Pope Francis called out to women to take more responsibilities in the house of God and in the society.
During a speech addressed to a women's group at the Vatican on Saturday, Pope Francis spoke well of women's sensitivity towards the public. He also acknowledged the "seen and unseen" contributions of women to the society.
He was referring to a group of Italian women from a country with a very low percentage of women working in offices in the European Union. These women usually resign from work and spend time taking care of their children at home. They never get to work in any office again.
In a document stating his plans for the Catholic Church, Pope Francis expressed gratefulness to women who "share some pastoral responsibilities with priests in looking after persons, families and groups."
Though women are notably active in participating church activities like running prayer groups and outreach programs to the poor, Pope Francis still hopes that women's presence in the church be expanded.
"These new spaces and responsibilities that have been opened, and I strongly hope that they can further be opened up to the presence and activity of women, both in the church environment as well that of the public and professional spheres cannot make us forget the irreplaceable role of the woman in a family," said Pope Francis to CBC News.
However, he also implied in the document that he is not in favor of women for the priesthood, arguing that Jesus and his apostles were all men.
Still, since he is famous for defying traditional Catholic customs, like being welcoming, sympathetic and nonjudgmental, -- especially to homosexuals -- many look forward to see how he would handle a grave violation of church preaching like that.
