No ordination

Pope concerned: women are treated like garbage

Pope Francis

(Bild: APA/AFP/Alberto PIZZOLI)

Pope Francis has sharply criticized the treatment of women in many parts of the world. They are treated like waste, denied access to education or business start-ups, the 87-year-old said in a new video message.

The pontiff denounced genital mutilation and dress codes for women and girls. They are exploited and marginalized. The head of the church did not comment on the issue of discrimination against women in his own organization.

"Let us not deprive all these abused women of their voice," was the Pope's appeal, according to Kathpress. Governments must commit to eliminating discriminatory laws all over the world and stand up for the guaranteed human rights of women. "Let us respect women," Francis demanded. "If we do not do this, our society will not develop."

"In theory, we all agree that men and women have the same dignity as persons. But in practice, this is not the case," Francis said in the video in Spanish.

Any unmarried man can be elected pope
For decades, there has been a heated debate in the Roman Catholic Church about whether women should also have access to all church offices. Francis recently appointed women to several positions in the Roman Curia that had previously only been held by clergymen. However, because the sacrament of Holy Orders is reserved for men only, only men can hold ecclesiastical offices. Theoretically, any unmarried Catholic man can be elected pope, even if he has no previous experience as a pastor.

Since the Second Vatican Council (1962-65) at the latest, the issue of the ordination of women has been one of the core demands of church reformers. In the 1994 document "Ordinatio sacerdotalis", Pope John Paul II confirmed the doctrine that the Church had no authority to confer the sacrament of Holy Orders on women. The Church's magisterium argues this position on the grounds that Jesus Christ only called men to be apostles.

The ordinationof women is being put on the back burner
The topic of the ordination of women was recently the focus of the "Synodal Way" reform process in Germany, which was heavily criticized by the Vatican. Pope Francis himself appointed a commission in 2016 to look into the possible ordination of women to the diaconate - the first stage of the sacrament of Holy Orders. However, no results of the commission have yet been announced.

In 2021, Francis initiated a multi-year world synod on church reform. The topic of the ordination of women has been put on the back burner, as Katharina Kluitmann, former chairwoman of the German Conference of Religious Superiors, recently lamented. She reported that she had sent an open letter to the Pope in this regard - and had "not even received an acknowledgement of receipt".

The video deals with the Pope's prayer request for the month of April. The contributions are produced by the Vatican Foundation "Pope's Prayer Network". The videos are available at http://www.thepopevideo.org or under the keyword "The Pope's video" on YouTube.