Pope Francis will allow women to vote in bishops’ meeting for first time ever

Pope Francis will allow women to vote in the next bishop’s meeting for the first time in history.

The Catholic leader has announced that 40 women will be able to vote as part of the Synod of Bishops this year.

He has introduced new rules which will see five religious sisters join five priests as voting representatives for religious orders.

Francis also said that the next synod, scheduled for October 4 to 29, will hear the views of 70 non-bishop members with half of the group required to be women.

Since the 1960s, the world’s bishops have been summoned to Rome for a few weeks at a time to debate particular topics.

At the end of the meetings, the bishops vote on specific proposals and put them to the pope, who then produces a document taking their views into account.

Until now, the only people who could vote were men.

Kate McElwee of the Women’s Ordination Conference, which advocates for women’s ordination, said: ‘This is a significant crack in the stained-glass ceiling, and the result of sustained advocacy, activism and the witness.’

The reforms, published by the Vatican on Wednesday, highlight the pope’s vision for the lay faithful taking on a greater role in church affairs that have long been left to clerics, bishops and cardinals.

Francis wants the 70 non-bishop members, who will be proposed by regional blocs with him making a final decision, to include young people.

Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, a senior synod organiser, said: ‘It’s an important change, it’s not a revolution.’

The next Synod of Bishops is focused on the very topic of making the church more reflective of, and responsive to, the laity, a process that Francis has championed for years.

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