Perfil (Sabado)

Small victories as women challenge Vatican patriarchy

Women are increasing­ly being seen in senior posts under Pope Francis, but the gender battle is far from won.

- BY CLÉMENT MELKI

Once a rare sight in the Vatican’s halls of power, women are increasing­ly being seen in senior posts under Pope Francis, but the gender battle is far from won.

The centuries-old institutio­n has an inherently patriarcha­l image, from the Swiss Guards at the gates to the cardinals seated in St Peter’s Square.

It reflects the wider Roman Catholic Church, which outlaws divorce, abortion and the ordination of women. Yet the pontiff’s push for reform has seen more women given roles in administer­ing the Vatican – even if they are mainly behind the scenes.

From economists to secretarie­s, historians and archivists, 649 women worked in 2019 for the Roman Curia – 24 percent of employees – compared to 385 in 2010, according to the latest available figures.

While the shift within the world’s smallest state is hailed in public, around 10 women interviewe­d on condition of anonymity described to AFP the resistance they meet and condescens­ion they face, especially among clerics.

One denounced “a glass ceiling and a generally paternalis­tic attitude in the corridors,” with a backward-looking vision of “the sensitive, gentle woman, which we find in the Pope’s speeches.”

“We sometimes feel they consider us as interns. There are little gestures, a hand on the shoulder, a lack of considerat­ion, almost daily remarks about appearance and dress,” she added.

Some described feeling subject to an implicit order for female employees to be silent and docile. Others expressed frustratio­n at being relegated to lesser roles.

“There is still a long way to go,” one woman said.

MENTALITY

In 2016, the “Women in the Vatican” associatio­n was created, a network of 100 or so members that meet every month “to enhance the role of women”, its president Margherita Romanelli told AFP.

It followed the creation just four years earlier of a monthly women’s supplement by L’osservator­e Romano, the Vatican’s official newspaper. The surprise initiative was lauded by many, but quickly ran into trouble.

Its founder, Lucetta Scaraffia, a journalist and historian, resigned in 2019, denouncing a “climate of mistrust.”

Francis’ reforms were essentiall­y “cosmetic” and actually concealed a “macho mentality” which implied that “women must serve without asking anything in return,” she told AFP.

Scaraffia pointed to the “modern slavery” of nuns employed in the Vatican and elsewhere as “servants” in the homes of priests, bishops or cardinals, who do the “cooking, cleaning, clothes washing” and who are “underpaid.” And she slammed the sexual abuse of nuns in Rome and elsewhere in the world.

A VOICE

Despite these criticisms, many welcome the accelerati­on of a process quietly begun some 20 years ago.

The number of women in positions of responsibi­lity at the Vatican – which applies strict gender wage parity – has tripled since the election of Francis 10 years ago, from Vatican Museums director Barbara Jatta to Alessandra Smerilli, the first woman to be appointed the equivalent of a deputy minister.

“The Vatican is late, but women have a voice today, they don’t let themselves be pushed around anymore,” said one official in her forties.

The head of the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics has allowed women greater involvemen­t in masses, from being readers and altar servers to taking part in the Maundy Thursday foot-washing ritual.

And Francis continues to take small steps forward, including changing the rules to allow women to play a role in the appointmen­t of bishops.

“Ten years ago, it would not have been possible to imagine such a developmen­t,” said Gudrun Sailer, an Austrian journalist with Vatican News and author of the book Women in the Vatican.

‘A LONG PROCESS’

Faced with the discrepanc­y between these changes and the misogyny experience­d in the Vatican workplace, some women wonder what strategy to adopt.

“Some feel that the truth should be told and bad behaviour should be denounced, while others thinkthatt­h is isco un te rproduc ti veand that we should be satisfied with small steps forward,” one told AFP.

Romilda Ferrauto, a Women in the Vatican member, said changing mentalitie­s was “a long process. Francis’ method is to make gestures and wait for them to move the lines,” she said.

The changes within the Vatican come as the global Church engages in a vast, months-long debate over its future.

Long before the ‘#Metoo’ movement, protestant churches took the lead in propelling women to the top and some theologian­s, such as Annemarie Pelletier of France, say the pontiff must now grasp the opportunit­y to move faster and more decisively.

The ordination of women as deacons or even cardinals “would be a strong symbolic gesture to erase these stereotype­s,” she said.

 ?? ALBERTO PIZZOLI / AFP ?? Nathalie Becquart.
ALBERTO PIZZOLI / AFP Nathalie Becquart.

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