It’s good news to see women being appointed to significant roles within the Catholic Church, including several recent appointments of women to important positions in the Holy See. In early November Pope Francis appointed Sr Raffaella Petrini as secretary-general of the Vatican’s governorate. This followed the earlier appointments of Sr Nathalie Becquart as an undersecretary of the Synod of Bishops, Sr Alessandra Smerilli as the interim secretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, and Barbara Jatta as director of the Vatican Museums.
It’s good news to see women being appointed to significant roles within the Catholic Church, including several recent appointments of women to important positions in the Holy See.
In early November Pope Francis appointed Sr Raffaella Petrini as secretary-general of the Vatican’s governorate. This followed the earlier appointments of Sr Nathalie Becquart as an undersecretary of the Synod of Bishops, Sr Alessandra Smerilli as the interim secretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, and Barbara Jatta as director of the Vatican Museums.
The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference also has five women Executive Secretaries in the six available positions. Alison Burt, Louise Zavone, Clara Geoghan, Lana Turvey-Collins and Jacinta Collins support the Bishops Commissions for Christian Unity and Inter-religious Dialogue, Catholic Education, Social Justice, Mission and Service, Plenary Council and more. Indeed, the Plenary Council’s preparation document points out: ‘In recent years, many women have taken up senior management roles in dioceses and Catholic agencies’.
So, why then are women in the Catholic Church in Australia and abroad still calling for women to be included in church leadership? Isn’t it enough to ‘add women and stir?’ Or is something more than one ingredient or one action needed to overturn the embedded unequal distribution of power, resources and opportunity between men and women in the Catholic Church?
One of the major issues is that the teachings of the Catholic Church on women are conflicted. Pope Francis wrote in Fratelli Tutti that ‘it is unacceptable that some have fewer rights by virtue of being women’ and the Catholic Catechism claims that ‘Man and woman … have the same dignity and are of equal value’.
'What we need is greater authority for parish and diocesan councils. We need national councils of the laity and international synods of the People of God where lay representatives become part of the church’s decision-making.'
At the same time, however, women are described as complementary rather than equal. As Catherine