lives.”[5]
