Commentary by Susan Brinkmann, OCDS

Speaking at a General Audience yesterday, Pope Francis highlighted the role of women in the Church, citing their long history of “opening the doors to the Lord” and communicating His message to the world.

“Women play a primary, fundamental role in the Bible,” the pope said while expounding on the Gospel story of the Resurrection where a woman first discovered the empty tomb. “The disciples had a harder time believing but not the women,” he said.

He made a special note of the fact that in the time of the New Testament, women and children were not considered reliable, credible witnesses; yet in the Gospels, women played a primary role, particularly in the Resurrection event.

“Here we can see an argument in favor of the historicity of the Resurrection,” the pope points out. “If it were an invention, in the context of that time it would not have been linked to the testimony of women. Instead, the evangelists simply narrate what happened: the women were the first witnesses. This tells us that God does not choose according to human criteria,” he said.

“This is beautiful, and this is the mission of women, of mothers and women, to give witness to their children and grandchildren that Christ is Risen! Mothers go forward with this witness!”

He continued to reflect on how in the history of the Church,  “women have had and still have a special role in opening doors to the Lord, in following him and communicating his face, because the eyes of faith always need the simple and profound look of love.”

In other words, women do not need to be priests, to be trained theologians, or to be granted high positions of authority in the Church. Rather, they need to be who they are, daughters of God who are charged with the same simple but essential task as the Blessed Virgin Mary – to bring Christ into a world that is in desperate need of His light.

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