Pope Francis emphasized the "fundamental" importance of women in the Roman Catholic Church on Wednesday, April 3, saying they were the first witnesses of Christ and have a special role in spreading the faith, Reuters reported.
The pontiff's decision a week ago to include women in a traditional foot-washing ritual drew ire from traditionalists, who see the custom as a re-enactment of Jesus washing the feet of his apostles and said it should therefore be limited to men.
Francis, elected last month as the first non-European pope in 1,300 years, said women had always had a special mission in the Church as "first witnesses" of Christ's resurrection, and because they pass belief onto their children and grandchildren.
"In the Church, and in the journey of faith, women have had and still have a special role in opening doors to the Lord," Francis told thousands of pilgrims at his weekly audience in S. Peter's Square. He said that in the Bible, women were not recorded as witnesses to Christ's resurrection because of the Jewish Law of the time that did not consider women or children to be reliable witnesses.
"In the Gospels, however, women have a primary, fundamental role … The evangelists simply narrate what happened: the women were the first witnesses. This tells us that God does not choose according to human criteria."
It was the second time Francis had spoken of women's role as witnesses to the resurrection of Christ, a subject of bedrock importance to the Catholic faith.
His Easter Vigil address on Saturday reached out to women and urged believers not to fear change.
