Leo XIV Appoints Feminist as Prefetessa: “Women Must Rule over Bishops”
Cardinal Fabio Baggio, currently Under-Secretary of the Dicastery, has been appointed Pro-Prefect, with special responsibility for the Laudato si’ Higher Education Center.
Monsignor Jozef Barlaš, currently Under-Secretary of the Dicastery, has been appointed Secretary of the Dicastery.
The Personification of the Francis Agenda
Sister Smerilli is a Francis-era appointee through and through.
She uses all the Francis buzzwords new economy, integral ecology, climate justice, migrants, social justice, “Economy of Francesco”.
Francis named her interim secretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development in 2021, making her the highest ranking woman in the Roman Curia at the time.
Before, she was in charge of the Vatican's COVID-19 economic recovery commission.
"Change Rules That Only Priests Can Do Certain Things"
Sr Smerilli was very vocal about greater leadership opportunities for women within the Church.
In 2019, speaking to Vatican News, Sr. Alessandra Smerilli approvingly cited Cardinal Reinhard Marx's experience in Germany: "When Germany began introducing more women into various processes and roles, they found that this helped break up the circles of power and clericalism."
She also urged women to continue courageously "the battles" they have begun and called for "increasing the number of women holding leadership roles at every level of the Church."
In March 2023, she told Avvenire.it that the issue is not “a few more women” in the Vatican, “but that a religious sister or layperson can have responsibility over bishops or priests”.
In October 2023, she told Kath.ch that until 2021, her office was not open to women: “It always had to be a bishop.” This was a “first step” to “change this culture and these rules according to which only priests can do certain things."
Women Priests "Not Now"
Asked about [invalid] female priests, she told kath.ch that it is not the right moment:
"If a woman were to become a priest today, this would not change the structure of clericalism and would therefore preserve the characteristics of the privileges associated with the priesthood. And that means that the priesthood is once again placed above other ministries.”
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