VATICAN CITY — In her years running Catholic youth programs in France, Sister Nathalie Becquart often invoked her own experience as a seasoned sailor in urging young people to weather the storms of their lives. “There’s nothing stronger than seeing the sunrise after a storm, the flat calm of the sea,” she says.
Bishop Conference of France via AP
Sister Nathalie Becquart sails during a regatta in April 2010 in Brest, France.
That lesson is especially applicable to Becquart herself as she charts the global church through an unprecedented — and at times, tempestuous — period of reform as one of the highest-ranking women at the Vatican.
Pope Francis named the 54-year-old nun as the first female undersecretary in the Vatican’s Synod of Bishops office in 2021. Since then, she has been crisscrossing the globe as the public face of his hallmark call to listen to rank-and-file Catholics and empower them to have a greater say in the life of the church.
That process, which comes to a head in October with a big assembly, reaches a crucial point Tuesday with the publication of the working document for the meeting. It is shaping up as a referendum on the role of women in the church of the third millennium.
Becquart, who has overseen a canvassing of ordinary Catholics about their needs from the church and hopes for the future, says the call for change is unambiguous and universal, with demands that women have greater decision-making roles taking center-stage at the meeting, or synod.
Alessandra Tarantino, Associated Press
Sister Nathalie Becquart, the first female undersecretary in the Vatican's Synod of Bishops, poses for a photo in front of St. Peter's Square on May 29.
“There is this unanimous call because women want to participate, to share their gifts and charism at the service of the church,” Becquart said in an interview with The Associated Press in her offices just off St. Peter’s Square. “It’s about how could we be men and women together in this society, in this church, with this vision of equality, of dignity, reciprocity, collaboration, partnership.”
For a 2,000-year-old institution that by its very doctrine bars women from its highest ranks, Francis’ synodal process has sparked unusual optimism among women who have long felt they were second-class citizens in the church. Predictably, the prospects of change have provoked a strong backlash from conservatives, who view the synod as undermining the all-male, clerical-based hierarchy and the ecclesiology behind it.
Becquart and Francis aren’t daunted and see the criticism, fear and alarm as a good sign, that something big and important is underway.
“Of course there is resistance,” Becquart says, chuckling. “If there is no resistance, that means nothing is happening or nothing is changing.”
But she also puts it in perspective: “If you look at all the history of the reform of the church, where you have the strongest resistance or debated points, it’s really usually a very important point.”
Francis, the 86-year-old Argentine Jesuit, has already done more than any modern pope to promote women by changing church law to allow them to read Scripture and serve on the altar as eucharistic ministers, even while reaffirming they cannot be ordained as priests. He has changed the Vatican’s founding constitution to allow women to head Vatican offices and made several high-profile female appointments, none more symbolically significant than Becquart’s.
As undersecretary in the Synod of Bishops, Becquart was de facto granted the right to vote at the upcoming October synod — a right previously held by men only. After years of complaints by women, who had been allowed to participate in synods only as nonvoting experts, auditors or observers, Francis not only gave Becquart a voting role, but expanded the vote to laypeople in general.
Alessandra Tarantino, Associated Press
Sister Nathalie Becquart, the first female undersecretary in the Vatican's Synod of Bishops, shares a word with Cardinal Arthur Roche on May 29 on her way to the Vatican.
In April, the Vatican announced that 70 non-bishops would be voting alongside the successors of the apostles in October, and that half of them were expected to be women. While these represent less than a quarter of the bishop votes, the reform was nevertheless historic and a reflection of Francis’ belief that church governance doesn’t come from priestly ordination but by specific jobs entrusted to the baptized faithful.
Becquart has long held leadership roles in the French church, where she ran the bishops’ youth evangelization program. A graduate of Paris’ top HEC business school, Becquart says she has drawn strength from the women who preceded her at the Vatican and in her own religious community, the Xaviere Sisters, a Jesuit-inspired, Vatican II-era missionary congregation that she joined at age 26.
From them and her grandmother, who was widowed while pregnant with her fourth child, Becquart says she learned that women “carry on this message that life is stronger than death, and that even in the greatest difficulties, crises and sufferings, there is a possible path, especially when you are not alone.”
