Since the beginning of his pontificate, Pope Francis has appointed around 20 women to positions of responsibility in the Vatican, reaching previously unheard-of levels. La Croix analyzed these choices and put them in perspective with his speeches, which reflected a more traditional theology.
Could this be what “trickle-down” means? The scene takes place on a rooftop in Rome in October 2023. On the set of the KTO news channel, set up facing the dome of St. Peter’s during the first session of the Synod on Synodality, the then-Archbishop of Korhogo, in the third-largest city in Ivory Coast, explained why he had appointed a woman to a leadership role in his diocese.
“The fact that it was a woman (Sister Marie-Madeleine N’guessan, Ed.) leading the process as the diocesan coordinator of the Synod was not well accepted by the men, including some priests. But I did it deliberately because I like to follow examples. The pope appointed a Xavière Sister as under-secretary of the Synod (Sister Nathalie Becquart, Ed.). We have Xavières in our diocese, so we entrusted the process to a Xavière,” Cardinal Ignace Bessi Dogbo, who now leads the Archdiocese of Abidjan. Created a cardinal on December 7, he explained more seriously that he wanted to combat “clericalism” like Francis.
The pope leads by example
“The fact that Pope Francis appoints women to positions of responsibility in the Vatican can have a symbolic impact,” confirmed Sister Nathalie Becquart, the first woman allowed to vote in the Synod of Bishops in 2021. “This is why I talk about an empowerment process. Among the women, especially theologians, who participated in the Synod in 2023 and 2024, some had never before been invited to speak in front of priests, pastoral agents, or bishops in their country. Now they are.”
Is Francis setting an example by regularly appointing women to leadership roles? The latest appointment, Sister Simona Brambilla, became on January 6 the prefect of a dicastery (equivalent to a minister), the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life. This was a first, though she is accompanied by a pro-prefect cardinal (a second-in-command or co-leader), Spaniard Ángel Fernández Artime, whose role is still being defined.
The candidacy of this former superior general of the Missionary Sisters of Consolation, who joined this Vatican body in 2019, had become an obvious choice—“because of how much she contributes and humanizes the dicastery,” her predecessor, Cardinal João Braz de Aviz, recently said. Contacted by La Croix, Sister Simona Brambilla indicated she had “decided not to give interviews.”
“Respected and valued”
She is not the first woman—primarily nuns, and often Italian—to be appointed to an important position under Francis’ pontificate. Around 20 women have been appointed to roles ranging from the governing board of the Financial Information Authority to the Secretariat of State, the Vatican Library, and the Museums. Many of these appointments have been described as historic. For instance, in July 2022, La Croix headlined: “For the first time, three women, including a Frenchwoman, appointed to the Dicastery for Bishops.”
One of them, Sister Yvonne Reungoat, shared: “I know clericalism exists, but personally, my experience at the Dicastery for Bishops is that I feel not only respected and valued but also encouraged,” said the former superior general of the Salesian Sisters of Don Bosco, who now handles most files concerning new bishops. “Pope Francis had already announced the appointment of a female prefect…”
“Nothing prevents a woman from leading a dicastery where a layperson can be a prefect,” the pope declared in December 2022, nine months after publishing the new apostolic constitution Praedicate Evangelium on the reform of the Curia. This allowed “any faithful” to become the head of a dicastery.
In his latest autobiography, published January 15, the pope further explained his inclusion policy, designed to create a “snowball effect” elsewhere in the church. “It is. Therefore, a more urgent challenge than ever to find new criteria and methods to enable women to be full protagonists at every level of social and ecclesial life so that their voice carries more weight and their authority is increasingly recognized,” he wrote in his book, Hope. He also confirmed that the question of women’s diaconate remains “open to study.”
Kept away from the altar
According to this theology, there are two poles in the church: one, “Petrine,” following the Apostle Peter, masculine and governance-oriented, and the other, “Marian,” following Mary, feminine and mystical. For Anne-Marie Pelletier, who challenges this view, “the unconscious goal is to protect the priestly enclosure,” reserved for men. In other words, high-ranking positions in the church may be open to women as long as they stay away from the altar.
“Francis is not primarily a theorist,” countered ecclesiology doctoral student Isabelle de la Garanderie. For this consecrated member of the Diocese of Nanterre, the pope operates through “small experiential steps.” His main concern, she said, is to introduce plurality—not “the woman” but women in various roles. “First, actions: theology and, if necessary, canon law will follow in due time.”
For Pope Francis, who dreams of de-clericalizing the church, “anything that belongs to the common priesthood can equally be exercised by men and women,” added Isabelle de la Garanderie. Among the pope’s key actions, she highlighted the opening of the ministries of lector and acolyte to women in 2021. However, while the final document of the Synod on Synodality sketched out a new lay ministry of “listening and accompaniment,” it ultimately did not include the ministry of “preaching,” leaving that role exclusively to clerics—and, therefore, to men.
The major “firsts” for women under Pope Francis
Before Sister Simona Brambilla, Pope Francis made several groundbreaking appointments of women to unprecedented positions of responsibility. Here are some key milestones:
Sister Raffaella Petrini, 56, Sister Yvonne Reungoat, 80, and Maria Lia Zervino, 74, became the first female members of the Dicastery for Bishops in 2022. A year earlier, Raffaella Petrini was appointed Secretary General of the Vatican City State administration.
Sister Alessandra Smerilli, 50, was the first woman promoted in 2021 to secretary of a Roman Curia dicastery.
Sister Nathalie Becquart, 55, was appointed under-secretary of the Synod of Bishops in 2021, becoming the first woman allowed to vote in this institution.
Catia Summaria, 77, became the first woman to head a Vatican judicial body (Court of Appeal) in 2021.
Barbara Jatta, 62, was appointed in 2016 as the first female director of the Vatican Museums.
Republished with permission by La Croix International.
