Women in Catholic priesthood became the focus of a bold demonstration as Catholic women released pink smoke from flares in a park overlooking the dome of St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican to demand ordination and participation in the conclave.
The symbolic protest was staged by female campaigners on the first day of the papal conclave, aiming to spotlight their exclusion from decision-making processes in the Church.
Miriam Duignan of the Wijngaards Institute in Cambridge emphasized that it is unacceptable for cardinals to lock themselves in a room to discuss the future of the Catholic Church while ignoring the voices of 50% of its members—women.
Duignan urged the next pope, whoever is elected, to boldly confront the long-ignored issue of female inclusion in Church leadership, an issue she said even Pope Francis has yet to resolve.
She recalled being briefly detained in 2011 when she attempted to deliver a petition in support of a priest advocating for women’s ordination at the Vatican.
Duignan lamented that whenever they go to St. Peter’s Square, they are detained and are never invited to participate in conclave activities.
She noted that in the coming days, the only women allowed near the cardinals would be nuns tasked with cleaning rooms and preparing meals at the Santa Marta guesthouse where the cardinals stay.
While acknowledging Pope Francis’ efforts to elevate some women in Church roles, Duignan stressed that their authority and status remain far below that of their male counterparts.
As the world awaits either white or black smoke to signal the election of a new pope, the activists sent up pink smoke representing hope that one day, women will be treated as equals in the Church.
French activist Gabrielle Fedelin called the exclusion of women from the priesthood and conclave a “sin and scandal.”