All-female board quit Vatican magazine over ‘bid to discredit them’
● Founder tells of climate of distrust after denouncing sex abuse of nuns
The founder and all-female editorial board of the Vatican’s women’s magazine have quit over claims of a Vatican campaign to discredit them after they denounced the sexual abuse of nuns by clergy.
The editorial committee of Women Church World, a monthly glossy published alongside the Vatican newspaper L’osservatore Romano, made the announcement in the planned 1 April editorial and in an open letter to Pope Francis.
“We are throwing in the towel because we feel surrounded by a climate of distrust and progressive de-legitimisation,” founder Lucetta Scaraffia wrote. “We believe there are no longer the conditions to continue our collaboration with L’osservatore Romano.”
The decision is a blow to Francis’ efforts to give greater decision-making roles to women at the Vatican. Scaraffia had become perhaps the most prominent woman at the Holy See, even though she never drew a salary for her sevenyear leadership of the magazine she founded .
Ms Scaraffia, a history professor and journalist, frequently ruffled feathers with her lament that half of humanity was invisible to the men in charge of the Catholic Church.
She stoked uproar in February when, on the pages of the magazine, she denounced the sexual abuse of nuns by clergy and the resulting scandal of religious sisters having abortions or giving birth to children who are not recognised by their fathers.
The article prompted Francis to acknowledge, for the first time, that it was a problem and that he was committed to doing something about it.
Ms Scaraffia said the decision to leave was taken earlier this year when L’osservatore’s news editor, Andrea Monda, planned to take over as the magazine’s editor. She said he backed off after the editorial boardthreatenedtoresignand the Catholic weeklies that distribute translations of Women Church World in France, Spain and Latin America, told her they would stop distributing if she weren’t in charge.
“After the attempts to put us under control, came the indirect attempts to delegitimise us,” she said, saying other women were brought in to write for L’osservatore “with an editorial line opposed to ours”.
The effect, she said, was to “obscure our words, delegitimising us as a part of the Holy See’s communications”.
In a statement, Mr Monda denied trying to weaken the magazine and said that he merely tried to bolster other female voices and viewpoints on the pages of L’osservatore, and had always guaranteed the magazine’s autonomy.
He said he took note of Scaraffia’s “free and autonomous” decision to leave, offered his thanks for her work, and pledged that the magazine would continue.