For the second time in a row, the role of women in the Catholic Church is being addressed at the Council of Cardinals.
This time, an Anglican bishop, Jo Bailey Wells, was present. She is married to another pastor and has two children. Wells is the assistant general secretary of the Anglican Communion which brings together 42 churches and was also a participant in the interreligious meeting in Kazakhstan with Pope Francis in September 2022. Wells is one of the female experts the Pope invited to the Council meetings to discuss the role of women in the church.
Two other women were present at the meeting. Giuliva Di Berardino, a consecrated virgin, and teacher Sr. Linda Pocher, who was already present with the Cardinals at the previous meeting. Sr. Linda is a scholar of theology with a focus on women. She is a Salesian and collaborated very closely with the Dicastery of Bishops during the international congress organized in 2022 to reflect on the figure of the priest today.
SR. LINDA POCHER
Pontifical Faculty of Educational Sciences Auxilium
It is not the same being a priest before and after the development of the feminist movement. A few things have changed.
Obviously, this has repercussions and it has to be thought about in a certain way.
The topic of women in the Catholic Church was also very present in the last synod. During the final stage of the synod this October, several of these current issues will continue to be discussed.
JRB
TR: KG
