The cardinal, who has served as the prefect of the Vatican Dicastery for Bishops, noted that the Catholic Church is not a mirror image of society and “needs to be different.”
Prevost explained that just because a woman can be president or have many different kinds of leadership roles in the world, there is not “an immediate parallel to say, ‘In the Church therefore…’”
“It isn’t as simple as saying that, ‘You know, at this stage we’re going to change the tradition of the Church after 2,000 years on any one of those points,’” he said.
At the same time, he added, women are continually taking on new roles of leadership both at the Vatican and in other parts of the Church, noting that Pope Francis recently appointed Sister Simona Brambilla as the secretary of the Vatican Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.
“I think there will be a continuing recognition of the fact that women can add a great deal to the life of the Church on many different levels,” he said.
Prevost’s comments come after Religion News Service reported that “a ‘cohort’ of nuns favoring female ordination, and especially women deacons, has formed at the synod … mainly from Latin America and some from Europe.”