Since the beginning of his pontificate, Pope Francis has been conscious of this need and responded through Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, the Papal Almoner, creating shower facilities under Saint Peter’s Colonnade, lodgings such as the “Gift of Mercy” on Via dei Penitenzieri and the “Mother of Mercy” Clinic under the Colonnade.

Established on Thursday, April 18 in the Vatican’s Square was the Prevention Caravan, resulting from the collaboration between the Dicastery for the Service of Charity and KOMEN- Italy. The association is dedicated to the prevention and fight against breast cancer, in collaboration the IRCCS Agostino Gemelli University Polyclinic Foundation and Gemelli Isola.

The Caravan will be at the Vatican every two months. A pink ribbon, symbol of the prevention and research on the most widespread cancer among women, has been placed outside the “Mother of Mercy” Clinic.

On the first day, 40 women were attended by the Clinic and Saint Martha’s Dispensary. They underwent diagnostic tests to detect breast cancer. If any of the women were to have a problem, they would be given additional examinations and all the necessary treatments.

This initiative is just one of the many carried out by the “Mother of Mercy” Clinic. A clinic, desired by the Holy Father, has become a functional reality.

Since January 1, 2024, 4,429 health services have been provided, including 2,054 general medical consultations, 1,901 specialized consultations, 115 dental visits, 359 laboratory tests have been carried out and 4,199 boxes of medicines have been delivered.

The Clinic is able to function thanks to the support of 80 doctors, nurses, paramedics and technicians who volunteer their time and professionalism to attend to the most vulnerable.

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Upon his arrival, after greeting everyone waiting for him outside, the Pope presided over the Mass, concelebrated with the Master of Pontifical Liturgical Celebrations and Director of the Pontifical Musical Chapel, Monsignor Diego Giovanni Ravelli. Alongside the inmates, there was a representation of the officials and staff of the penitentiary center.

Following the proclamation of the Holy Gospel, Pope Francis delivered an impromptu homily.

Subsequently, as is customary, Pope Francis repeated the gesture of Jesus during the Last Supper when the Lord washed the feet of his disciples, to 12 inmates of different nationalities. It is the first time that the 12 individuals are only women.

At the end of the Holy Mass, the Director of the Penitentiary Center, Dr. Nadia Fontana, addressed words of gratitude to the Pope and offered as a gift a basket of products grown on the farm inside the Penitentiary Center, a rosary, and two stoles made in the workshops of jewelry and sewing by the inmates themselves. Pope Francis, in turn, presented a painting of the image of the Virgin Mary, a giant Easter egg, and, for a child, a Kinder egg (the child is the son of one of the inmates).

Subsequently, the Pope left the prison and returned to the Vatican.

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***

Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!

I offer a cordial greeting to all of you who have come from various countries to take part in the Conference Women in the Church: Builders of humanity. I thank you for your presence and for organizing and promoting this event.

Your Conference highlights in particular the witness of holiness of ten women. I would like to mention them by name: Josephine Bakhita, Magdeleine de Jesus, Elizabeth Ann Seton, Mary MacKillop, Laura Montoya, Kateri Tekakwitha, Teresa of Calcutta, Rafqa Pietra Choboq Ar-Rayès, Maria Beltrame Quattrocchi and Daphrose Mukasanga.

All these women, at different times and in different cultures, each in her own distinct way, gave proof through initiatives of charity, education and prayer, of how the “feminine genius” can uniquely reflect God’s holiness in the midst of our world.Indeed, precisely at times in history when women were largely excluded from social and ecclesial life, the “Holy Spirit raised up saints whose attractiveness produced new spiritual vigour and important reforms in the Church”. Here too, “I think of all those unknown or forgotten women who, each in her own way, sustained and transformed families and communities by the power of their witness” (Gaudete et Exsultate, 12). The Church needs to keep this in mind, because the Church is herself a woman: a daughter, a bride and a mother. And who better than women can reveal her face? Let us help one another, putting aside any aggressive and divisive attitudes, and exercising careful discernment, to discover, in docility to the voice of the Spirit and in faithful communion, fitting ways for the grandeur and the place of women to be increasingly valued in the People of God.

