Young African women back female leadership in church
What you need to know:
- The Vatican announced a fortnight ago that Pope Francis had approved changes allowing five sisters to join five priests as voting representatives at the synod.
- The synod is a papal advisory body that gathers the world's bishops, following years of demands by women to participate as more than just observers.
- Additionally, the Pope appointed 70 non-bishop members of the synod and asked that half of them be women, including young women; they, too, will have a vote.
The Vatican announced a fortnight ago that Pope Francis had approved changes allowing five sisters to join five priests as voting representatives at the synod, a papal advisory body that gathers the world's bishops, following years of demands by women to participate as more than just observers.
Additionally, Pope Francis appointed 70 non-bishop members of the synod and has asked that half of them be women and youths. They, too, will have a vote.
While men will still cast the majority of the votes at the influential gathering, the decision welcomed by many as a historic first has been hailed by a US-based Women's Ordination Conference, which advocates for women priests as "a significant crack in the stained glass ceiling".
"In the near future, we hope the synod continues to develop into a fully representative body of the people of God," the group wrote on Twitter.
But do young African women support female leadership in the Catholic Church?
In Kenya, the 2019 census revealed that more than nine million people are Catholics.
Janet Njoki, who attends the Divine Mercy, Kenyatta Road in Kiambu County, says the news gives her hope that finally the Catholic Church is catching up on gender equality.
“The larger population of Christians is women. In my local church, the ratio would be about 4:1 by my approximation. Therefore, it follows that women should, rightfully so, be involved in decisions concerning the church. I like that as a moral figure, the Pope is leading in addressing these issues.
"I hope we can soon see similar changes that involve increased decision making of women, beginning to trickle down and to being felt within the structures of local churches," she says.
"As per my understanding, there has been no tangible reason as to why women were not involved in decisions. As such, I think the Pope’s decision is a great move on its part to challenge the long history of patriarchy.”
Rolex Aoko, who is affiliated to St Raphael's Parish in Nairobi, agrees that the ‘historic’ decision is good news for women across the world.
“It matters to have women in church leadership not only as a sign of representation but also because women are capable of leading. A priest once told us that if you want to initiate change you begin by lobbying women," she says.
Capable
"This means women are very capable and they should not just be used as a stepping stone. They deserve the front row seats as well. But while pushing for increased participation of women, it is important to remain cognisant of the other issues that hinder women’s participation in leadership generally.
"One of them is that they naturally have a lot of caregiving responsibilities when compared to men, especially in this day and age where they also hold office jobs and still have mothering tasks.
"It may then become hard to add on to more responsibilities, especially those they can escape and this is why the Church must be intentional with inclusion by coming up with workable solutions.”
In neighbouring Tanzania, Lillian Ndilwa is also excited at what the future holds for women in the church leadership.
“Women are proving day by day that they can be trailblazers like our own President Suluhu Hassan and that their capabilities are not limited," she says.
"Seeing the Church start to align to the fact that women are capable of sitting at decision making tables to voice their concerns and make changes that matter, gives me immense joy.
"As a young woman, it sometimes felt like my role was only to worship, but living during these ‘historic’ times, there is confidence that soon enough women will be at the upper echelons of power.
"And with the Church having an influence in many parts of the continent, perhaps other sectors can also follow suit and champion gender inclusion.”
However, some quarters opine that the latest decision would attract "significant resistance". The Pope has been making decisions to make the Church's future more inclusive.
In January 2021, he altered canon law to allow women to read the scripture and serve as Eucharistic ministers. He has also appointed several women to high-ranking Vatican positions, although none head any of the major Vatican offices or departments.
