Vatican's push for women in Church leadership faces slow progress

From Austria's bold reforms to the Vatican's cautious steps, women are reshaping the Church's future. Will calls for equality finally turn into action?

, and Administrator

2026 May 5 . 2:03 PM

1 min read

The image shows a group of women standing on the steps of a church, with a building in the... — The image shows a group of women standing on the steps of a church, with a building in the background. The image is in black and white, and there is text at the bottom.

Vatican's push for women in Church leadership faces slow progress

The Vatican is pushing for more women in leadership roles within the Church. A new report from Study Group 5 calls for concrete steps to increase female representation. Meanwhile, women in Austria are already taking action through a new initiative called Women.Lead.Church. The Vatican has recently made progress by appointing women to high-level positions. Sister Simona Brambilla became the first woman to lead a dicastery, marking a historic shift. Yet despite these moves, women remain underrepresented in Church leadership, even though they play a major role in daily Church activities.

Austria’s Conference of Religious Orders stands out as an exception, with women holding all top positions—including chair and secretary-general. However, the Austrian Bishops' Conference has set a target of filling at least one-third of leadership roles with women by 2028, a goal that currently seems unlikely to be met. The new network Women.Lead.Church aims to change this by maximising existing opportunities and advocating for women’s access to ordained ministry. Supporters argue that ordaining women as deacons, priests, and bishops is about equality, not special treatment. They also highlight that women in leadership bring new perspectives to the Church’s work. The Vatican’s credibility on gender equality now rests on whether it follows through with real change.

The Church is under growing pressure to match its words with action. While some progress has been made, the push for equal representation in leadership continues. The success of initiatives like Women.Lead.Church will depend on how seriously the Church takes its own calls for reform.