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Missionary Sister Xaviere Nathalie Becquart attends a press conference at the Vatican in this Oct. 9, 2018 file photo. Last May, Sister Becquart was one of six consultants appointed by Pope Francis to the general secretariat of the Synod of Bishops. Five of those named were women and it was the first time that women held that position. (SNC Photo / Paul Haring)
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Missionary Sister Xaviere Nathalie Becquart will not be the first female undersecretary of a major Vatican office, but she will be the first woman to vote at a meeting of the Synod of Bishops.
Pope Francis named the French sister one of the two undersecretaries of the Synod of Bishops on February 6.
The other undersecretary is Augustinian Father Luis Marín de San Martín, whom Pope Francis also appointed bishop on February 6.
Vatican News asked Cardinal Mario Grech, general secretary of the Synod of Bishops, if Sister Becquart, who has the right to vote at the synod, would open the possibility to other women as well. Although the issue has been raised more and more in the synod hall, so far only bishops and some priests and brothers belonging to religious orders have had a vote.
Pope Francis, Cardinal Grech responded, has “repeatedly highlighted the importance of women becoming more involved in discernment and decision-making processes in the church,” and in recent synods, the number of women participating as experts. or observers without voting rights has increased.
“With the appointment of Sister Nathalie Becquart and the opportunity for her to participate with the right to vote, a door has been opened,” said Cardinal Grech. “Then we will see what other steps can be taken in the future.”
Sister Becquart, who was an observer at the 2018 Synod of Bishops on youth, was appointed consultant to the Synod of Bishops in 2019. At the time, she told Catholic News Service that the appointment was “a symbolic and effective step to appoint more women in the Curia, and reflects the desire of Pope Francis to give more places to women at all levels of the church.
Sister Becquart, former director of youth evangelization and vocations for the French bishops’ conference, also said in the interview that she was convinced more progress would come.
“Changes will come with the new generation as more and more young people, not just young women but also young men, call for equality for women,” she said. An additional hope comes from meeting “more and more priests and bishops now that they are speaking for women. I have seen an evolution; In the beginning, the question of women in the church was a question of women, and now it is also an important issue for many men, priests and bishops, and even for the Pope! ”.
But it cannot be said that there is true collaboration between men and women at all levels of the church until there are “more women in leadership positions and decision-making processes,” he said.
Obviously, the pope should continue to appoint women to councils and dicasteries, he said. But he also had another idea: “Another symbolic step could be, for example, asking a woman to lead the spiritual retreat of the Curia for a year.”