You have chosen an eloquent title for your Conference in referring to women as “Builders of Humanity”. This expression brings out even more clearly the nature of women’s vocation as “builders”, cooperating with the Creator in the service of life, the common good, and peace. I would like to emphasize two aspects of this mission, dealing with style and with education.

[1 Style]

First of all, style. Ours is a time seared by hatred, in which our human family, which needs to feel the power of love, is instead frequently scarred by violence, war and ideologies that stifle the noblest feelings of the human heart. Precisely in this context, the contribution of women is more necessary than ever. For women know how to bring people together with tenderness. Saint Therese of the Child Jesus said that she wanted to be love in the Church. She was right: women, in fact, with their unique capacity for compassion, their intuitiveness and their connatural inclination to “care”, are able, in an outstanding way, to be for society both “intelligence and a heart that loves and unites”, to bring love where love is lacking, and humanity where human beings are searching to find their true identity.

[2 Education]

Secondly, education. You have organized this Conference in cooperation with various Catholic academic institutions. In the context of pastoral care within university communities, in addition to the academic study of the Church’s doctrine and social teaching, every effort to present students with testimonies of holiness, especially of feminine sanctity, can encourage them to aim higher, to broaden the horizons of their dreams and their ways of thinking, and to aim to pursue high ideals. Holiness can thus become a cross-disciplinary educational path within the greater pursuit of knowledge. For this reason, I express my hope that your educational settings, in addition to being places of study, research and learning, places of “information”, will also be places of “formation”, where minds and hearts are opened to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. That is why it is important to make the saints better known, especially women saints, in all the depth and reality of their humanity. In this way, education will be increasingly capable of touching each person in his or her wholeness and uniqueness.

A final word about education: in a world where women still suffer so greatly from violence, inequality, injustice and mistreatment – something scandalous and all the more so for those who profess faith in the God “born of woman” (Gal 4:4) –one serious form of discrimination has to do precisely with the education of women. In certain contexts it is a cause of fear, yet the way to the betterment of societies is through the education of girls and young women, which benefits overall human development. Let us pray for this and commit ourselves to this!

Dear sisters and brothers, I entrust the fruits of your Conference to the Lord and I accompany you with my blessing. And I ask you, please, not to forget to pray for me. Thank you.

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The project will begin with a series of Webinars that will have as their main objective:  to inform and deepen, with Assembly participants, the progress of the synodal  process and the fundamental content of chapter 9 of the Synthesis Report in the first  session of the Synodal Assembly: “Women in the Life and Mission of the Church”.  The application of the synodal methodology in the Church, with a special focus on  the full participation of women, will also be promoted.

February Webinars 

• 27 February, 5 p.m. (Rome): Spanish
• 28 February, 4 p.m. (Rome): French
• 29 February, 7 a.m. (Rome): English
• 29 February, 5 p.m. (Rome): English

Each of these meetings will feature two speakers that participated in the XVI Ordinary  General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops in October 2023: a lay representative and  a religious sister. The speakers will be: two religious women chosen by Pope Francis  as Delegate Presidents for the Synodal Assembly, Momoko Nishimura from Japan  and María Dolores Palencia from Mexico; Mozambican journalist Sheila Pires, a UISG  sister, Maria Cimperman from the USA, the philosopher Anne-Béatrice Faye from  Senegal, the Australian professor Susan Pascoe, and other two laywomen: Eva  Fernández from Spain and Sandra Chaoul from Lebanon.

The speakers will be different in each Webinar, so it will be possible to attend more  than one meeting, which will include a space for dialogue with the speakers.

