Pope Plans Document on Role of Women
Pope John Paul II says he will soon publish a major document on the role of women in the Roman Catholic Church and in society.
The Vatican said the document will be published before the Aug. 15 conclusion of the church’s Marian Year, which the pontiff proclaimed to honor Mary, the mother of Jesus.
“I intend to soon publish a document on the dignity and the vocation of the woman, as it already was announced in the papal encyclical ‘Redemptoris Mater,’ ” the Pope told the Council of the Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops.
“Redemptoris Mater,” which in Latin means Mother of the Redeemer, was John Paul’s sixth encyclical, the most authoritative form of a papal letter. At the time, Vatican circles interpreted remarks in the document to be a restatement of the church’s opposition to women in the priesthood.
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