On Monday, Pope Francis announced that he has amended the Code of Canon Law, the official Catholic doctrine to formally allow women to give readings from the bible during mass.

Pope Francis said he made the change in order to recognize the “precious contribution” Catholic women make to the Catholic community.

While some have praised Pope Francis’s decision as a step in the right direction, some have taken issue with the papal decree that also seems to go out of its way to make a distinction between “ordained” ministries (like the priesthood and the diaconate) and other types of priesthoods that are open to both men and women.

It seems that Catholic equality activists are divided into two camps: those who believe that the decree will “open a door” towards women being ordained priests, and those who think the ordinance explicitly shuts down the possibility.

“This is the first codification of allowing women inside the sanctuary,” said historian Phyllis Zagano to AP News. “That’s a very big deal.” Zagano believes that the decree is a step towards female ordination because “you can’t be ordained as deacons unless you’re installed as lectors or acolytes [first].”

Allowing women to read passages from the Bible is considered progress to these guys?? Glad to know good ‘ol fashioned sexism is alive and well in the Catholic Church. Religion never fails to disappoint does it.

— RD Photo (@RDomingoPhoto) January 11, 2021

Critics are also saying that the ordinance is simply an empty gesture to appease Catholic women who want more leadership roles within the church.

“There is nothing new in the decree — it effectively recognizes the roles that many women have been doing for decades, only now they will be controlled by a bishop,” Lucetta Scaraffia, former editor of the Vatican’s women magazine “Donne”, said to “The New York Times”.

“It seems as though the pope is conceding something to women, but it is something that they’ve had for decades, while denying what they have requested, the diaconate,” she continued.

Indeed, the act of allowing women to read from the bible during mass is already widely practice in Catholic Churches across the world.

When Pope Francis amended the Canon Law to “officially” allow it, he was simply adding greater legitimacy to a practice that was already in place in many ministries across the developed world.

The Argentinian pope explained his decision in a letter, saying that the newly-formally ordained practice would “allow women to have a real and effective impact on the organization, the most important decisions and the direction of communities, while continuing to do so in a way that reflects their womanhood.”

But what “womanhood” is remains up to interpretation. And it definitely isn’t the same as what was when the Roman Catholic Church was first established in 313 A.D.

It is also worth noting that some religious historians believe that women held leadership roles like deacon (ordained minister) in the early history of the Catholic Church.

In fact, since he’s been in office, Pope Francis has created two separate commissions to further investigate the role of women during the early Catholic Church. If it is found that women were, indeed, sometimes ordained as deacons, that fact could give a precedence to women becoming ordained ministers in the current era.

But until then, Pope Francis has made it clear that he has no plans to change canon law to include women in the priesthood or diaconate.

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Covid numbers are out of control in the U.S. Numbers are increasing in every state and the holiday weekend is expected to make the crisis worse. Recently, the Supreme Court ruled that New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo cannot limit religious gatherings. Pope Francis is really over people complaining about necessary Covid restrictions.

Pope Francis is really over everyone complaining about life-saving Covid restrictions.

The Pope publishes this op-ed in the New York Times, less than 24 hours after the 5-4 Supreme Court decision rejecting Covid restrictions on religious gatherings. https://t.co/uT9CQoJ5OE pic.twitter.com/ipdWVteeyb

— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) November 27, 2020

We have all seen the videos of people protesting against Covid restrictions. These restrictions are created to protect public health and slow the spread of the virus. Following the guidelines and restrictions is a simple matter that can let the rest of us get back to some kind of normal faster. Ignoring the guidelines and restrictions is what prolongs the lockdowns because of the idea that your personal choices are more important than everyone’s health.

Pope Francis wrote an op-ed for the New York Times calling out the people fighting the restrictions.

There’s a schism between American Catholism and the Pope

— QONDI 💛 🐝 🇺🇸🇿🇦🇿🇼 (@WeAreAllOther) November 27, 2020

“Yet some groups protested, refusing to keep their distance, marching against travel restrictions — as if measures that governments must impose for the good of their people constitute some kind of political assault on autonomy or personal freedom,” Pope Francis wrote in his op-ed. “Looking to the common good is much more than the sum of what is good for individuals. It means having a regard for all citizens and seeking to respond effectively to the needs of the least fortunate.”

The pope made it clear that disregarding the restrictions is an act of selfishness.

What an extraordinary piece by the great and good Pope Francis: about his own health crisis as a young man that parallels the suffering of those with covid-19, and on the other virus: cruel selfishness https://t.co/Crs8YSireo pic.twitter.com/n2tqwQAnZO

— Joy WE VOTED!! WEAR A MASK!! Reid 😷) (@JoyAnnReid) November 26, 2020

Pope Francis’ op-ed comes one day after the Supreme Court sided with religious groups complaining about New York’s restrictions. The newly conservative court responded as expected. Many are pointing to Amy Coney Barrett as someone who followed their religion over the good of the American public, as many predicted she would.

“If we are to come out of this crisis less selfish than when we went in, we have to let ourselves be touched by others’ pain,” Pope Francis wrote in his op-ed for The New York Times. “There’s a line in Friedrich Hölderlin’s “Hyperion” that speaks to me, about how the danger that threatens in a crisis is never total; there’s always a way out: “Where the danger is, also grows the saving power.” That’s the genius in the human story: There’s always a way to escape destruction. Where humankind has to act is precisely there, in the threat itself; that’s where the door opens.”

Pope Francis added: “This is a moment to dream big, to rethink our priorities — what we value, what we want, what we seek — and to commit to act in our daily life on what we have dreamed of.”

The pope’s willingness to speak out on issues is earning him respect from people around the world.

Wow, so Pope Francis has basically openly called Amy Covid Barrett and GOPers in SCOTUS a bunch of evil selfish small-minded religious zealots and told them all to go to hell on Thanksgiving in the nicest way possible. I love him.

— Ricky Davila (@TheRickyDavila) November 27, 2020

Catholics and non-Catholics alike are celebrating Pope Francis for his willingness to call out the failures he sees in our governments. Pope Francis has also been pivotal in pushing the Catholic church forward in accepting the LGBTQ+ community. It seems like Barrett’s appointment to the Supreme Court has energized Pope Francis’ push to make the Catholic church more accepting and believe in science.

Covid has given the pope a perfect time to talk about true religious values like caring for your neighbor and he is using it.

READ: Pope Francis Comes Out In Support Of Civil Unions For Same-Sex Couples

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