Rome, Italy – When Pope Francis was elected in 2013, he faced loud calls to expand the role of women within the Roman Catholic Church.
To some extent, he delivered. Francis opened key meetings to women; allowed them to senior roles within the powerful central bureaucracy of the Church; and appointed the first female head of the Vatican governorate. For some, these were giant strides for a deeply conservative institution. But to many others, Francis’s moves fell short of what was needed to make the Church truly inclusive.
Now, as cardinals hold daily meetings before beginning the process of voting following his death on April 21, the role of women in the Church remains a divisive issue. When the cardinals finally emerge from their cocoon in the Vatican, will they have picked a pope who will build on Francis’s changes — or someone who might roll them back?
“Women are not holding their breath,” said Kate McElwee, the executive director of Women’s Ordination Conference, a nonprofit focused on women’s rights within Church institutions. “There is some anxiety on whether the next papacy will see some backsliding on the progress because there is a real desire for the project of [women’s] inclusion to continue.”
