Pope Francis: Listen to women, often overlooked and undervalued

By Salvatore Cernuzio

Women, ordained ministry, synodality, the tragedy of abuse: all of these ecclesiastically sensitive themes are all present in the preface Pope Francis has written for the a new book entitled “Women and Ministries in the Synodal Church.”

The volume is a collaborative effort by three female theologians and two cardinals.

The theologians are Salesian Sister Linda Pocher, a professor of Christology and Mariology at the Auxilium in Rome (who also wrote the introduction); Jo B. Wells, a bishop in the Church of England and General Secretary of the Anglican Communion; and 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.

Alongside them, we find the 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.

A dialogue among the authors

The book is a “literary” dialogue among the authors, based on a real discussion between the Pope and the Council of Cardinals during a notable February 5th meeting.

For the first time, three female theologians were invited by the Pope to participate in the meeting, offering contributions and “provocations,” as Pope Francis calls them, on the theme of women’s roles in the Church.

The new book, published on July 9, follows an earlier work by Sister Linda Pocher and other authors titled “Demasculinizing the Church,” a term first used by Pope Francis during an audience with the International Theological Commission.

Ecclesial ministries: An important and delicate topic

In the preface, published in full today by L’Osservatore Romano, Pope Francis gives a reflection on the subject, starting from a key tenet of his pontificate: “Reality is more important than ideas.”

He expresses satisfaction that this principle guides Sister Pocher’s programme 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.

The tragedy of abuse

The Pope emphasizes that the abuse crisis has highlighted the need to confront clericalism, which 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,” says Pope Francis. “By listening to them without judgment and without prejudice, we realize 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, and also for what they could do and be if only they had the space and opportunity. 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."

Sacrificing reality on the altar of ideas

Pope Francis thus invites us to look at reality rather than ideas, in order to avoid falling into the “trap” into which the Church itself has often stumbled during the modern era - that is, the trap of “considering fidelity to ideas more important than attention to reality.”

“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,” the Pontiff emphasizes.

The merit of the volume "Women and Ministries in the Synodal Church" is therefore that it “does not start from the idea, but from listening to reality, from the wise interpretation of the experience of women in the Church.”

Women’s role in the Instrumentum Laboris

The issue of women’s roles was also addressed in the recently published Instrumentum Laboris for the upcoming October session of the Synod. The document stresses the need for greater recognition of women’s gifts and vocations, advocating for a shift in mentality towards a more relational, interdependent, and reciprocal view of men and women as siblings in Christ, united in the Church’s mission.

Regarding the female diaconate, Cardinal Mario Grech, the Synod's Secretary General, noted that it will not be addressed in the upcoming assembly as it is the subject of one of the study groups established by the Pope to go deeper into theological and pastoral reflection on specific themes.

Pope Francis has entrusted the issue of the women's diaconate to the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, within the broader context of ministerial forms, in collaboration with the General Secretariat of the Synod.

This endeavour, as announced in the document on study groups published in March, aims to respond to the desire of the Synodal Assembly for "greater recognition and appreciation of the contribution of women and an increase in the pastoral responsibilities entrusted to them in all areas of the life and mission of the Church."