Women's role in the Catholic Church

(ANSA) - Vatican City, March 7 - In the current issue of the Jesuit journal Civiltà Cattolica (Catholic Civilisation) published by the Jesuits in Rome, Father Vincenzo Anselmo writes about female figures in Biblical tales: a timely article given the annual commemoration of women on March 8 with International Women's Day.
    The pope also recently spoke on the complexities of the role of women within the Catholic Church, during a press conference with journalists on his return flight from Ciudad Juarez in Mexico last month.
    In that talk, the pontiff said that although the role of women within the Church still isn't completely and clearly defined, the Church does need the presence of women in its ranks.
    "We haven't fully understood the good that a woman can do in the life of a priest and the Church, in the sense of counsel, of help, of healthy friendship," Pope Francis said.
    "Even the pope has a heart that can have a healthy, holy friendship with a woman," he said.
    The themes raised by Pope Francis - those of women's counsel, help, and friendship - parallel those brought forward in Father Anselmo's article, in an analysis of the Biblical female figures of Rebecca, Bathsheba, and the Syrophoenician Woman.
    The journal has been a constant account of the thought and the teachings of the first Jesuit pope in history, and the article included in the most recent issue is also a reflection of that thought as it regards women.
    "Usually Biblical tales are read as narratives written from the point of view of men, and the principle roles are for male protagonists," the article said, referring to figures such as patriarchs, judges, kings and prophets.
    "However, female brilliance is present in a creative way in the pages of Scripture," Anselmo writes, asserting that the Bible tells not only a story of patriarchy.
    "In the decisive moments of Biblical narrative, women make the difference, intervening to loosen the knots along the path to salvation," he writes.
    The three figures chosen by Anselmo to represent females in the Bible are ones that he said play a "crucial role" in the narrative arc between the Old and New Testaments.