Pope Francis has said that the fight for women’s rights was a “continuous struggle”.
He further condemned male chauvinism as deadly for humanity and female genital mutilation as a crime that must be stopped.
He spoke to reporters on the plane, on his way back from a four-day trip to predominantly Muslim Bahrain,on Sunday.
The Pope also praised the women he has appointed to do managerial jobs in the Vatican, he said they have improved things there.
He made no mention of campaigns to let women move on beyond that and become clergy , the pope and his predecessors have said the question of women priests is closed.
Francis, while responding to a question about women protesting in Iran, turned to the topic of women’s rights in general.
We have to tell the truth. The struggle for women’s rights is a continuing struggle, he said, listing historic struggles such as the fight for the right to vote.
We have to continue struggling for this because women are a gift. God did not create man and then give him a lapdog to play with. He created both equal, man and woman, he said.
A society that is not capable of allowing women to have greater roles does not move forward, he added.
However, Francis denounced male chauvinism, he acknowledged that there was still too much of it around the world, including in his native Argentina. “This chauvinism kills humanity, he said
Furthermore, he condemned female genital mutilation (FGM) as a “criminal act”, repeating a major call he made in February on the U.N. International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation.
According to the UN, FGM is concentrated in about 30 countries in Africa and the Middle East but is also practiced by immigrant populations elsewhere.
The UN added that no fewer than four million girls are at risk of undergoing FGM this year.
He spoke of women he has appointed to managerial roles in the Vatican, mentioning by name Sister Raffaella Petrini, a nun who as the deputy governor of Vatican City is effectively the most powerful woman there.
I have noticed that every time a woman is given a position of responsibility in the Vatican, things improve, he said.
He also spoke about the impact of five women he appointed to a department that oversees Vatican finances.
This is a revolution in the Vatican because women know how to find the right way to go forward, he added.
The Pope has also appointed women as deputy foreign minister, director of the Vatican Museums, deputy head of the Vatican Press Office, as well as four women as councillors to the Synod of Bishops, which prepares major meetings.
He added that the Church teaches that only men can become priests because Jesus chose men as his apostles.
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