C9 meets again on the role of women in the church

The pope and the nine-member College of Cardinals invited female experts, including an Anglican bishop, to give presentations on the role of women in the church. The council was held on April 15 and 16 at Domus Sanctae Marthae, the pope's residence.

On the first day, the sister participated regina da costa pedro, Director of the Pontifical Missionary Works in Brazil, concrete stories and ideas of some Brazilian women. stella mora, The professor of theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome spoke about the role that cultures play in recognizing the role of women in various parts of the world.

The second day began with a report on the Synod of Bishops convened on the conciliarity by the cardinal Mario Gresh, Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops, W piero coda, Secretary General of the International Theological Commission.

The meeting concluded with reports from each cardinal on the social, political and ecclesiastical conditions in his region. The world has participated in the nine-nation consultations at various times, including in the form of prayers for peace in the Middle East and Ukraine.

This was the third time that the council met to discuss the role of women in the church. Last December, a priest and two women presented their research in a book with an introduction and title by Pope Francis Demasculinizing the church?

“In preparing for the Synod and the first session in October, we realized that we had not listened enough to the voices of women in the Church and that the Church still had much to learn,” the Pope wrote in the introduction. “It is necessary that we listen to each other to make the Church less masculine, because the Church is a community of men and women who share the same faith and the same baptism,” he said.

New C9

Since the renewal of the C9 in March 2023, the Council consists of the following cardinals:

1. Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State
2. Fernando Vergés Alzaga, President of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City and the Vatican City Governorate
3. Fridoline Ambongo Bissongo, Archbishop of Kinshasa
4. Oswald Gracias, Archbishop of Bombay
5. Sean Patrick O'Malley, Archbishop of Boston
6. Juan José Omella Omilla, Archbishop of Barcelona
7. Gerald Lacroix, Archbishop of Quebec
8. Jean-Claude Hollerich, Archbishop of Luxembourg
9. Sergio da Rocha, Archbishop of São Salvador da Bahia

The secretary is Marco Melino, titular bishop of Cressima. Pope Francis created the council in 2013 to help it administer the universal Church and study a project to reform the Roman Curia. This last task was completed with the new Apostolic Constitution of the Annunciation of Baptism in 2022.