Pope Francis leads the solemn Easter Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica entreating followers to spread the ... [+]
In an extraordinary time in the history of the Catholic church, Pope Francis, the hugely popular leader of the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics, called for hope amid the pandemic and offered several sermons that pointed out the importance of women in the Catholic church.
The Pope began a prolific week of homilies and messages with the announcement that the Holy See is setting up a commission to study the role of women as deacons in the church.
Easter Mass was among several messages of peace, hope and change conveyed by the Pope during Holy ... [+]
The Pope used Holy Saturday, which he called the forgotten day of the Paschal “Triduum” (the three holy days preceding and including Easter) to laud women of the scripture and the church and to draw parallels between the “waiting” after Christ’s crucifixion and the quarantine period that humanity is experiencing as the coronavirus rages through the world:
“This year however, we are experiencing, more than ever, the great silence of Holy Saturday. We can imagine ourselves in the position of the women on that day. They, like us, had before their eyes the drama of suffering, of an unexpected tragedy that happened all too suddenly. They had seen death and it weighed on their hearts. Pain was mixed with fear: would they suffer the same fate as the Master? Then too there was fear about the future and all that would need to be rebuilt. A painful memory, a hope cut short. For them, as for us, it was the darkest hour.
Yet in this situation the women did not allow themselves to be paralyzed. They did not give in to the gloom of sorrow and regret, they did not morosely close in on themselves, or flee from reality. On the Sabbath they were doing something simple yet extraordinary: preparing at home the spices to anoint the body of Jesus.”
Rather than lamenting the loss of their loved one, the Pope pointed out that women took the lead to work in the home to prepare ointments for the body of Jesus. He compared their work in their homes to the work that we can all do during this period of waiting.
On Easter Sunday, in his traditional Urbe et Orbe message, the Pope called for an end to weapons production, a focus on unity, and a reduction in debt for the poorest nations.
The Pope spoke frequently on the theme of women as leaders in the church
On the Monday following Easter, the pontiff returned to his theme of women as leaders in the church, pointing out that the risen Jesus appeared first to women, and entrusted them to take the message of his resurrection to the disciples. Pope Francis said that Jesus had profound faith that the women were uniquely suited to carry this joyful message to his followers.
He drew parallels between the helping nature of the women in the New Testament and women today:
“I would like to recall with you what many women do, even during this health crisis, to take care of others: women doctors, nurses, law enforcement officers and prison officers, employees of shops for basic necessities... and many mothers and sisters who find themselves locked in their homes with the whole family, with children, the elderly, the disabled.”
The Pope also noted that the lockdown had placed some women at risk: “subjected to violence, due to a living situation in which they bear a burden that is far too heavy.”
Earlier in the week, the Pope appointed a new commission to study the possibility of ordaining women deacons, a possible step toward women gaining more participation in the traditionally male-dominated Catholic clergy. Francis appears to be delicately maneuvering to a position justifying an increased role for women, first by highlighting women in Scripture, then by his own messaging, and, finally, through the creation of commissions featuring significant numbers of women members.
On Easter Sunday, the Pope also released a letter to the members of popular movements and organizations, in which he suggested that it may be time to consider a universal basic wage. “This may be the time to consider a universal basic wage which would acknowledge and dignify the noble, essential tasks you carry out. It would ensure and concretely achieve the ideal, at once so human and so Christian, of no worker without rights,” he wrote.
St. Peter's Basilica which usually houses 10,000 during a Papal Mass, was deserted. (Photo by ... [+]
The Pope chose to celebrate Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Easter Sunday services in a virtually empty St. Peter’s Basilica, which only a few months before had been packed with the customary ten thousand celebrants (with tens of thousands more viewing mass from St. Peter’s Square outside) during Christmas services. The venue seemed appropriate as a reflection of the empty streets, stores, and schools that the Pope’s flock are now experiencing every day. Yet, by continuing to celebrate the traditional services in the traditional way, Francis appears to be sending a message of hope that this trying era will end and, as in the metaphor of the risen Christ, the period of crisis and seclusion can lead to a more just world.
Whether that world will include more participation of women, universal basic income, less poverty, and fewer weapons—all changes he called for during Easter week, will be worth watching in the future.
