Catholics in Canberra have welcomed a change in Church law which allows women to take a greater role in ceremonies, particularly Mass.
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In a decree titled "Spiritus Domini" (The Spirit of the Lord), Pope Francis amended Church law to allow women to perform more of the essential parts of Mass, the main ceremony in Catholic belief.
Women have already been quietly performing the roles but without any legal permission in Church law.
The Pope said in a letter accompanying the decree that he wanted to bring "stability, public recognition" to women who were already serving in the roles.
The change in the church's law has been interpreted as a step towards equality for women in the Roman Catholic Church, albeit one which will stop short of complete equality.
"I think that any change that opens further roles to women in the Church is a positive step and we would hope for more changes as time passes," Andrea Dean, the President of Women and the Australian Church which pushes for a greater role for women, said.
I think that any change that opens further roles to women in the Church is a positive step and we would hope for more changes as time passes.
- Andrea Dean
The change in Church law means that women can become "lectors" who have a formal role as readers of Scripture in services. They will also be allowed to take formal roles at the altar during services. Previously, church law said that only men could perform these tasks.
"It sends a good signal to lay people that they have a rightful place in the mission of the Church in society," Father Tony Percy, the Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn, said.
He and Andrea Dean said that the Pope was recognising the reality on the ground by making legal what was already happening in Australia.
In Australian churches, a loop-hole was created (or emerged) so that if no man was available to read lessons from Bible during Mass, a lay person could step in, including a woman. The reality in services was that women could perform the roles even though Church law said that those central tasks were for men.
While women priests remains off the agenda in the Catholic Church, Andrea Dean said there was "some conversation" about allowing women to become deacons.
Deacons have a host of formal roles including working within communities to promote teaching and to convey the feelings of the community back to priests and bishops.
Pope Francis is from Argentina and the Church in Latin America has often been at the more "progressive" end of the spectrum.
Steve Evans
Steve Evans is a reporter on The Canberra Times. He's been a BBC correspondent in New York, London, Berlin and Seoul and the sole reporter/photographer/paper deliverer on The Glen Innes Examiner in country New South Wales. "All the jobs have been fascinating - and so it continues."
Steve Evans is a reporter on The Canberra Times. He's been a BBC correspondent in New York, London, Berlin and Seoul and the sole reporter/photographer/paper deliverer on The Glen Innes Examiner in country New South Wales. "All the jobs have been fascinating - and so it continues."
