Women advance in Church governance
They are coming forward to take up ecumenical responsibilities in France
This is the 13th part of our series "Women, the future of God?"
Army generals, ministers, CEOs of benchmark stock market behemoths... and why not priests?
Advances in gender equality and Pope Francis' call for a "more incisive female presence" have led to a rethinking of women’s role in the Church.
In recent years, women are coming forward to take up ecumenical responsibilities in France.
They are now members of episcopal councils, chancellors in charge of finance, and heads of pastoral services who directly report to bishops.
One of them even has bagged the coveted deputy secretary-general of the French Bishops' Conference position.
In dioceses like Créteil and Lyon they coordinate pastoral activities of the parish, while a vicar priest takes care of the sacraments.
Pilot initiatives
"More and more women are being called upon to help priests," says a member of the episcopal council, while asking, "How can we ensure that these people do not remain in the shadow of the priest?”
Other pilot initiatives are still chalked out. Several women have recently been called to the councils of seminaries to take part in the formation of future priests — Issy-les-Moulineaux, for example.
Women are also included in the council to appoint priests, which decides on the allocation of parishes, notably in Versailles.
"It should be systematic in each diocese because a woman brings a different sensitivity," says one of them.
In many cases, day-today interaction of women with bishops, who are the chief decision-makers, has proved effective.
But women still feel that they are "under the shadow of a male-priest power."
A different voice
More than having a title, the women I meet want to have their voices heard, says Béatrice Pelleau of the Talenthéo network of Christian leaders who last year conducted a workshop for 30 bishops and their episcopal councils, including 10 women.
"It is important that our institutions take our words into account," says a woman member of the episcopal council.
But are their voices taken seriously? It depends on the context, personalities and the sensitivities involved.
"Most of the priests I meet want to make room for women," says Pelleau.
"But are they all really convinced that it is worth listening to this different intuitive voice of women and are they ready to let themselves be moved? I am not always convinced of this. I believe that they also have their share of responsibility,” says Pelleau.
A voice that matters
But the question arises indirectly for some women who feel "called to give a voice that builds the community." In other words, preach during the celebration of Mass, one of them says.
Why is it that qualified lay people -- men and women -- are banned from the homily... Why?" ask senior priests in residence-services in Lille.
The question is more relevant to hospital "chaplains" who accompany a patient to the end and regret not being able to give him the sacrament. And what about prison "chaplains" who receive the confession of a prisoner but cannot give them God's forgiveness?
"Couldn't a woman baptize?" asks a nun involved in rural life.
More broadly, it is on the question of the liturgy that expectations are high.
In recent years, in many parishes, choir girls have been replaced by assembly servants.
The ordination of women, first put on the table in 1970, in the wake of feminist struggles and ordinations in the Anglican Church, was put to rest by three successive popes, from Paul VI to Benedict XVI.
John Paul II, in particular, committed the infallibility of the Magisterium and affirmed that the doctrine excluding women from the ministerial priesthood requires "definitive" assent from the faithful.
Not a right but a call
The Church, recalling that the priesthood is a call received from Christ himself, puts forward two major reasons for this.
On the one hand, respect for tradition. While He could have designated his mother, the most worthy of all, Jesus chose his apostles and, since then, "the priestly ordination of men."
On the other hand, the Church considers that the priest, representing Christ who gives himself to his Church (persona Christi), must be a man. Though this argument was not developed much by the Polish pope, it is nevertheless the most widely put forward today.
"Either it is said that it is the priest who has the monopoly to sanctify, teach and govern, or it is considered that he is responsible for these functions being carried out in the Church," says a vicar-general.
The Synod of Bishops' assembly on the Amazon
The recent Synod in October raised hopes.
A large majority of Amazonian bishops expressed the urgency of entrusting ministries "for men and women in an equitable way."
In September, the pope outlined the need to "train with adequate preparation some of the faithful to be true proclaimers of the Word."
Until you preach from the pulpit, this function is linked to the Eucharistic celebration, considered sacramental, and therefore reserved for the priest or deacon.
However, some want to make room for a female perception of biblical readings during the liturgy.
The issue is no longer taboo but remains debated.
In 2002, the International Theological Commission (ITC) published the results of five years of work. The possibility of restoring the female deaconate was mainly due to the question of whether deaconesses received ordination or blessing in the early Church.
The CTI concluded that it was "up to the Magisterium to decide."
The recent Synod also remained cautious on this.
A commission, set up in 2016 by Pope Francis, will be relaunched with new members.
"In fact, some women are objectively deaconesses. One day, evidence will finally emerge that this should find its institutional and liturgical form," emphasizes a vicar-general.
Theologian Pelletier said: "Assuming that a diaconal ordination were open to women, it should be thought within the broader reality of the diakonia which - without being ordained, or even instituted - exists and is lived in the daily life of Christian communities, and which must certainly be introduced in new ways in revised Church practices, including in the liturgy.”
Articles in this series:
Did the monotheistic religions rule out women?
The long history of women's 'impurity'
Is religion an obstacle to women's rights?
Women and Judaism, a silent revolution
The power of medieval abbesses
Hindu women are both central ... and subordinate
Islam: The transmission role of mothers
Reformed Lutherans have found a balance