Forty women will be allowed to vote for the first time at the next bishops’ meeting of the Catholic Church in October. Pope Francis announced this on Wednesday, international media report. It concerns 5 sisters and 35 female non-bishops. For the time being, the decision is a one-off, but seems to be a sign that the pope wants to give women more structural say within the Catholic Church.
Read also: Pope Francis creates space without changing Catholic teaching
Bishops meet during the synod of bishops to discuss the policies of the Catholic Church. At the end of these weeks-long meetings, they vote on specific proposals and present them to the pope. It is then up to the pope to decide what to do with these proposals.
The call for women’s suffrage for the bishops’ assemblies has been strong for years, especially among Catholic women’s groups. These groups therefore praised the pope’s decision immediately after its announcement. For example, Kate McElwee of the advocacy group Women’s Ordination Conference calls women’s voting rights “a significant crack in the stained glass ceiling” of the Church.
In his ten years as pope, 86-year-old Jorge Mario Bergoglio has shown himself to be socially progressive but ethically conservative. On the one hand, he did seek rapprochement with the LGBT community, but he refused the priesthood for married men. He also thinks that women should not become deacons, who have a serving role in helping the needy.