Rome (Italy). On 5 February 2024, on the first day of the meeting of the Council of Cardinals held in the Vatican, in the presence of Pope Francis and all its members, Sister Linda Pocher, Daughter of Mary Help of Christians and Professor of Christology and Mariology at the Pontifical Faculty of Education Sciences “Auxilium” in Rome, was called to continue the reflection, which began in the meetings of 4 and 5 December 2023, on the role of women in the Church.
“Women and ministries in the Church” is the contribution offered by Sister Linda. Along with her, two other women spoke: Giuliva Di Berardino, consecrated of the Ordo Virginum of the Diocese of Verona, teacher and responsible for courses in spirituality and spiritual exercises; and Rev. Dr. Jo Bailey Wells, Bishop of the Church of England and Deputy Secretary General of the Anglican Communion.
Sister Linda Pocher stated that, “It is important to focus on the need and possibilities to think and carry out other ministries open to women, in full respect of the magisterium of the Catholic Church. The starting point can only be the Eucharist and the liturgy. How could the present liturgy, totally dependent on the action of the priest, represent and educate to the synodality of the Church? Hence, the conviction that service will not be power, but anticipation of the Kingdom”.
The interventions of the sessions of 4 December 2023 – of Lucia Vantini, Luca Castiglioni, and Linda Pocher are merged into the volume ‘Demasculinize the Church’? Critical comparison on ‘Principles’ of H.U. Von Balthasar published by Pauline Book Publishers.
