With New Pope, Catholic Women Hope To Regain Church Leadership Roles
by Sylvia Poggioli
April 01, 2013 5:04 PM
The newly elected pope's focus on the poor and the marginalized has instilled great faith among many Catholic women. They hope the papacy of Pope Francis will promote a leading role for women in the church.
A group of American nuns and Catholic women recently made a pilgrimage to Rome to make their requests heard.
They visited ancient sites that provide evidence of the important leadership role women played in the early centuries of Christianity.
Sister Carolyn Osiek, a scholar of women's role in early Christianity, guided the pilgrims through Ostia, the ancient port city of Rome. The excavations help illustrate how people lived in the early centuries of the first millennium, when worship was still relegated mostly to private homes.
http://www.npr.org/2013/04/01/175910981/with-new-pope-catholic-women-hope-to-regain-church-leadership-roles