Pope Francis allows greater role for women in Catholic Church

Pope Francis reads the Angelus noon prayer in the Vatican

Credit: Alessandra Tarantino/AP

Pope Francis inched towards giving women more rights in the Catholic Church on Monday, declaring that they should be allowed to serve as altar servers and readers at liturgies.

The Pope issued a decree which changes canon law, allowing women to have a greater role during Mass.

The papal decree, known as a “motu proprio”, confirms what has been going on in many Catholic countries for years, if not decades.

But it is still a long way from any consideration of allowing women to become Catholic priests – a development that Francis has consistently indicated he is opposed to.

He reiterated that point in the decree, saying that “the Church does not have the faculty in any way to confer priestly ordination on women.”

Nuns in an almost deserted St Peter's Square, January 2021

Credit: Andrew Medichini/AP

Instead, the change in Church law enshrines the right of women to serve as lectors, or readers of the Gospel, and to act as acolytes, or altar servers. In the past, those roles were reserved only for men.

Women make a “precious contribution” to the “life and mission of the Church,” Francis wrote.

“The decree recognises what is already a fait accompli,” said Robert Mickens, a Vatican expert and the editor of La Croix International, a Catholic news website. “It’s not a big deal in that sense. It brings up to date what has been happening since the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s.”

It could lead eventually, however, to the Catholic Church allowing women to become deacons, a contentious issue for some conservatives.

They see such a development as a slippery slope towards women being ordained as priests.

Deacons are ordained ministers who perform many of the same functions as priests. They preside at weddings, christenings and funerals but they cannot celebrate Mass.

Last year the Pope created a commission of experts to examine whether women should be allowed to become deacons – a role that is currently reserved for men.

“Francis is opening up the conversation. I don’t think he is in favour of women priests but I can foresee women becoming deacons,” said Mr Mickens.

“A church that excludes half its membership seems to me to be doomed to becoming a cult. It’s like a person trying to walk with one leg in a cast.”