Pope urges Church to listen to women’s voices
They are often overlooked and deprived of opportunities due to clericalism and power abuse, he says in book preface
Indigenous women attend an Ash Wednesday Mass in Guatemala on March 2, 2022. According to Pope Francis, women who are ready to serve God often fall victim to clerical abuse. (Photo: AFP)
By UCA News reporter
Published: July 12, 2024 08:18 AM GMT
Updated: July 12, 2024 08:29 AM GMT
Pope Francis has emphasized the need to listen to the voices of women within the Catholic Church who are often overlooked, undervalued, and deprived of opportunities due to clericalism and power abuse.
In his preface to a book titled Women and Ministries in the Synodal Church, Francis discussed the ecclesiastically sensitive themes of women’s ordained ministry and sexual abuses within the Church, Vatican News reported on July 11.
In the preface published in full by L’Osservatore Romano, Francis emphasized that the abuse crisis has highlighted the need to confront clericalism.
Francis said that clericalism affects not only ordained ministers but also represents a broader issue of power misuse within the Church, impacting laypeople and women as well.
“Listening to the joys and sufferings of women is certainly a way to open ourselves to reality,” Francis said.
He called for listening to women “without judgment and without prejudice,” which could lead to the realization “that in many places and in many situations, they suffer precisely because of the lack of recognition for what they are and what they do.”
“The women who suffer the most are often those who are closest, those who are most available, prepared, and ready to serve God and His Kingdom,” Francis emphasized.
In his preface, Francis gave a reflection on the sensitive subject of ecclesial ministries, starting from a key tenet of his pontificate the “reality is more important than ideas,” Vatican News reported.
Francis expressed satisfaction that this principle guides Pocher’s program for the Council of Cardinals on the theme of women in the Church, particularly concerning the important and delicate topic of ministries within the ecclesial community.
Salesian Sister Linda Pocher, a professor of Christology and Mariology at the Auxilium in Rome (who also wrote the introduction), Bishop Jo Bailey Wells of the Church of England, and General Secretary of the Anglican Communion, among others, authored the book.
Giuliva Di Berardino, a consecrated member of the Ordo Virginum from the Diocese of Verona, a liturgist, teacher, and organizer of spirituality courses and retreats is also among the authors.
The latest book published on July 9 is a collaborative effort by three female theologians and two cardinals and is a “literary” dialogue among the authors, Vatican News reported.
The book is based on a real discussion between the pope and the Council of Cardinals with three female theologians.
The female theologians offered what Pope Francis called contributions and “provocations,” on the theme of women’s roles in the Church, Vatican News said.
Cardinals Jean-Claude Hollerich, Archbishop of Luxembourg and general rapporteur of the Synod, and Seán Patrick O’Malley, president of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, also contributed to the book.
In his preface, Francis also invited readers to look at reality rather than ideas and avoid falling into the trap of “considering fidelity to ideas more important than attention to reality,” to which the Church itself has often stumbled during the modern era.
“Reality, however, is always greater than the idea, and when our theology falls into the trap of clear and distinct ideas, it inevitably transforms into a Procrustean bed, sacrificing reality, or part of it, on the altar of the idea,” Francis emphasized.
The “bed of Procrustes,” or “Procrustean bed,” refers to arbitrarily and sometimes ruthlessly forcing someone or something to fit into an unnatural scheme or pattern.
Pope Francis has emphasized the need to listen to the voices of women within the Catholic Church who are often overlooked, undervalued, and deprived of opportunities due to clericalism and power abuse.
In his preface to a book titled Women and Ministries in the Synodal Church, Francis discussed the ecclesiastically sensitive themes of women’s ordained ministry and sexual abuses within the Church, Vatican News reported on July 11.
In the preface published in full by L’Osservatore Romano, Francis emphasized that the abuse crisis has highlighted the need to confront clericalism.