The Church works “to give more space and power” to women, assured the prefect of the Dicastery of the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Víctor Fernández, after declaring days ago that it is not the time to debate the female diaconate in the Synod which concludes this Sunday in the Vatican. These statements coincide with the visit of the president of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, to the Vatican.
In a meeting held this Thursday with a hundred attendees of the XVI Synod of Bishopsthe cardinal stressed that he is committed to reviewing the role of women and exploring new possibilities for the functions and positions they may carry out, the official news portal of the Holy See reported this Friday. Vatican News.
The meeting was held after there had been complaints from some participants of the Synod, who regretted that it had not listened to the proposals on the ordination of women.
Fernández clarified during the meeting that the fact that they still do not want to make a decision about the diaconate It does not mean that the Church is closed to itaccording to the same source.
The cardinal also asked the members of the Synod to send proposals and contribute points of viewand also highlighted the experiences of women with leadership roles in communities in Africa, Asia or the Amazon.
Thus, he appealed to value these experiences “already underway, and perhaps unknown or little known by European theology,” explained the Vatican portal.
His statements are known after last Monday a letter from the prefect himself to the Dicastery of the Doctrine of the Faith emerged in which he said that the Pope Francis considered that It was still early to deliberate on the female diaconate in the Synod of Bishops, where religious and lay people discuss how to make the Church a more inclusive body.
“We know that the Holy Father has expressed that at this moment the question of the female diaconate is not mature, and has asked that we not entertain this possibility now“said Fernández, who participates in a Synod working group.
In his letter, the Argentine cardinal explained that the female diaconate “is not the most important response for women today,” according to the pontiff, for whom before “there are other issues to explore and resolve”.
The Synod, which will conclude this Sunday, is in its final phase, with the presentation of the final document with the conclusions of the meetings that are being held in Rome throughout this month of October and in which issues such as reinforcing the presence of women in the Church.
In this second session of the Synod, after the one that took place in October 2023, 368 members participate, including 53 women and about sixty cardinals. ANDLast year, for the first time, women voted in a synodal assembly of the Catholic Church.
Pope’s meeting with Metsola
Also this Friday, the Pope met for half an hour with the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsolaone day after his meeting at Palazzo Chigi with the Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Melonito address the main problems facing Europe.
As reported by the Vatican press office, the Pontiff has given Metsola a terracotta sculpture titled ‘Tenderness and Love’, in addition to the main volumes of his pontificate such as the message for this year’s Day of Peace and other documents. papal For her part, the president of the European Parliament presented the Pope with a ceramic plate decorated with a fragment of a Ludwig Van Beethoven score.
“No country – neither Malta nor Italy – should feel alone, since the management of migratory flows is a European challenge,” he said after his meeting with Meloni this Thursday, in which Metsola advocated for a joint response to the challenge of immigration. These statements arise after the Italian executive has approved a new decree to be able to deport immigrants to the detention centers built in Albania after the judicial reversal of the ruling that last Friday forced Italy to welcome the first twelve immigrants who had been interned there to process their visa without setting foot on Italian soil.
Metsola also praised the Pact on Immigration and Asylum voted last April in Brussels. “It contains innovative solutions after decades of blockade, because it protects the external borders, shows firmness with those who cannot be identified, guarantees safe and rapid repatriation and is strong against traffickers: we must always keep in mind that we are talking about human beings, not numbers,” he said.
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