Pope Francis will allow women to vote for the first time at a global summit of bishops in October, in a historic move that might lead to more inclusive decision-making in the Roman Catholic Church.
Women were previously permitted to attend synods, a papal advisory body, as auditors but not to vote.
The revolutionary rules, released on Wednesday, grant voting privileges to five religious sisters.
Additionally, the pope has decided the inclusion of what a Vatican document called “70 non-bishop members who represent various groupings of the faithful of the people of God”.
The pope will select 70 priests, religious sisters, deacons, and lay Catholics from a list of 140 candidates submitted by national bishops’ conferences. Young people were encouraged to attend the conferences. The Vatican has requested that half of the 70 be women.
Synods are typically attended by around 300 individuals, therefore the majority of those with voting rights will continue to be bishops. Nonetheless, the transformation is significant for an institution that has been ruled by men for decades.
The new guidelines follow two important moves taken by Francis last year to put women in positions of power at the Vatican.
In one, he proposed a ground-breaking change that would allow any baptized lay Catholic, including women, to lead the majority of Vatican departments under a new constitution for the Holy See’s central administration.
In another move last year, he appointed three women to an all-male commission that advises him on the selection of the world’s bishops.
