“Women have proven in the Vatican that they can be better managers than men,” Pope Francis said. He also denounces excessive male chauvinism in the Roman Catholic Church and in society in general.
“I’ve noticed that every time a woman gets a responsible position in the Vatican, things get better.” Pope Francis’ response was evasive but notably when asked what he thought of women at the forefront of protests in Iran. During the onboard press conference, on his way back from his four-day trip to Bahrain, he used this question to give his opinion of the women. Especially the women around him.
He commended Sister Raffaella Petrini as Secretary General, the most powerful woman in the Vatican. It is responsible for about 2,000 employees and heads the police, postal services, and museums in the small city-state, among other things. “Things have changed for the better,” he said, referring to Petrini’s management skills he recruited late last year. Petrini is a highly educated woman with experience as a university lecturer.
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He also praised the influence of five other women he appointed to oversee the financial affairs of the Vatican. “This is a revolution because women know how to find the right path to progress.”
Francis condemned male chauvinism and acknowledged that there are still many of it around the world. “Women are a gift. God did not create man and then gave him a puppy to play with. He said, ‘Man and woman are created equal.”
It is true that half of them can become priests and the other cannot.
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