Money Matters

Just read in today WSJ that Pope Francis named six women to Vatican Economic Council. 

The quote that struck me ..in the article..is women should be given roles that ..”do not entail holy orders” but allow them to serve  “in a way that reflects their womanhood”

So doing budgets ..balance sheets…reflects womanhood..interesting now as there is a huge budget deficit..maybe after women fix that it might be womanly to say Mass? Just thinking…

All the best, Katharine Gilbert…Kat

This is from our SEPAWOC listserv. One of our ever-vigilant members alerted me to this article by the Wall Street Journal’s Vatican correspondent, Francis X. Rocca. Who knew? Unfortunately, that financially-careful institution places me behind a firewall, but I have my secret sources – not Kat, to avoid any liability.

The quotes from Francis in that article, to be fair, are from his comments on women deacons after the Amazon synod, a reminder of what the forces are on each side of our poor Pope.

Those forces may get played out on this council. Ruth Kelly from Britain is a member of Opus Dei, according to The Tablet, which has the most information on the new appointees.

Perhaps she will sit next to German member, Charlotte Kreuter-Kirchhof.  She tells Catholic website katholisch.de that she thinks it’s possible that women “could serve as priests,” summarized in English on NCRonline. While she notes “there are heated debates going on in the church about this at the moment,” she also says “In many dioceses women are taking on central leadership tasks and making a substantial contribution to the future viability of our church.” Note VIABILITY. She mentions again the future of the church.

I imagine that’s why the Pope is concerned about Vatican finances, summarized best in the WSJ article, no surprise.

America has a similar summary of the women’s backgrounds, but, characteristically, begins with the new Cardinals. I am encouraged by two of them; social liberal Cardinal Joseph Tobin of Newark is the one American, and Cardinal Reinhard Marx of Germany is still the chairman. I haven’t written much about him, but every article I read suggests to me that he’s leading a revolution from above.

NCR quotes an email from Tobin: “I see their nomination as an effort by Pope Francis to ensure greater opportunities for women to offer their gifts in service to the church. He clearly considers the academic formation and vast experience of these colleagues as crucial contributions to one of his cherished priorities, the ongoing reform of the financial administration of the Holy See.” I do, too. Obviously, the Pope wants a new start when he replaces almost all the members of an oversight Council. Back to Kat: That’s why the women are there.