He made the comment in the Vatican and at a meeting with the Vatican Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life.

Francis said the purpose of creating the dicastery is to promote the care of family and the mission on the laity, not to clericalise laity.

"So many times it happened in the other diocese [Buenos Aires], a parish priest came and told me: ‘I have a wonderful layperson, he knows how to do everything, everything. Do we make him a deacon?'"

Francis lamented that too often he sees permanent deacons become "first-class altar boys or second-class priests" rather than "custodians of service."

He also said the Church needs to move forward, without fear, in introducing more women in leadership positions at the Vatican, including as heads of dicasteries.

"We must move forward to include women in advisory positions, also in government, without fear," he told the meeting.

"Yes, of course, also as heads of dicasteries," the pope said, adding that he had considered two women for the appointment last week of the new prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy for which Francis ultimately selected Spanish Jesuit Fr. Juan Antonio Guerrero Alves.

"Women's advice is very important."

"The role of women in (an) ecclesial organization, in the Church, goes further and we must work on this as well because a woman is the image of ‘Mother Church", he said.

Francis noted the Vatican Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life had two under-secretaries in their leadership, both married with children.

Francis told the dicastery their role was to move beyond the local and feel the heart of the universal church.

"The dicastery of which you are a part should, above all else, help the many disciples of Christ to live in daily life in conformity with the baptismal grace they have received," he said.

"There are so many lay faithful in the world who, living their faith with humility and sincerity, become great lights for those who live next to them," Pope Francis said.

• Source: CNA

Gracias is one the eight-member Council of Cardinals Pope Francis established in 2013 to help with governing the Catholic Church and reforming its central administration.

Women may perform most of the roles currently undertaken by men, he maintains.

Noting that while it's true a woman may not hear confession, say Mass or administer the sacrament of Confirmation, "she can do practically everything else," Gracias says.

"Women can even be in charge of a parish according to Church law."

Speaking at a press conference about last month's Synod on the Amazon, Gracias said women's role in the Church was a frequently raised theme in discussions about how the Church can better respond to the Amazon region's pastoral needs.

Other representatives from the Amazon spoke of the need for concrete and tangible action.

They stopped short of addressing the question of women's ordination to the diaconate. It is anticipated this will be addressed in some form in the Synod's final document.

Bishop Ricardo Ernesto Centellas Guzmán of Bolivia is calling for a change in "mindset" when it comes to women in the Church.

"We all have to change our mentality to make sure participation of women becomes authentic and that it is equitable and fair," he says.

At the moment, the role of women who are involved in decision-making power is "very low," and in some places it is "almost invisible," he says.

"Things must change by starting with the smaller things."

Guzmán says work at parish level and in local communities is the place to start.

This includes pastoral councils that only give women consultation status, without any real decision making abilities.

Describing what he called a "walking Church," Guzmán says such a church includes "walking together and deciding together".

Otherwise "we will be limping together, not walking," he says.

Sister Roselei Bertoldo from Brazil says the Church structure often focuses on men when it comes to questions of authority.

"We want to become the protagonist in this process," she says.

"We will not keep silent. We want space, and we will start building a space."

Source

• Matters India
• Image: America Magazine