SAO PAULO, SP (FOLHAPRESS)-Catholic activists stirred roses near the Vatican on Wednesday (7) to protest the exclusively male vote on the conclave. Hours before, the protesters referred to the smoke that announces the election of a pontiff, asking that women can also be ordered.
“They cannot continue ignoring 50% of the Catholic population” and “locking in a room to discuss the future of the church without half of it,” said Miriam Duignan of the Wijngaards Catholic Research Institute.
“Anyone who is elected should be brave enough to seriously address the issue of women’s inclusion, because so far it has not been done, not even by Pope Francis,” he lamented.
“While the world expects black or white smoke, we send a pink smoke with the hope that the church one day welcomes women as equals,” Kate Mcelwee of the campaign group “Conference for Women’s Ordination” said.
In a document published in October, the Catholic Church recognized women’s lack of visibility in their governance. However, he left the issue of female ordination as deacons -a disappointment for activists, who denounce the marginalization of women by a system considered patriarchal, despite their central role in parishes around the world.
