Pope Francis Breaks The Tradition, Appoints Woman In Senior Synod Post

Breaking off the old traditions, Pope Francis outlined a new trajectory on Saturday by appointing Frenchwoman Nathalie Becquart as an undersecretary of the synod of bishops, the first woman to hold the post and possess voting rights. This is the first time voting rights have been given to a woman and thus the step might in the future extend to other women also.

A synod is a council of a church, and is responsible to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. The word synod is extracted from a Greek word of similar meaning such as "assembly" or "meeting".

52-year-old Becquart is one of the two new undersecretaries named to the synod. A synod is a body of bishops that studies major questions of doctrine. Moreover, she has been a consultant since 2019.

Cardinal Mario Grech, the secretary-general of the synod pitched for greater participation of women, he said that this appointment is a process of more representation of women in discernment and decision-making in the church.

Nathalie Becquart is a member of the Xavière Sisters, Missionaries of Jesus Christ in France.

Along with her, the other undersecretary appointed in the synod is Luis Marín de San Martín, a Spanish priest. He has been nominated as a bishop.

Who is Nathalie Becquart?

Sister Nathalie Becquart was born in 1969 in Fontainebleau, France. She procured a master’s degree in management at HEC Paris. Becquart studied philosophy and theology at the Centre Sévres of Paris and sociology at the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (EHESS). Sister Becquart specialized in ecclesiology at Boston College, with research on synodality.

Sr. Becquart took theology and philosophy courses at St. Joseph Jesuit University while working as a volunteer teacher in Beirut, Lebanon. Post working as a consultant in a marketing and advertising agency for non-governmental organisations and Christian groups in Paris, she joined the Xavières sisters, a religious congregation with roots in Ignatian spirituality in the year 1995.

She has worked in a plethora of roles such as the national coordinator of a French scouting program and director for the Ignatian Youth Network in France.