It’s a lesson she applies when sailing and leading spiritual retreats at sea. “There will be good weather and bad weather, quiet seas and then big waves.” she said. But eventually, the storm will end.
“That’s our life and that’s the life of the church,” she added.
Australia’s ambassador to the Holy See, Chiara Porro, has praised Becquart’s leadership style, recalling how she managed a room full of bishops during the Oceania phase of the synod consultation process. Becquart’s presence as a female Vatican envoy traveling to Fiji to brief Pacific bishops on the pope’s agenda signaled a paradigm shift, Porro said.
“She doesn’t have any preconceived objectives or outcomes. For her, no issues are off-limits, I think, and that’s very important because people feel that they can bring up what they want to discuss,” she said.
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A high-profile French nun is inspiring hope for Catholic women. But can she really bring change?
John Minchillo
Sisters Donna Dodge, left, and Margaret M. O'Brien, right, members of the leadership council of the Sisters of Charity, are interviewed as a group with their colleagues beside The Sister of Charity, a painting by an M. Galliardi circa 1873, at the College of Mount Saint Vincent, a private Catholic college in the Bronx borough of New York, on Tuesday, May 2, 2023. In more than 200 years of service, the Sisters of Charity of New York have cared for orphans, taught children, nursed the Civil War wounded and joined Civil Rights demonstrations. Last week, the Catholic nuns decided that it will no longer accept new members in the United States and will accept the "path of completion." (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
John Minchillo
Sisters Donna Dodge, left, and Margaret M. O'Brien, right, members of the leadership council of the Sisters of Charity, are interviewed as a group with their colleagues beside The Sister of Charity, a painting by an M. Galliardi circa 1873, at the College of Mount Saint Vincent, a private Catholic college in the Bronx borough of New York, on Tuesday, May 2, 2023. In more than 200 years of service, the Sisters of Charity of New York have cared for orphans, taught children, nursed the Civil War wounded and joined Civil Rights demonstrations. Last week, the Catholic nuns decided that it will no longer accept new members in the United States and will accept the "path of completion." (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
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A high-profile French nun is inspiring hope for Catholic women. But can she really bring change?
John Minchillo
Sisters Claire E. Regan, center, and Dorothy Metz, right, members of the leadership council of the Sisters of Charity, stand in the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception, at the College of Mount Saint Vincent, a private Catholic college in the Bronx borough of New York, on Tuesday, May 2, 2023. They had taken their vows in the chapel. In more than 200 years of service, the Sisters of Charity of New York have cared for orphans, taught children, nursed the Civil War wounded and joined Civil Rights demonstrations. Last week, the Catholic nuns decided that it will no longer accept new members in the United States and will accept the "path of completion." (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
John Minchillo
Sisters Claire E. Regan, center, and Dorothy Metz, right, members of the leadership council of the Sisters of Charity, stand in the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception, at the College of Mount Saint Vincent, a private Catholic college in the Bronx borough of New York, on Tuesday, May 2, 2023. They had taken their vows in the chapel. In more than 200 years of service, the Sisters of Charity of New York have cared for orphans, taught children, nursed the Civil War wounded and joined Civil Rights demonstrations. Last week, the Catholic nuns decided that it will no longer accept new members in the United States and will accept the "path of completion." (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
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A high-profile French nun is inspiring hope for Catholic women. But can she really bring change?
HONS
This photo dated circa 1958-1962 provided by the Sisters of Charity, shows the faculty of the Academy of Mount Saint Vincent. In more than 200 years of service, the Sisters of Charity of New York have cared for orphans, taught children, nursed the Civil War wounded and joined Civil Rights demonstrations. Last week, the Catholic nuns decided that it will no longer accept new members in the United States and will accept the "path of completion." (Sisters of Charity via AP)
HONS
This photo dated circa 1958-1962 provided by the Sisters of Charity, shows the faculty of the Academy of Mount Saint Vincent. In more than 200 years of service, the Sisters of Charity of New York have cared for orphans, taught children, nursed the Civil War wounded and joined Civil Rights demonstrations. Last week, the Catholic nuns decided that it will no longer accept new members in the United States and will accept the "path of completion." (Sisters of Charity via AP)
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A high-profile French nun is inspiring hope for Catholic women. But can she really bring change?
