Pope: Women Right Fight is “a constant struggle”
Male chauvinism, according to Pope Francis, is fatal for humanity and female genital mutilation is a crime that must be eradicated. He also called for the continuation of the fight for women’s rights as a “constant struggle.”
Speaking to reporters on the flight home following a four-day visit to Bahrain, which is primarily Muslim, he also lauded the women he nominated to executive positions in the Vatican, saying they have improved conditions there.
He didn’t mention any efforts to support women’s advancement into the clergy. The issue of women priests was declared resolved by the pope and his successors.
Pope Francis started talking on women’s rights in general when replying to a query about Iranian women protesting.
“We have to be honest. He cited earlier fights like the fight for the right to vote as examples of ongoing struggles for women’s rights. “Women are a blessing, so we must continue fighting for this. Man was not created by God, who then gave him a lapdog to play with. He made both man and woman equally.
He continued, “A culture that is incapable of enabling women to have bigger roles does not advance.
Francis, however, condemned masculine chauvinism and acknowledged that it persisted in too many places, including his home Argentina.
He claimed that chauvinism kills humanism.
He reiterated a strong demand he made in February on the UN International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation by denouncing female genital mutilation (FGM) as a “criminal conduct” as well.
According to the UN, FGM is mostly practiced by immigrant communities in roughly 30 countries in Africa and the Middle East.
Four million girls are at danger of having FGM this year, according to the UN.
Sister Raffaella Petrini, a nun who serves as the deputy governor of Vatican City and is arguably the most influential woman there, was specifically mentioned when he spoke of the women he had chosen to executive positions in the Vatican.
Every time a woman is granted a position of authority in the Vatican, he said, “Things get better.”
He also mentioned the effects of the five women he assigned to a division in charge of the Vatican’s financial management.
He continued, “Women know how to discover the appropriate way to move forward, therefore this is a revolution in the Vatican.”
In addition, Pope Francis selected four women as counsellors to the Synod of Bishops, which plans important sessions, as well as women to the positions of deputy foreign minister, director of the Vatican Museums, and deputy head of the Vatican Press Office.
Because Jesus only picked men to be his apostles, the Church holds that only men can become priests.