The main objective of the WUCWO’s School for Synodality is to promote the synodal  methodology, both among women and among the other members of the People of  God, in order to be transformed together into a Synodal Church in mission in  which everyone can fully and co-responsibly fulfil the mission that corresponds  to them, particularly women.

Monica Santamarina, President General of WUCWO and WWO, explains that, through  this School “we intend to spread the culture of listening, silence and discernment, key  principles of the synodal methodology”. In her statements, Santamarina also  underlines how the synodal approach “presents itself as a constructive alternative to  the polarization that does so much harm”, highlighting “the crucial role of the mission  of women” in this “collaborative vision of co-responsibility”.

Upcoming Events 

In April, the School for Synodality will promote “Conversations in the Spirit” for  hundreds of women around the world, in order to put into practice the synodal  methodology and deepen the mission and ministries of women in the Church. Prior to  this, a day of facilitators’ training is scheduled for more than 100 people from the  different continents. Afterwards, with the support of the trained facilitators, a day of  discernment through the mentioned conversations in the Spirit will be held, where  around 700 people from all over the world are expected to participate.

For more information and for registration, please visit the following websites www.wucwo.org and https://www.worldwomensobservatory.org

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The indiscretion came from two women, who were present in the Pope’s Council as experts. On one hand, a Catholic woman theologian and, on the other, an Anglican woman “bishop.” In an interview announced on the cover of the Spanish magazine “Vida Nueva,” the Anglican “bishop” Jo Bailey Wells admitted that the invitation left her totally surprised. And she also gave more details about the topic she was asked to address. “I was asked to talk about the experience of the ordination of women in the Church of England and in the Anglican Communion. This included some antecedents, the process of decision-making and the impact it had for our Church. But I also talked somewhat more generally about what we had learnt through the process in terms of how to surf the change and address the differences.”

Mrs Wells commented that those present “spent more time listening than speaking,” although later she acknowledged that, more than a request for advice, “it was rather a seminar in which we sat together to listen ( . . . ) as colleague, as ministry companion in Christ’s Gospel, to share the recent history of women in our Church.” Ands she added: “I know that on the part of Pope Francis there is a willingness to explore, to assume some risks, to exercise the imagination in regard to the possibilities of change.” Wells had already made some statements to the Anglican News Service saying virtually the same but with fewer words.

Asked if she thinks Anglicans are going farther than other Christian denominations in gender equality, Mrs Wells said that “It seems we are going ahead of the Catholic Church in regard to helping women to take advantage of the gifts granted to them in the whole gamut of possibilities at the service of God.”

Another woman who fell into indiscretions was theologian Linda Pocher. In an interview with Europa Press she ventured to say that “the Pope is very much in favour of the feminine diaconate, “although she asserted that “There is no reflection on the Presbyteral Ordination of women in the Catholic Church.”

She herself recounted how an Anglican woman ended up taking part in the Pope’s meeting with his Council. “The Pope asked me to organize this meeting of reflection on the realm of women in the Church and it seemed interesting to me to confront this experience of the Anglican Church in this regard.” She also said that she asked Mrs Wells  to tell what type of process they followed to come to the decision to ordain women and how this has changed life in her Church. So, what she really did was to recount her experience about what we later conversed together with the Cardinals and the Pope.” Half of the “women priests” in the  Anglican Church,  do not believe in the Resurrection of Christ.

Linda Pocher ventured to position the Pope publicly on this matter (when he has never done so at any moment), by saying that “There was also talk of the diaconate. We already know that the Pope is very much in favour of the female diaconate, but it is still something that they are trying to understand how to put it into practice.”

One’s attention is called by something that seems to explain what is seen in the published photos of the meeting to which we are referring: the seriousness of certain episcopal faces and even a certain disconnection, from the point of view of bodily language, in a couple of Cardinals. “The Cardinals that are in the Councill are all Pastors of local Churches. So they also come burdened with the sensibilities of their own people. We know that the question of women in the Church acquires different hues. In some countries, the possibility of women to study is still lacking. So the focus must first be on that. In other countries, instead, we know there is a specific demand for greater participation at the level of the Church, and also through the ministries,” said Pocher.