John Minchillo
Sisters Donna Dodge, left, Margaret Egan, center, and Margaret M. O'Brien, right, members of the leadership council of the Sisters of Charity, walk into the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception where they took their vows at various times, after an interview at the College of Mount Saint Vincent, a private Catholic college in the Bronx borough of New York, on Tuesday, May 2, 2023. In more than 200 years of service, the Sisters of Charity of New York have cared for orphans, taught children, nursed the Civil War wounded and joined Civil Rights demonstrations. Last week, the Catholic nuns decided that it will no longer accept new members in the United States and will accept the "path of completion." (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
John Minchillo
Sisters Donna Dodge, left, Margaret Egan, center, and Margaret M. O'Brien, right, members of the leadership council of the Sisters of Charity, walk into the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception where they took their vows at various times, after an interview at the College of Mount Saint Vincent, a private Catholic college in the Bronx borough of New York, on Tuesday, May 2, 2023. In more than 200 years of service, the Sisters of Charity of New York have cared for orphans, taught children, nursed the Civil War wounded and joined Civil Rights demonstrations. Last week, the Catholic nuns decided that it will no longer accept new members in the United States and will accept the "path of completion." (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
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A high-profile French nun is inspiring hope for Catholic women. But can she really bring change?
John Minchillo
From left, Sisters Claire E. Regan, Dorothy Metz, Donna Dodge, Margaret M. O'Brien, Margaret Egan, and Sheila Brosnan, all members of the leadership council of the Sisters of Charity, are interviewed as a group, at the College of Mount Saint Vincent, a private Catholic college in the Bronx borough of New York, on Tuesday, May 2, 2023. In more than 200 years of service, the Sisters of Charity of New York have cared for orphans, taught children, nursed the Civil War wounded and joined Civil Rights demonstrations. Last week, the Catholic nuns decided that it will no longer accept new members in the United States and will accept the "path of completion." (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
John Minchillo
From left, Sisters Claire E. Regan, Dorothy Metz, Donna Dodge, Margaret M. O'Brien, Margaret Egan, and Sheila Brosnan, all members of the leadership council of the Sisters of Charity, are interviewed as a group, at the College of Mount Saint Vincent, a private Catholic college in the Bronx borough of New York, on Tuesday, May 2, 2023. In more than 200 years of service, the Sisters of Charity of New York have cared for orphans, taught children, nursed the Civil War wounded and joined Civil Rights demonstrations. Last week, the Catholic nuns decided that it will no longer accept new members in the United States and will accept the "path of completion." (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
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A high-profile French nun is inspiring hope for Catholic women. But can she really bring change?
John Minchillo
Sister Donna Dodge, a member of the leadership council of the Sisters of Charity, looks at a statue of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, the founder of their order, inside the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception where they took their vows at various times, at the College of Mount Saint Vincent, a private Catholic college in the Bronx borough of New York, on Tuesday, May 2, 2023. In more than 200 years of service, the Sisters of Charity of New York have cared for orphans, taught children, nursed the Civil War wounded and joined Civil Rights demonstrations. Last week, the Catholic nuns decided that it will no longer accept new members in the United States and will accept the "path of completion." (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
John Minchillo
Sister Donna Dodge, a member of the leadership council of the Sisters of Charity, looks at a statue of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, the founder of their order, inside the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception where they took their vows at various times, at the College of Mount Saint Vincent, a private Catholic college in the Bronx borough of New York, on Tuesday, May 2, 2023. In more than 200 years of service, the Sisters of Charity of New York have cared for orphans, taught children, nursed the Civil War wounded and joined Civil Rights demonstrations. Last week, the Catholic nuns decided that it will no longer accept new members in the United States and will accept the "path of completion." (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
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A high-profile French nun is inspiring hope for Catholic women. But can she really bring change?
