Pope Francis on Tuesday called on nuns to “fight” when “they are treated unfairly, including within the Church,” acknowledging that some employed by clergy leaders are sometimes “reduced to servitude.”
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“I invite them to fight back when sometimes they are treated unfairly. Even within the Church, when their service, so noble, is reduced to servitude. Sometimes even by men of the Church”, declared the Argentine pontiff in a video posted online Tuesday to present his prayer intentions for the month, dedicated to religious and consecrated women.
“Let them not be discouraged,” added the 85-year-old pope, who repeatedly castigated “slavery” and “the violence” suffered by women.
The question of nuns assigned to household chores in the service of the male hierarchy of the Church, in particular cardinals and members of the Curia, has already been singled out.
“These are women who work as servants” for priests, bishops or cardinals, to “cook, clean, wash clothes”, and who are “very poorly paid”, says AFP Lucetta Scaraffia, historian , columnist and former director of the monthly “Donne Chiesa Mundo”.
In 2018, this supplement of the Osservatore Romano, official newspaper of the Vatican, caused a sensation by addressing without taboo the sometimes gratuitous exploitation of nuns.
“It is considered normal in the Church: women must serve without asking for anything” in return, adds Ms. Scaraffia, author of the book “Feminist and Christian”. “They were prepared to be honored to serve priests. It’s a mentality.”