Votes for Catholic Women
Before two synodal meetings in Rome, 2018 and 2019, Voices of Faith joined other organisations like Women’s Ordination Conference and Future Church for the campaign Votes for Catholic Women. In that time, thanks to the changes Pope Francis made in the synod regulations, a delegate from the Union of (male) Superiors General has been given a right to vote on the final documents. The Union of Superiors General (USG) delegated a brother and for the very first time a non-ordained person voted during the bishops’ synod. Yet for the next three synods women religious, who outnumber brothers almost 10 to 1 globally and whose female superiors have the same canonical status as male superiors, did not have the right to vote.
Nearly ten thousand people from around the world supported a petition requesting that religious sisters attending the Synod Assembly be granted voting rights. The petition was presented to the Synodal Office in Rome. Voices of Faith with our partner organisations also approached this office several times asking for a meeting. We did not receive a response. In the meantime, however, the issue has been loudly discussed in public.
In February 2021 Pope Francis appointed Sister Nathalie Becquart as Undersecretary of the Synod. With her position, she will be the first woman to have the right to vote on documents during the Synod Assembly.
