Pope Francis Says Women Have ‘Legitimate Claims’ for Justice, Calls Virgin Mary an ‘Influencer’
By Nicole Winfield/AP
(VATICAN CITY) — Pope Francis said in a document released Tuesday that women have “legitimate claims” to seek more equality in the Catholic Church, but he stopped short of endorsing recent calls from his own bishops to give women leadership roles….
…The Women’s Ordination Conference, which advocates for a female priesthood, blasted the pope’s document for ignoring the synod’s recommendation to make the whole church aware of the “urgency of an inescapable change” to put women in decision-making roles.
The document, the group said in a statement, “offers only lip service to the movement for women’s equality in the Roman Catholic Church.”