In ecclesiastical institutions, the role of women is growing more and more. A recent confirmation of this trend is to be found in the changes introduced by Pope Francis in the composition of the next general assembly of the Synod of Bishops. In this Assembly, which will meet at the Vatican in October on the theme of synodality: in addition to the bishops, 70 "non-bishop" members and a dozen religious will participate for the first time. Of these, 50 % will have to be women. And they too, along with the others, will have the right to vote.
This decision, however, cannot be considered a real novelty if we take into account that on July 15 last year the Pope had appointed three women as members of the Dicastery for Bishops: Srs. Raffaella Petrini e Yvonne Reungoat and the secular Maria Lia Zervino.
A year earlier, in 2021, the Holy Father had elected Sister Raffaella Petrini as Secretary General of the Governorate of Vatican City. That first appointment of a woman as head of the world's smallest state was perhaps a revolution.
"Women have a totally different capacity for management and thinking and even, I would say, superior to ours, in another way. We see it in the Vatican: where we put women, immediately the thing changes, it goes forward."Francis had said during an audience last March.
Pope Francis' words and decisions reveal how the Church is, in fact, more and more attentive to the feminine question.
