Vatican City:
Pope Francis warned Wednesday against a “chauvinistic mentality” in the Catholic Church, as he promoted a nun to head the executive administration of the tiny Vatican City state.
“People often complain that there are not enough nuns in roles of responsibility, in the diocese, in the (Roman) Curia and the universities. It’s true,” the 88-year-old pontiff said.
“We must overcome a clerical and chauvinistic mentality.”
He highlighted the promotion of Sister Raffaella Petrini, who will take over as president of the governorate of the Vatican City state in March. She is currently secretary general.
“Thank God, nuns are ahead and know how to do things better than men,” Francis told a meeting of the Hilton Foundation, a charitable organisation which supports education for nuns.
He said not enough money had been invested in nuns’ education, “because it is thought that nuns, and women, are second class.”
Their work “requires trained and competent people”, Francis said, adding: “The mission of nuns is to serve the least fortunate, and not to be someone’s servants.”
Campaigners have in the past condemned as “modern slavery” the treatment of nuns employed in the Vatican and elsewhere, who work as unpaid cooks and cleaners in the homes of priests, bishops or cardinals.
Francis earlier this month appointed Sister Simona Brambilla to lead the Vatican’s office that oversees the world’s Catholic religious orders and congregations.
Francis has been naming women to more elevated positions within the Holy See since becoming head of the world’s almost 1.4 billion Catholics in 2013, but progress is slow.
The percentage of women working in the Holy See and Vatican City has risen from around 19 percent in 2013 to 23.4 percent in 2023, according to data published by Vatican News.
However, women still cannot receive Holy Orders, and repeated calls by some for women to be permitted to become priests have come to nothing.
Some accuse the Argentine pontiff of having outdated views of the roles women can do.
“Don’t forget that since the Garden of Eden they have been in charge,” he said Wednesday in reference to the Biblical story of how Adam and Eve were thrown out of paradise after she defied God’s order not to eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge, and persuaded Adam to eat it too.
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