John Minchillo
A portrait of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, the founder of the first American congregation of the Sisters of Charity, hangs in the meeting room of La Gras Hall where the leadership council of the order convenes, at the College of Mount Saint Vincent, a private Catholic college in the Bronx borough of New York, on Tuesday, May 2, 2023. In more than 200 years of service, the Sisters of Charity of New York have cared for orphans, taught children, nursed the Civil War wounded and joined Civil Rights demonstrations. Last week, the Catholic nuns decided that it will no longer accept new members in the United States and will accept the "path of completion." (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
John Minchillo
A portrait of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, the founder of the first American congregation of the Sisters of Charity, hangs in the meeting room of La Gras Hall where the leadership council of the order convenes, at the College of Mount Saint Vincent, a private Catholic college in the Bronx borough of New York, on Tuesday, May 2, 2023. In more than 200 years of service, the Sisters of Charity of New York have cared for orphans, taught children, nursed the Civil War wounded and joined Civil Rights demonstrations. Last week, the Catholic nuns decided that it will no longer accept new members in the United States and will accept the "path of completion." (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
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A high-profile French nun is inspiring hope for Catholic women. But can she really bring change?
John Minchillo
Sister Sheila Brosnan, a member of the leadership council of the Sisters of Charity, wears a pin signifying her membership to the group as she participates in a group interview with her colleagues, at the College of Mount Saint Vincent, a private Catholic college in the Bronx borough of New York, on Tuesday, May 2, 2023. In more than 200 years of service, the Sisters of Charity of New York have cared for orphans, taught children, nursed the Civil War wounded and joined Civil Rights demonstrations. Last week, the Catholic nuns decided that it will no longer accept new members in the United States and will accept the "path of completion." (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
John Minchillo
Sister Sheila Brosnan, a member of the leadership council of the Sisters of Charity, wears a pin signifying her membership to the group as she participates in a group interview with her colleagues, at the College of Mount Saint Vincent, a private Catholic college in the Bronx borough of New York, on Tuesday, May 2, 2023. In more than 200 years of service, the Sisters of Charity of New York have cared for orphans, taught children, nursed the Civil War wounded and joined Civil Rights demonstrations. Last week, the Catholic nuns decided that it will no longer accept new members in the United States and will accept the "path of completion." (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
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A high-profile French nun is inspiring hope for Catholic women. But can she really bring change?
John Minchillo
Rain clouds gather over Mount St. Vincent cemetery, established in 1860, where members of the Sisters of Charity are interred, at the College of Mount Saint Vincent, a private Catholic college in the Bronx borough of New York, on Tuesday, May 2, 2023. In more than 200 years of service, the Sisters of Charity of New York have cared for orphans, taught children, nursed the Civil War wounded and joined Civil Rights demonstrations. Last week, the Catholic nuns decided that it will no longer accept new members in the United States and will accept the "path of completion." (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
John Minchillo
Rain clouds gather over Mount St. Vincent cemetery, established in 1860, where members of the Sisters of Charity are interred, at the College of Mount Saint Vincent, a private Catholic college in the Bronx borough of New York, on Tuesday, May 2, 2023. In more than 200 years of service, the Sisters of Charity of New York have cared for orphans, taught children, nursed the Civil War wounded and joined Civil Rights demonstrations. Last week, the Catholic nuns decided that it will no longer accept new members in the United States and will accept the "path of completion." (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
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A high-profile French nun is inspiring hope for Catholic women. But can she really bring change?
John Minchillo
From left, Sisters Margaret M. O'Brien, Margaret Egan, Dorothy Metz, Donna Dodge, Claire E. Regan, and Sheila Brosnan, all members of the leadership council of the Sisters of Charity, pose for a photograph inside the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception where they took their vows at various times, at the College of Mount Saint Vincent, a private Catholic college in the Bronx borough of New York, on Tuesday, May 2, 2023. In more than 200 years of service, the Sisters of Charity of New York have cared for orphans, taught children, nursed the Civil War wounded and joined Civil Rights demonstrations. Last week, the Catholic nuns decided that it will no longer accept new members in the United States and will accept the "path of completion." (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
John Minchillo
From left, Sisters Margaret M. O'Brien, Margaret Egan, Dorothy Metz, Donna Dodge, Claire E. Regan, and Sheila Brosnan, all members of the leadership council of the Sisters of Charity, pose for a photograph inside the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception where they took their vows at various times, at the College of Mount Saint Vincent, a private Catholic college in the Bronx borough of New York, on Tuesday, May 2, 2023. In more than 200 years of service, the Sisters of Charity of New York have cared for orphans, taught children, nursed the Civil War wounded and joined Civil Rights demonstrations. Last week, the Catholic nuns decided that it will no longer accept new members in the United States and will accept the "path of completion." (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
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A high-profile French nun is inspiring hope for Catholic women. But can she really bring change?
