Robert Shine, Associate Director of New Ways Ministry. Bob has degrees in theology from The Catholic University of America and the Boston College School of Theology and Ministry.

At the risk of stating a truism, changes in formal teaching come about after changes in practice.

Yesterday, news broke that Pope Francis altered canon law to mandate that women be allowed to serve as lectors and acolytes. The pope’s action is a reminder for church reform advocates of just how change comes about in the church, and how this reform is only a stepping stone to true equality for all Catholics.

Growing up in a Vatican II-influenced parish, I took it as a given that women could lead and serve in nearly all church roles bar those involving ordination. Like so many parishes, including more conservative ones, women’s efforts were the backbone of religious education, charity and justice committees, and social events. At my parish, women were also instrumental to liturgical ministries, too. While I knew, and objected to, the prohibition on women’s ordination, it was not until high school that I became aware that women serving in formal roles was not a given for many Catholics. A number of parishes and dioceses banned women and girls from being altar servers, and even some that precluded women from proclaiming the Word of God.

Now, Pope Francis has undercut those holdout bishops and pastors who deny anyone not a cisgender man from having liturgical roles beyond simply being a member of the congregation. Read more via New Ways Ministry