--- description: The Pope reaffirmed the "radical equality" of Christianity title: Pope Francis Calls for Equal Pay for Women and Men image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Vatican](/tag/vatican/) ## Vatican Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Pope Francis Calls for Equal Pay for Women and Men  by [Nolan Feeney](/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 29, 2015 3:19 PM CUT  by [Nolan Feeney](/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 29, 2015 3:19 PM CUT Pope Francis expressed support for equal pay for men and women on Wednesday, calling income disparities [“pure scandal.”](http://ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/francis-firmly-backs-equal-pay-women-citing-christian-radical-equality "undefined") Speaking during his weekly general audience, Francis asked that Christians “become more demanding” about achieving gender equality, according to the _National Catholic Reporter_. “Why is it expected that women must earn less than men?” he asked the crowd at St. Peter’s Square. “No! They have the same rights. The disparity is a pure scandal.” The Pope emphasized that concern for women’s equality isn’t at odds with concern for declining marriage rates around the world, a shift he said Christians needed to reflect on “with great seriousness.” “Many consider that the change occurring in these last decades may have been set in motion by women’s emancipation,” he said. But Francis called that idea “an insult” and “a form of chauvinism that always wants to control the woman.” \[[_NCR_](http://ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/francis-firmly-backs-equal-pay-women-citing-christian-radical-equality "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3840049/pope-francis-equal-pay/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3840049/pope-francis-equal-pay/"},"headline":"Pope Francis Calls for Equal Pay for Women and Men","datePublished":"2015-04-29T15:19:41.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T06:46:54.973Z","description":"He says gender-based pay disparities are \"pure scandal\"","url":"https://time.com/3840049/pope-francis-equal-pay/","keywords":["Vatican","Pope Francis topic","gender equality","Equal Pay","Equality"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nolan Feeney","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[],"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/3840049/pope-francis-equal-pay/","name":"Pope Francis Calls for Equal Pay for Women and Men"}}]}] ```