Vatican won’t say if women can vote in 2023 church meeting
Nathalie Becquart poses for a photo during a February interview. (AP Photo / Alessandra Tarantino)
Vatican officials declined to say if women would be able to vote on concrete proposals about the future of the Catholic Church at the end of a two-year consultation of laypeople that begins in October.
For years female activists, including women religious, have pressed to be able to vote at Synod of Bishops meetings, which bring together the Catholic hierarchy in Rome to discuss pressing issues facing the 1.3-billion-strong church.
Pope Francis has sought to make the meetings more inclusive and participatory. But to date, women haven’t been able to vote—not even the religious superiors who participate as representatives of the world’s 641,000 nuns.
