Anić challenges the idea of conceptualizing the Church as a woman, a notion somewhat aligned with Pope Francis’ perspective: “The Church is not a woman but an institution led by men. The Pope is urging women to demasculinize the Church and combat clericalism. However, the Church’s division into Apostolic-Petrine and Marian aspects perpetuates clericalism by tying the powers of governance, teaching, and sanctification within the priestly order exclusively to men.

The theology of women advocated by the Pope relies on gender stereotypes and reinforces such biases. Modern exegesis acknowledges that women, like men, are created in the image of God, yet the Church’s magisterium has not yet embraced this understanding as a basis for granting women the same rights as men. The extent to which stereotypes persist depends on power dynamics, which also applies to the issue of women’s ordination. This issue should not be seen merely as a “women’s” issue, but fundamentally as an ecclesiological one.

This text was read with the permission of the editorial board, from the portal: https://fratellanza.net/rebeka-anic-z…