Women and Church

A nun with the right to vote at the Synod of Bishops: this is the new turning point that Pope Francis makes to increase the roles of women in the Church. The Pontiff has appointed as undersecretaries of the assembly of prelates Father Luis Marín de San Martín, currently assistant general of the Order of Saint Augustine, and Sister Nathalie Becquart, Xavière, former director of the national service for the evangelization of young people and for vocations of the Conference of Bishops of France.

Cardinal Mario Grech, general secretary of the Synod, comments on the choice of Sister Nathalie, the first woman to receive this office, focusing in particular on the prospects that this designation opens up for the female role in the life of the Church, including the right to vote in assemblies. synodal. The mandate "of Sister Nathalie helps us to remember concretely that in the synodal journeys the voice of the People of God has a specific place and that it is fundamental to find ways to encourage effective participation in them of all the baptized". Grech recalls that "with the appointment of Sister Nathalie and her possibility to participate with the right to vote, a door has been opened, we will then see what other steps can be taken in the future".

Sister Nathalie is also a signature of "Women Church World", the magazine of the Osservatore Romano directed by Rita Pinci. In an article of July 2019, entitled "The role of women to repair the Church", she wrote that "the current crisis, with the awareness of the seriousness of the issue of sexual abuse and the urgency to fight against all forms of abuse, it is also a kairos, a particularly favorable time to take up the challenge of overcoming clericalism. Women, "who immediately introduce otherness into the clerical system and bring a desire for collaboration in reciprocity with men for greater pastoral fruitfulness - but also women religious, for their experience of fraternal community life, of community discernment, of a 'obedience lived as "common listening to the Spirit" - have a fundamental role to play in promoting, together with many lay people who wish to be part of this synodal Church, new ecclesial practices whose key words are listening, the service of all, humility and conversion, participation and co-responsibility”.
 

Domenico Agasso
NP march 2021