Some women in the Catholic Church push for change amid Pope Leo XIV's election
Female Catholic leaders say changes initiated by Pope Francis must continue.
As cardinals selected American Cardinal Robert Prevost to become the 267th pontiff -- Pope Leo XIV -- on Thursday, one major group was excluded from the decision-making process: women.
"Ordained priests will meet behind closed doors to make a consequential decision about the future of the church during the conclave," Kate McElwee, director of the Women's Ordination Conference, told ABC News. "Every woman from the parish worker to the Dicastery leader has to eventually answer to an ordained man."
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McElwee, whose organization has spent 50 years advocating for women to become priests, deacons and bishops, described the conclave as "a textbook old boys club that the Vatican has long upheld."
"As a church, we have to really reckon with: do we worship patriarchy or do we worship the life and works of Jesus Christ?" McElwee asked.
The Vatican didn't immediately respond to ABC News' request for comment.
While Leo XIV's predecessor Pope Francis made historic strides in appointing women to leadership roles -- including Sister Raffaella Petrini as executive of Vatican State, the highest-ranking position ever held by a woman in the Catholic Church -- McElwee said these changes didn't go far enough.
"He started to change a culture. There are more opportunities for men and women to be in collaboration with each other," McElwee said. "And I think that's the start. You know, it's an incomplete project."
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The Catholic Church maintains that only men can be ordained as priests, viewing this not as a cultural tradition but as unchangeable divine law. In 1994, Pope John Paul II declared this position as official doctrine, writing that "the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women."
However, women played crucial roles in Catholic history since the church's beginning. Walking through Rome, churches named after female saints tell stories of unwavering faith.
"Women have always been strong pillars, custodians of faith," Alessandra Morelli, who spent 30 years working with refugees for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), told ABC News.
In a 2023 interview with Vatican Media, Leo XIV highlighted his experience with having women in church leadership, particularly discussing the three women appointed to help select bishops -- a reform he oversaw under Francis."Their opinion introduces another perspective and becomes an important contribution to the process," he told Vatican Media, emphasizing that their roles represent "real, genuine, and meaningful participation."
When asked if she would want to become ordained as a deacon or priest, Morelli responds with a firm "Absolutely."
Drawing from her experience mediating in conflict zones, Morelli believes women bring unique qualities to leadership.
"Power is out of the game," she said. "We listen with a much more non-judgmental attitude. We open spaces, we generate spaces and we know how to manage the unknown."
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