Women's movement in a house of faith

The Catholic faith, despite holding the figure of Mary ‘mother of god’ in high divine esteem, has always been out of sync with the Western world’s otherwise progressive march towards greater women’s empowerment, gender equality and participation. Whether it be issues/edicts pertaining to control of one’s own body such as abortion and contraception, or holding decision-making roles within the ecclesiastical system, women have overwhelmingly been given the short shrift one associates with most other organised religions and their relationship with 49.7% of humanity. In a major step within Catholicism, this is about to change, hopefully, de facto over time.

From Wednesday, women have started voting for the first time at a meeting of bishops in Rome, after Pope Francis approved changes to norms governing the Synod of Bishops, an advisory body to the pontiff. This is big deal, even for a religion that has been, of late, following the lead of changing social norms rather than attempting to have society stick to religious dogma on matters of everyday life and living.

On February 6, 2021, Pope Francis made Nathalie Becquart the first woman to have the right to vote in the synod by appointing her as the assembly’s undersecretary. Since then, 53 other women have joined Becquart in holding voting rights to decide matters that chart the future of the Catholic church. The three-week, in-camera meeting will see 365 votes being cast on matters as varied as the growing relevance of women in the church, blessing of gay couples and celibacy of priests. This push – controversial for many, glacial reform for many others – is in the right direction not only for the Catholic faith but also for religion as a societal system and, indeed, society as a whole.