Exclusive-Women Deserve Bigger Role in Church, Says Key Cardinal

By Philip Pullella
Chicago Tribune
March 3, 2013

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sns-rt-pope-successionsandri-interview-pix-20130303,0,1245367.story

VATICAN CITY, March 3 (Reuters) - The Roman Catholic Church

must open itself up to women in the next pontificate, giving

them more leadership positions in the Vatican and beyond,

according to a senior cardinal who will be influential in

electing the next pope.

In an exclusive interview with Reuters, Cardinal Leonardo

Sandri, 69, an Argentine, also said the next pope should not be

chosen according to a geographic area but must be a "saintly

man" qualified to lead the Church in a time of crisis.

He said one of the greatest challenges facing the Church was

trying to win back those suffering from a "loss of faith" who

had "turned their back on God" and the Church of their fathers.

Sandri, an experienced diplomat and past number two in the

Vatican bureaucracy, is expected to wield great influence in the

choice of the man to succeed Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI.

"The role of women in the world has increased and this is

something the Church has to ask itself about," Sandri said in

his office just outside St Peter's Square where he heads the

Vatican department for Eastern Catholic Churches.

"They must have a much more important role in the life of

the Church ... so that they can contribute to Church life in so

many areas which are now, in part, open only to men ... This

will be a challenge for us in the future."

At present women, most of them nuns, can only reach the

position of under-secretary in Vatican departments, the number

three post after president and secretary, which so far have been

held by ordained men. Currently only two women are

under-secretaries, one a nun and one a lay woman.

Sandri, a son of Italian immigrants who has been mentioned

as a papal candidate, said it was "only right" that women should

have more key positions in the Vatican administration "where

they can make a very important contribution because of their

qualifications".

He added: "But they must also be co-participants in the

dialogue and the analysis of the life of the Church and in

(other) areas, even in the formation of priests, where they can

play a very, very important role."

NO CHANGE TO BAN ON WOMEN PRIESTS FORESEEN

The Church teaches that women cannot become priests because

Jesus willingly chose only men as his apostles. Sandri gave no

indication that the rule could be changed.

Sandri spoke as cardinals from around the world gathered for

preliminary meetings on Monday ahead of a closed-door conclave

to choose a new pope which is expected to begin in the Sistine

Chapel around March 10.

He said the next pope should have holiness, physical

strength, communications skills, and the ability to govern.

"The problem is finding the four qualities together.

Sometimes someone has an excess of one quality and less of

others ... for me, the most important thing is that he be a man

of faith who is not afraid," the cardinal said.

"I would like to see the new pope be someone who above all

is, if not yet a saint - that is difficult to ask for - someone

who is at least walking towards sanctity through a life of

humility, work, prayer and witness to the Gospel," he said.

PAPAL QUALITIES

He listed the qualities a pope should have as:

- "A pope who has a certain vigour, a physical resistance, a

capacity to carry out all the commitments of the papacy."

- "A great ability to communicate, a gift to be able to

express to others that the pope is a representative of God and

the vicar of Christ but is also a human being who smiles, who

shakes hands, who embraces people, who reaches out to people and

is close to all those to approach him."

- "He should also be one who knows how to govern, not only

from personal experience but who will also surround himself with

people who can help him do this."

Parts of the Vatican's central administration, known as the

Curia, have been faulted for not preventing some of the scandals

and mishaps that marked Benedict's troubled papacy.

There has been much speculation that the next pope could be

a non-European, perhaps from Africa or Asia, both places where

the Church is more vibrant and less ossified than in Europe and

in other developed areas.

But Sandri warned against picking a pope by his passport.

"I am sceptical about relying on geographical definitions.

Someone should not be elected pope just because he is not a

European," the cardinal said.

"We have to choose the best person, the one who has all the

personal qualities of health, vigour, preparation and

experience, without regard to geographical origin," he said.

Cardinal Peter Turkson, 64, from Ghana, who heads the

Vatican's justice and peace department, is seen as a leading

African candidate.

"The Church is ready for a black pope but maybe the world is

not," Sandri said. "We are open to anyone as long he is the best

prepared, the best qualified, to face a time that is so

difficult for the Church and the world."