It’s true that from an informative point of view many details are appreciated. However, it’s no less true that these indiscretions pose problems for the Pope as not only do they put in his mouth but also in his intentions, certain weights on one side of the scale. To say it more clearly: the Pontiff has a spokesmen and it’s not Pocher or Wells. He is called Matteo Bruni. Does the Pope need different spokesmen for specific topics such as this? What is more, have the Pope’s private meetings lost their private character? Do statements such as these  favour or condition the freedom of opinion of the Council of Cardinals  and, in general, of any other ecclesiastic or baptized individual?

It had not happened in the past, when only the Pope and his Council of Cardinals met, that details about topics addressed were ventilated in a public way. Two individuals have done disservice not only to the great multitude of discreet women that are outside and inside the Church, but also to the Pontiff himself.

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The morning of the first day was dedicated to the first topic – the role of women. But what became news was neither the meeting of the Pope and his Council of Cardinals nor the presence of two Catholic women who addressed the issue. Moreover, it wasn’t even the topic itself. What made headlines was the presence of an Anglican “bishop” woman.

It was the Press Office itself that highlighted the presence of the Anglican “bishop” woman on the Telegram channel where accredited journalists receive news. It was not mentioned why she was there or what she spoke about, but her participation was evident. It was the Anglican representative who revealed what she was doing there.

In statements to the Anglican News Service, Minister Jo Bailey Wells (Anglican “bishop”) said she was invited “to describe the Anglican path regarding the ordination of women, both in the Church of England and throughout the Anglican Communion.” The reverend mentioned that she was told it was “a historic moment” for her presence and the topic discussed. Regarding the atmosphere, she commented, “there was deep engagement and good discussion.” She concluded with words that oscillate between surprise and personal desire: “I am surprised by the interest of Catholics worldwide. I hope and pray that it will serve to allow more women to explore and fulfill the calling that God gives each of us.”

However, the Anglican “bishop’s” hope found a limit on Thursday, the 8th, by Pope Francis himself. In a speech to the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, the Pope once again made it clear about the role of women in the Church that “it cannot be reduced to mere ministerial roles.” And he emphasized: “Women themselves have a very significant symbol in the Church as women, without reducing it to mere ministry.”

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***

The presence and contribution of women to the life and growth of ecclesial communities through prayer, reflection, and action are realities that have always enriched the Church and, indeed, constitute its identity. Yet we have realized, especially during the preparation and celebration of the Synod, that we have not listened enough to the voice of women in the Church and that the Church still has much to learn from them.

It is necessary to listen to each other in order to make the Church less masculine [Italian: “‘smaschilizzare’ la chiesa”, literally “‘de-masculinize’ the Church”], because the Church is a communion of men and women who share the same faith and the same baptismal dignity. By really listening to women, we men listen to someone who sees reality from a different perspective and so we are led to revise our plans and our priorities. Sometimes, we are bewildered. Sometimes what we hear is so new and so different from our way of thinking and seeing that it seems absurd, and we feel intimidated. But this bewilderment is healthy; it makes us grow.

It takes patience, mutual respect, listening, and openness to really learn from each other and to move forward as one People of God, rich in differences but walking together.

This is precisely why I wanted to ask a woman, a theologian, to offer the Council of Cardinals a path of reflection on the presence and role of women in the Church. The starting point for this path is Hans Urs von Balthasar’s reflection on the Marian and Petrine principles in the Church, a reflection that has inspired the magisterium of recent pontificates in the effort to understand and value the different ecclesial presence of men and women.

The final destination, however, is in God’s hands. Let us pray to the Spirit to enlighten us and help us to understand, to find effective language and ways of thinking to engage the women and men of today, in the Church and in the world, so that an awareness of reciprocity and the practice of collaboration between men and women may grow.

