Pope Francis this weekend appointed two women to posts that have previously only been held by men.
Reuters reports that the pope appointed Nathalie Becquart, 52, as co-undersecretary of the Synod of Bishops on Saturday. Becquart, a French member of the Xaviere Missionary Sisters, will now be a part of the department that handles major meetings between world bishops that take place every few years.
Becquart’s new position will give her the power to vote in all-male assemblies, Reuters notes. Though women have observed and consulted in past synods, only male representatives have previously been permitted to vote on documents sent to the pope.
“A door has been opened. We will see what other steps could be taken in the future,” the synod’s secretary-general, Cardinal Mario Grech, told the Vatican’s official news site.
Pope Francis also appointed Catia Summaria, an Italian magistrate, to be the first female promoter of justice in the Vatican’s Court of Appeals on Friday, Reuters added.
As the news service notes, the pope has previously appointed women to several other senior roles. Last year, he reportedly appointed six women to senior roles in overseeing the Vatican’s finances and named women as deputy foreign minister, director of the Vatican Museums and deputy head of the Vatican Press Office.
Francis has upheld the church’s stance on barring female priests, Reuters notes, though he has set up commissions to look into the history of female deacons in the early history of the Catholic Church.