The full participation of women in the Church From Vatican II to the pontificate of Francis

Abstract

This article wants to reflect on the participation of women in the church, a participation that was much fuller in the origins of Christianity but that, with the passage of time, became invisible until they were excluded from the levels of ecclesial decision-making and the ordained ministries. It will show how some magisterial pronouncements favored this exclusion, but also the novelty that Vatican II brought by affirming the fundamental dignity and equality of women in society and in the church. It ends with the pontificate of Pope Francis which, speaking in favor of the indispensable participation of women, has not specified it in his statements about ordained ministries or in a structural ecclesial change that makes it possible.