I am pleased that through this publication, the reflections that Lucia Vantini, Luca Castiglioni, and Linda Pocher have offered to the Council of Cardinals might be made available to those who wish to participate in the synodal dialogue and deepen the theme of ecclesial relations between men and women, which is very close to my heart. These are reflections that tend to open rather than close; that provoke thinking, invite seeking, and aid praying.

This is what I desire at this point in the synodal process: that we do not tire of walking together, because only when we walk are we what we must be—the living body of the Risen One on the move, going forth, meeting our brothers and sisters, without fear, on the streets of the world. May Mary, mother of faith, accompany us on this journey!

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Specifically, the Monday morning was dedicated to “deepening the reflection, initiated last December, on the role of women in the Church,” according to a statement distributed to the accredited press through the Press Office’s Telegram channel.

Three women participated and contributed to this deepening: two Catholics and one who is not. Among the Catholics were Sister Linda Pocher, a Daughter of Mary Help of Christians and a professor of Christology and Mariology at the Pontifical Faculty of Educational Sciences Auxilium in Rome, and Giuliva Di Berardino, a consecrated member of the Ordo Virginum, from the Diocese of Verona, a professor, and responsible for courses on spirituality and spiritual exercises.

The surprise was the presence of an Anglican “bishop”: Jo Bailey Wells, the Vice Secretary-General of the Anglican Communion. As is known, the Catholic Church does not recognize the apostolic succession of Anglicans, much less the “priesthood” of the Church of England. It is not specified in what capacity Mrs. Wells participated, but visibly, she wore clerical attire.

The work of the Council of Cardinals continued in the afternoon on Monday, February 5, and will extend into Tuesday, but on other topics. Regarding the role of women, in the speech to the International Theological Commission in November 2023, Pope Francis said that the role of women in the Church is not solved through the ministerial path:

“One of the great sins we have had is to ‘masculinize’ the Church. And this is not resolved through the ministerial path; that is another thing. It is resolved through the mystical path, through the real path. Balthasar’s thought has given me much light: the Petrine principle and the Marian principle. This can be debated, but both principles are there. The Marian is more important than the Petrine because there is the Church as a bride, the Church as a woman, without being masculine.”

In 2016, Pope Francis created a commission to study the issue of women deacons.

During the Council of Cardinals’ meeting, Canadian Cardinal Gérald Lacroix, Archbishop of Quebec, who recently prudentially stepped back from public ministry after being accused of alleged abuse, was present. He denies the allegations.

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The first experiment was applauded by Barrie M. Schwortz, a renowned sindonologist, who actually helped promote it. Currently, this initial work is housed in the Department of Studies at the Sanctuary of Fátima in Portugal.

This new result, revealed in early 2024, is the result of Átila Soares da Costa Filho’s meticulous research work. Soares, a Brazilian industrial design graduate, is also credited with reconstructions of the faces of St. Francis and St. Clare of Assisi.

The new images show what we already knew but now allow us to visualize better: Mary was a beautiful woman.

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Forbes says about Nathalie Becquart:

“Sister Becquart is a French Catholic nun who was appointed Undersecretary of the Synod of Bishops by Pope Francis in 2021. As part of the Pope’s main advisory body, Sister Becquart is the highest-ranking woman in the Vatican and is the first woman to have voting rights at such a high-level conference. Sister Becquart holds a master’s degree in entrepreneurship from the HEC Business School in Paris and worked as a marketing consultant before joining the Xavière Sisters at the age of 26 in 1995.”

The Forbes “50 over 50: Europe, Middle East, and Africa 2024” list includes names of women whose work contributes to the development of science, the protection of human rights, the world of finance, fashion, and religion.

This is not the first time that Sister Nathalie Becquart has appeared in a ranking. As reported by ZENIT, in December 2022, the BBC included her in its list of the 100 inspiring and influential women in the world for that year.

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