The Pope allows the laity to vote in the assemblies of the Church

Since the beginning of his pontificate, Pope Francis has been warning that clericalism is one of the great problems of the Catholic Church, which has led him to decide that the laity, both men and women, will be able to vote in the Synod of Synodality that It will be held in two sessions in Rome, the first next October and the second the following year. This assembly comes after a broad consultation process with Catholics and aims to update the transmission of the Christian message, although in principle without touching on doctrinal aspects.

Until now, only the bishops could vote on the final document of these meetings, but the organizers of the Synod informed this Wednesday of this decision by Jorge Mario Bergoglio, which represents a significant step forward for the laity to gain prominence in the decision-making process of the Catholic Church. . The Luxembourg Jesuit Jean-Claude Hollerich, rapporteur for the assembly, nevertheless considered that this decision “is not a revolution”, since the bishops will continue to be the protagonists of these appointments, taking around 75% of the seats in the synod hall.

The main novelty is that 70 “non-bishops” will participate in the Synod, of which at least half must be women. The Vatican asks the episcopal conferences to present a list of 140 candidates, among whom young people must be taken into account, and it will then be Francis who chooses those who finally attend the synodal sessions in Rome. Another significant change comes from the inclusion of five nuns and five religious who are not priests and who will be allowed to vote. Before, only bishops and representatives of male congregations could do so.

This decision by the Pope comes after the surprise that in 2021 he appointed the French religious Nathalie Becquart as undersecretary of the General Secretariat of the Synod, which made her the first woman with the right to vote in one of these assemblies due to her post.