Francis, the pope who tried to ‘demasculinize’ the Church and angered conservatives

Francis, the pope who tried to ‘demasculinize’ the Church and angered conservatives Although there are many more women in the Vatican than in previous papacies, Bergoglio did not introduce any changes to official doctrine At the final meeting of bishops and Catholic faithful at the Synod last year, the only issue that stirred the otherwise calm waters was that of women’s access to sacred ministries. Throughout its two millennia of history, decisions in the Catholic Church have always been made by men. The presence of women in the leadership is a deeply divisive issue, one that even threatens schism .

Pope Francis was known for paving the way and seeking to normalize the rise of women to positions of power, which will determine the direction the institution will take in the coming years. However, the place of women within the Catholic Church has become one of the most complex issues in interpreting his legacy. His commitment to women, while objectively moderate, has been controversial and has simultaneously made him a pontiff who was too progressive for some and too cautious for others.



in the wake of his death, his final steps take on particular significance, almost like a final message. In February, from the hospital where he was admitted, he appointed the first female president of the Governorate of Vatican City State, Sister Raffaella Petrini, who could be briefly described as the mayor of the Vatican. He also changed Vatican laws to grant her greater powers and facilitate her work.

“The Church is a woman,” Francis began saying shortly after arriving in Rome. And he set out to “demasculinize” the powerful, ancient institution. “One of the great sins we have committed is masculinizing the Church,” he acknowledged on more than one occasion.

He accompanied his words with gestures that many applauded, others considered insufficient, and many viewed with suspicion, such as the appointment of women to positions of authority in the governing bodies of the Catholic Church, a figure never seen before in the institution. There are many more women in the Vatican today than in previous papacies, but they are still light years behind men. The most important appointments came toward the end of his pontificate, when the initial momentum of his most progressive reforms had almost died away in other areas.

In 2022, the Pope appointed three women — sisters Petrini and Yvonne Reungoat, and consecrated laywoman Maria Lia Zervino — to the Dicastery for Bishops, the body charged with electing new bishops around the world. In recent centuries, this dicastery had been exclusively male, following the logic that since only men could become bishops, only men could hold that office (even though their decisions affected believers of all genders). In January of this year, Francis appointed the first female prefect in the history of the Holy See, a position comparable to that of a government minister.

Italian nun Simona Brambilla has since headed the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, one of the most important in the Vatican and responsible for issues related to consecrated life worldwide. Although the Italian nun exercises her authority with the support of Spanish Cardinal Ángel Fernández Artime, whom Francis appointed pro-prefect, it remains unclear how responsibilities are divided between the two and how far the nun’s leadership will actually reach. “Francis knew there would be many heads of dicasteries and many bishops, cardinals, and a sector of the Church who would not want to deal directly with Simona Brambilla because she is a woman.

And he had to establish the position of pro-prefect so that some would feel they were speaking with an equal. It’s tremendous that this happens in the Church, but Francis was aware of this, and rather than allow a rupture or a confrontation, he opted for this formula, which clearly reflects the reality of women in the institution,” says theologian Cristina Inogés, the only Spaniard with voting rights at the Synod of Bishops. Francis was the pope who included women in the Synods, the extraordinary meetings of bishops that serve to advise the pontiff on specific current issues facing the Church.

He gradually gave them, and lay people in general, a voice, until in 2023 they were able to participate in synodal voting for the first time. “There were bishops who acknowledged that they had really enjoyed being able to speak directly with women because it had changed their way of thinking about them. It was surprising and gratifying, but that tells you that they hadn’t had much contact with women on a theological level before,” Inogés notes.

Francis faced stiff resistance within the Church, particularly from its most conservative wing. At the same time, he was criticized by those who saw him either as a rule-breaker or as not bold enough. Others have reproached him for promoting a paternalistic and outdated image of women, reinforcing stereotypes such as the woman as caregiver, for instance.

His detractors demanded structural changes regarding the issue that never materialized, such as the female diaconate or women’s access to the priesthood. The Argentine pope always rejected the second issue, arguing that the sacrament of Holy Orders is reserved for men. But he did open up to studying women’s access to the diaconate, a lower order that allows them to baptize, bless marriages, preach, and evangelize, among other things.

He created two commissions of experts to delve deeper into the issue: the first was in force from 2016 to 2019, but failed to reach firm conclusions; and the second was established in 2020 and never completed its work. “There is a sense of fear regarding women fully developing our abilities, gifts, and so on in the Church. Resistance comes, above all, from people who have never spoken with women, who only believe that women need a certain paternalistic care and that, therefore, we have nothing to contribute and nothing to say,” says Inogés.

In the Church, an institution that brings together very diverse realities from the five continents , everything moves extremely slowly, and it is said that the usual unit of measurement is the century. “Francis has done everything he could, but he has also left it in our hands. In Europe, the pope is the only absolute monarch left; that is, he signs a decree and it automatically becomes law.

Francis could have imposed many changes by decree, but that would have been completely inconsistent with his desire for a synodal, participatory, inclusive Church, with the voice of all.” While for some, Francis has fallen short, for others, he has managed to lay a foundation that could pave the way for openness to women’s leadership to become embedded in the ideology of the faithful. Inogés speaks of the importance of “a change of mentality” in the Catholic community, starting at the grassroots, in the seminaries where clergy are trained.

“If we don’t change the way we teach what women are in the Church, it will be difficult for some to make that change of mentality,” she notes. “In seminary libraries, there isn’t a single book or manual written by women. There are bishops who seek advice from women, but they don’t publicize it, perhaps because they might be questioned or because they feel it isn’t the most appropriate approach.

That also reduces our visibility.” On the other hand, there is a clear dissonance between Francis’s discourse and actual practice in many dioceses and parishes. “Francis has initiated many processes, but it’s also true that there aren’t as many hands willing to pick up the baton and continue in that direction as would be desirable.

He’s done what he could, but he was very clear that the autonomy of bishops and parishes had to be preserved,” Inogés explains. Francis hasn’t changed the doctrine on women in the Church, but he did focus on the issue. “We have gone from being invisible to being visible in the Church,” the theologian notes.

“ The historical significance of his decisions will also depend on our attitudes.” Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAÍS USA Edition Tu suscripción se está usando en otro dispositivo ¿Quieres añadir otro usuario a tu suscripción? Si continúas leyendo en este dispositivo, no se podrá leer en el otro. ¿Por qué estás viendo esto? Tu suscripción se está usando en otro dispositivo y solo puedes acceder a EL PAÍS desde un dispositivo a la vez.

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