Pope Francis was a trailblazer in the way he included women in important positions in the Catholic Church, Roger Landry told Newsmax on Monday.
Landry, who is national director of the Pontifical Mission Societies, told "National Report" that Francis "was a trailblazer. He was a very free man who was capable of doing what he thought was right in every circumstance."
Some of the ways in which Francis promoted women was that he was the first Pope to appoint a women to head a Vatican administrative office, as well as the first Pope to include women in bishop selection.
Landry said Francis "wanted to make sure that in every way women ... would be able to serve God and serve the church."
Although Francis said "very firmly that women couldn't be ordained priests, there are so many ways to serve the church beyond that and he brought them to the highest responsibilities in the Vatican, including running the Vatican city state," Landry said.
He stressed that "we are so grateful for the reforms that Pope Francis brought to the church, which will continue, and we are so grateful for the way he tried to serve God and us."
The monsignor emphasized that Francis "was very sincere in prioritizing people — especially the least, the lost, and the last and bringing them" closer to the center of importance.
He pointed out that "sometimes that meant that those who were previously in the center didn't understand or didn't appreciate some of the choices he made."
Landry added that some of the ways Francis said things "could be a little jarring, especially to those of us here in America, but no one will ever question the sincerity in his trying to apply the Gospel to the issues today — and that was a challenging and provoking, prophetic leadership."
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Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
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