Given enough time, liberalism always exposes itself. It asks “What is popular?” and seeks to follow that.
The Roman Catholic church has been opposed to female headship for over 1000 years. This has led progressive Adventists at times to draw unfair comparisons between conservatism Adventism and the Papacy.
Now that Pope Francis has said he would announce the appointment of two women to the Vatican committee that elects bishops, does that mean we can compare progressive Adventism (Femventism) with the Papacy? Why not? There is actually a strong ideological connection between the liberal pontiff and liberal Adventists.
In comments to Reuters published Wednesday, the pope said “two women will be appointed for the first time in the committee to elect bishops in the Congregation for Bishops."
The new constitution, titled Praedicate evangelium (“Preach the Gospel”), provides that any member of the faithful can also lead a Vatican dicastery or other bodies, “given their particular competence, power of governance and function.”
Asked which Vatican department could perhaps be headed by a lay man or woman, Francis suggested that they could include the department for Catholic Education and Culture and the Apostolic Library, according to Reuters.
Francis has already named several women to Vatican departments. Barbara Jatta, a wife and mother of three children, was appointed director of the Vatican Museum in 2016 and took the reins in 2017.
More recently, the pope appointed Nathalie Becquart in February 2021 as under-secretary to the Synod on Bishops. Working with and under Cardinal Mario Grech, the French religious sister has been helping prepare the Vatican's synod on synodality, scheduled for October 2022.
This Pope has alienated many conservatives by protecting American politicians in favor of abortion and illegal immigration. His willingness to engage with Communist China – which is persecuting religious minorities to the point of actual genocide – calls into question his consistency on matters of human rights and dignity.
This is now a difficult balancing act for a Church which is often seen as a lodestar for conservatives in a Western world that is becoming increasingly unmoored from its Christian roots. The bigger challenge that the pro-socialist Francis faces is how to balance liberal and conservative voices within the worldwide Catholic communities, upholding traditional values while adapting to calls for modernization.
Being inclusive of women may score points with western culture, liberal Adventism and Catholicism by seeking what is popular, but it fails to ask that eternally important question “What is biblical?”
***
Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’ and, ‘In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone’” (Matthew 4:5).