Vatican Prefect Praises Francis-Alligned Women as "Great Help" in Selecting Bishops

The contribution of three women - two religious sisters and one laywoman - at the Dicastery for Bishops is "highly valued and important," the Prefect, Archbishop Filippo Iannone, told Glas-Koncila.hr on July 14.

As head of the Dicastery for Bishops, Monsignor Iannone oversees the Vatican office responsible for evaluating candidates for bishopric. However, many of these appointments are very controversial and difficult to justify from a Catholic perspective. Appointments are one of the most important ways in which a pope exercises governance and reveals his true priorities.

Francis announced in July 2022 that women would become members of the Dicastery for Bishops for the first time in history. He then appointed Sr. Raffaella Petrini, Sr. Yvonne Reungoat and María Lía Zervino.

Leo XIV retained the reform by confirming Petrini and Zervino as members and appointing Sr. Simona Brambilla. Reungoat's term ended.

All four women are closely associated with the Francis-era deform agenda and its emphasis on synodality and broader lay participation in Church governance. The most outspoken is Zervino, an Argentine sociologist and former president of the World Union of Catholic Women's Organisations.

Archbishop Iannone said the women bring "a different way of approaching situations and evaluating them." According to him, they have proven "to be of great help in the kind of work we do, namely identifying candidates for the episcopate."

Picture: Filippo Iannone © Italian Bishops Conference, #newsCcjfnxqicd