Two women will be added to the Vatican committee that elects bishops, according to Pope Francis, who has promised to make the announcement.
In comments to Reuters published Wednesday, the pope said “two women will be appointed for the first time in the committee to elect bishops in the Congregation for Bishops.”
In the July 2 interview in the Vatican, Francis did not identify the women or say when their appointment would be announced officially, instead saying he was “open to giving [women] an opportunity” and wanted to open things “up a bit.”
The Congregation of Bishops, a department of the Roman Curia, recently changed its name to the Dicastery for Bishops, in line with the new constitution that underpins the reform of the Vatican by Pope Francis.
The new constitution, titled Praedicate evangelium (“Preach the Gospel”), provides that any member of the faithful can also lead a Vatican dicastery or other bodies, “given their particular competence, power of governance and function.”
According to Reuters, when asked which Vatican division might be run by a layperson, Francis proposed the Apostolic Library and the department for Catholic Education and Culture.
The pope has the final say in choosing bishops, and he is allowed to choose anybody he wants. The apostolic nuncio, who represents the pope in a country, typically transmits advice and supporting evidence to the Vatican.
After further discussion and voting, the Dicastery of Bishops approves the nomination. The choice is finally made by the pope after hearing the suggestions.
Francis has previously appointed some women to Vatican positions. Barbara Jatta, a woman and mother of three children, was named director of the Vatican Museum in 2016 and assumed the position in 2017.
In February 2021, the pope appointed Sr. Nathalie Becquart as undersecretary to the Synod of Bishops. The French religious sister has been assisting Cardinal Mario Grech in preparing the Vatican’s synod on synodality, which is set for October 2022.
Becquart, according to Cardinal Grech, will vote at future synods alongside bishops, priests, and some religious men.
Pope Francis appointed Alessandra Smerilli, an Italian economist and religious sister, as secretary of the Vatican’s social development office in August 2021.
The Salesian sister is a scholar and economist. She was a major organiser of the 2020 Economy of Francesco event.
Smerilli has also been a councillor of the Vatican City State and a consultant to the Synod of Bishops’ secretariat since 2019.