--- title: Pope Francis Says The Church Must Do More To Recognize Women description: Pope Francis said the difference between men and women was "not for opposition or subordination, but for communion and creation" canonical: https://time.com/3822482/pope-francis-women-church-society/ author: Naina Bajekal article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-04-15T13:41:21.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T06:24:36.029Z article:section: World og:title: Pope Francis Says Church Must Listen to Women og:description: "More weight and more authority must be given to women," Pope says og:url: https://time.com/3822482/pope-francis-women-church-society/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt87cc5693aaa7f2d7/6987eb1e35ba6fec9bc0addf/pope-francis2.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: VATICAN-POPE-AUDIENCE og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Pope Francis Says Church Must Listen to Women twitter:description: "More weight and more authority must be given to women," Pope says twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt87cc5693aaa7f2d7/6987eb1e35ba6fec9bc0addf/pope-francis2.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Pope Francis Says Church Must Listen to Women ## Video: 2013 Person of the Year: Pope Francis Reimagines the Papacy [Watch (HLS stream): 2013 Person of the Year: Pope Francis Reimagines the Papacy](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/aYRnrfUV.m3u8) (3:30)  _Published 2013-12-11. From his comments on gays to his penchant for Twitter, Pope Francis's every move has garnered strong reactions from the world media._  by [Naina Bajekal](/author/naina-bajekal/)  ## Naina Bajekal Bajekal was executive editor and international editor at TIME. Apr 15, 2015 1:41 PM CUT  Pope Francis blesses the faithful during his weekly general audience at the Vatican on April 15, 2015. Pope Francis blesses the faithful during his weekly general audience at the Vatican on April 15, 2015.Vincenzo Pinto—AFP/Getty Images  by [Naina Bajekal](/author/naina-bajekal/)  ## Naina Bajekal Bajekal was executive editor and international editor at TIME. Apr 15, 2015 1:41 PM CUT Pope Francis believes “more weight and more authority must be given to women,” both in the Church and in society, he said Wednesday. Speaking at his weekly general audience in St. Peter’s Square, the Pope stressed the need for women to not only be heard but also[ given a “recognized authority.”](http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2015/04/15/pope%5F%E2%80%9Cmore%5Fweight%5Fand%5Fmore%5Fauthority%5Fmust%5Fbe%5Fgiven%5Fto%5Fwomen/1136896 "undefined") He added that this reflected the way Jesus treated women and encouraged people to work “with more creativity and boldness” toward giving women the recognition they deserve. “We have not yet understood in depth what things the feminine genius can give us, that woman can give to society and also to us. Perhaps to see things with different eyes that complements the thoughts of men,” he said. The 78-year old Pope also touched upon questions of gender in modern society, saying that gender theory “aims to erase sexual difference” and that the removal of the difference is “the problem, not the solution.” Instead, he said men and women are meant to be complementary and he encouraged them to “treat each other with respect and cooperate with friendship.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3822482/pope-francis-women-church-society/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3822482/pope-francis-women-church-society/"},"headline":"Pope Francis Says Church Must Listen to Women","datePublished":"2015-04-15T13:41:21.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T06:24:36.029Z","description":"Pope Francis said at his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square that the difference between men and women was \"not for opposition or subordination, but for communion and creation\"","url":"https://time.com/3822482/pope-francis-women-church-society/","keywords":["Vatican","Pope Francis topic"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt87cc5693aaa7f2d7/6987eb1e35ba6fec9bc0addf/pope-francis2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Naina Bajekal","jobTitle":"Bajekal was executive editor and international editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/naina-bajekal/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt87cc5693aaa7f2d7/6987eb1e35ba6fec9bc0addf/pope-francis2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"VATICAN-POPE-AUDIENCE","caption":"Pope Francis blesses the faithful during his weekly general audience at the Vatican on April 15, 2015.","creditText":"Vincenzo Pinto—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/vatican/","name":"Vatican"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3822482/pope-francis-women-church-society/","name":"Pope Francis Says Church Must Listen to Women"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"2013 Person of the Year: Pope Francis Reimagines the Papacy","description":"From his comments on gays to his penchant for Twitter, Pope Francis's every move has garnered strong reactions from the world media.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/aYRnrfUV/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2013-12-11T12:42:10.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/aYRnrfUV.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3822482/pope-francis-women-church-society/","duration":"PT3M30S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3822482/pope-francis-women-church-society/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```