Pope Francis asks theologians to ‘demasculinize’ the church

Article here. Interesting. The long-running debate over the role of women in the more conservative Chrisian churches looks like it's taking off. Personally, I have mixed feelings on the issue but don't lose sleep over it. Excerpt:

'Speaking to members of the International Theological Commission at the Vatican on Thursday (Nov. 30), Pope Francis asked theologians to “demasculinize” the church in an unscripted remark.

“There is something I don’t like about you, if you excuse my honesty,” said Pope Francis, pointing out that there were only five women among the 30-plus theologians. “We need to move forward on this! Women have a way of reflecting on theology that is different from us men,” he added.
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The pope’s words on Thursday underlined “the need to increase the space given to women in positions of authority and decision-making in the Christian community, in order to treasure the sensibility and intelligence that is typical of the feminine genius and experience,” Coda told Religion News Service.

Women have always been important in the church, the theologian said, but “it’s time for this to become part of the culture” to address modern challenges and the “male-dominated view that still exists in the church and in society.”
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“The church is woman,” Francis told the theologians, “and if we cannot understand what a woman is, what is the theology of women, we will never understand the church. One of the great sins we have witnessed is ‘masculinizing’ the church.”'

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