HONS
In this photo provided by the Sisters of Charity, new nursing graduates participate in a capping and tea ceremony at St. Vincent's School of Nursing on the Staten Island borough of New York, on Jan. 4, 1963. In more than 200 years of service, the Sisters of Charity of New York have cared for orphans, taught children, nursed the Civil War wounded and joined Civil Rights demonstrations. Last week, the Catholic nuns decided that it will no longer accept new members in the United States and will accept the "path of completion." (Sisters of Charity via AP)
HONS
In this photo provided by the Sisters of Charity, new nursing graduates participate in a capping and tea ceremony at St. Vincent's School of Nursing on the Staten Island borough of New York, on Jan. 4, 1963. In more than 200 years of service, the Sisters of Charity of New York have cared for orphans, taught children, nursed the Civil War wounded and joined Civil Rights demonstrations. Last week, the Catholic nuns decided that it will no longer accept new members in the United States and will accept the "path of completion." (Sisters of Charity via AP)
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A high-profile French nun is inspiring hope for Catholic women. But can she really bring change?
John Minchillo
Sister Sheila Brosnan, a member of the leadership council of the Sisters of Charity, leaves their offices at Louise Le Gras Hall after a group interview with her colleagues, at the College of Mount Saint Vincent, a private Catholic college in the Bronx borough of New York, on Tuesday, May 2, 2023. In more than 200 years of service, the Sisters of Charity of New York have cared for orphans, taught children, nursed the Civil War wounded and joined Civil Rights demonstrations. Last week, the Catholic nuns decided that it will no longer accept new members in the United States and will accept the "path of completion." (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
John Minchillo
Sister Sheila Brosnan, a member of the leadership council of the Sisters of Charity, leaves their offices at Louise Le Gras Hall after a group interview with her colleagues, at the College of Mount Saint Vincent, a private Catholic college in the Bronx borough of New York, on Tuesday, May 2, 2023. In more than 200 years of service, the Sisters of Charity of New York have cared for orphans, taught children, nursed the Civil War wounded and joined Civil Rights demonstrations. Last week, the Catholic nuns decided that it will no longer accept new members in the United States and will accept the "path of completion." (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
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A high-profile French nun is inspiring hope for Catholic women. But can she really bring change?
John Minchillo
This combination of photos shows, from left, Sisters Claire E. Regan, Dorothy Metz, Margaret Egan, Donna Dodge, Sheila Brosnan, and Margaret M. O'Brien, all members of the leadership council of the Sisters of Charity, at the College of Mount Saint Vincent, a private Catholic college in the Bronx borough of New York, on Tuesday, May 2, 2023. In more than 200 years of service, the Sisters of Charity of New York have cared for orphans, taught children, nursed the Civil War wounded and joined Civil Rights demonstrations. Last week, the Catholic nuns decided that it will no longer accept new members in the United States and will accept the "path of completion." (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
John Minchillo
This combination of photos shows, from left, Sisters Claire E. Regan, Dorothy Metz, Margaret Egan, Donna Dodge, Sheila Brosnan, and Margaret M. O'Brien, all members of the leadership council of the Sisters of Charity, at the College of Mount Saint Vincent, a private Catholic college in the Bronx borough of New York, on Tuesday, May 2, 2023. In more than 200 years of service, the Sisters of Charity of New York have cared for orphans, taught children, nursed the Civil War wounded and joined Civil Rights demonstrations. Last week, the Catholic nuns decided that it will no longer accept new members in the United States and will accept the "path of completion." (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
