Vatican: Pope Francis and Council of Cardinals talk about the role of women and power in the Catholic Church

This Tuesday, June 18, the meeting of the Council of Cardinals (C9) with Pope Francis concluded, in which three women participated, who reflected on various topics such as power, democratization and the female role in the Catholic Church.

At the meeting of the Council of Cardinals on June 17 and 18, according to a statement from the Vatican Press Office, Pope Francis, the cardinals who are part of the council and its secretary were present.

“On the 17th, the reflection on the female role in the Church was deepened based on the words of three women,” the statement reads.

The morning began with an introduction by Sister Linda Pocher, a teacher at the Pontifical Faculty of Educational Sciences Auxilium who already participated in the last meeting in 2023 and in February 2024, followed by interventions by Valentina Rotondi, a teacher at the SUPSI University of Lugano and researcher in the Department of Sociology at Nuffield College of the University of Oxford and at the NeuroMI center of the Bicocca University of Milan.

Completing the group was Donata Horak, professor of Canon Law at the Alberoni Theological Studio in Piacenza, affiliated with the Pontifical Angelicum University of Rome.

The Vatican statement specifies that “in her intervention, Professor Rotondi has evidenced a vision of the economy as care and good management in the context of a deep intergenerational relationship, while Donata Horak has highlighted various antinomies, such as justice and mercy, power consultative and deliberative power, hierarchical principle and ecclesiology of communion, democratization and monarchical model, in the context of a broader reflection on Canon Law.”

These two interventions were followed, over the course of the day, by “the cardinals’ reflections on the proposed topics.”

This June 18, the reflection continued with the interventions of Cardinal Seán O’Malley, Archbishop of Boston (USA) and president of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, who spoke about the work of this organization; and that of Cardinal Oswald Gracias, Archbishop of Bombay (India), who referred to the activities and ways of working of the episcopal conferences.

The cardinals have also discussed other topics, such as the various conflicts that the world is suffering and agreed that the next meeting of the C9 will be held in December 2024.

What is the Council of Cardinals or C9?

The Council of Cardinals, also known as C9, is the group of cardinals that collaborates directly with Pope Francis in the government of the Church. It has its origin in the general congregations that preceded the conclave in which Pope Francis was elected.

The organization has been in operation since September 2013, just six months after the arrival of Pope Francis to the Petrine ministry.

Its objective is to help the Pontiff “in the government of the universal Church,” as well as “study a project to revise the Apostolic Constitution.” Pastor bonus about the Roman Curia”, as expressed by Pope Francis.

In addition to Cardinals O’Malley and Gracias, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State, is part of this council; Cardinal Fernando Vérgez Alzaga, president of the Governorate of Vatican City State; and Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu, Archbishop of Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of the Congo).

The group is completed by Cardinal Juan José Omella, Archbishop of Barcelona (Spain); Cardinal Gérald Lacroix, Archbishop of Quebec (Canada); Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, Archbishop of Luxembourg; and Cardinal Sérgio da Rocha, Archbishop of San Salvador de Bahía (Brazil).

The secretary of the C9 is Bishop Marco Mellino, Titular Bishop of Cresima (Tunisia).