Cardinal Anders Arborelius, the first Scandinavian Cardinal in history, after his creation by Pope Francis on June 28, 2017, advocates a greater consultative role for women in the Church and at the Vatican with the Pope.
On June 12, 2017, L’Osservatore Romano reported in Italian the aim of the Bishop of Stockholm, who wants women to have more responsible roles within the Church. “The role of women is very important in society, in the economy, but in the Church we are sometimes a bit behind,” he said in an interview with the National Catholic Register (NCR).
Inspired by the example of Mother Teresa of Calcutta and Chiara Lubich, on whom John Paul II often leaned, Cardinal Arborelius thinks that the consultative role ”could be made more official. “We have a College of Cardinals but we could have a College of Women who could give advice to the Pope.”
The Cardinal recalled the Commission created by the Pope in August 2016 to study the feminine diaconate of the first centuries. “I think it’s above all a historical investigation to see if it really was abut sacramental ministers or something resembling Sisters or women religious.
The Cardinal added that it is necessary, rather, to find ways through which women can really transmit the faith at various levels, whether as deacons, or a type of charism or work.”
