Vatican City, 27 October, 2025 / 7:30 pm (ACI Africa).
Pope Leo XIV drew laughter and applause on Oct. 24 when he recalled asking his mother in the 1970s whether she wanted equality with men. “No,” she replied, “because we’re already better.”
The pope shared the memory during a discussion on the role of women in the Church at the opening of the Jubilee of Synodal Teams and Participatory Bodies, a three-day gathering for representatives involved in implementing the global synodal process.
The story, he explained, came from a time when debates about equality between men and women were just beginning to take hold in his native United States. His mother’s response, he said, was not a joke but an affirmation of women’s distinctive gifts. “There are many gifts that women have,” he added, recalling their vital roles in family and parish life.
Pope Leo then described a community of sisters in Peru whose charism is to serve where there are no priests. “They baptize, assist at marriages, and carry out a wonderful missionary work that is a testimony even for many priests,” he said.
But the pope warned that in many parts of the world, cultural barriers still prevent women from exercising their rightful roles.
