VATICAN CITY
Vatican Insider
The Vatican newspaper “L’Osservatore Romano’s” monthly women’s insert interviews the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith: “We are not misogynists!” he says, revealing that the number of women in the Congregation will go from two to five or six, at the Pope’s request
ANDREA TORNIELLI
VATICAN CITY
The latest issue of the women’s insert published monthly by Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano reveals the identity of the Pope’s next nomination; more women are going to be joining the international theological Congregation: the number will be rising from two to “five or six”. This is according to the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller who was interviewed by historian Lucetta Scaraffia, a prestigious contributor of the newspaper headed by Gian Maria Vian.
The members of the theological commission that assists the Holy See, particularly the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, in examining crucial doctrinal questions are nominated for a five-year period and there are currently thirty of them, including two women: Barbara Hallensleben (professor of Dogmatic Theology and Ecumenism at the Faculty of Theology in Fribourg, Switzerland) from Germany and sister Sara Butler (professor of Dogmatic Theology at the University of Saint Mary of the Lake – Mundelein Seminary – in Chicago, US).
In the article published by the L’Osservatore Romano’s women’s insert, Scaraffia says the cardinal “also informed me that the new international theological Commission the Pope is about to make nominations for will include more women than previously: As far as I understood the number of women will go from two to five or six.” That would be a significant increase.
The interview took place in the cardinal’s apartment and the Vatican newspaper’s reporter was given an informal welcome. During their discussion, Müller underlined that the female presence in the Church needed to be recognized within its own specific context, it should not be an imitation of the male model. He stressed that the Church needs to be like a mother, not an institution, because an institution cannot love but a mother can.
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