Pope names more women than ever to Synod of Bishops on Bible

VATICAN CITY (CNS)—Choosing men and women from every part of the world and from a wide variety of professional spheres, Pope Benedict XVI nominated 32 voting members, 41 experts and 37 observers for the upcoming world Synod of Bishops. The nomination of six female scholars as experts and of 19 women as observers will give the Oct. 5-26 Synod of Bishops on the Bible the largest bloc of women ever participating in a Catholic synod. The list of papal appointments to the synod was published Sept. 6 by the Vatican. The 32 clerics Pope Benedict named as full members of the synod will join about 180 bishops who were elected by their national bishops’ conferences, 10 priests elected by the Union of Superiors General and about two dozen cardinals and archbishops, heads of Vatican congregations and councils, who automatically are members of the synod.