Prominent Catholic women across the globe are continuing to raise objections to the title of Pope Francis’ forthcoming new encyclical, “Fratelli tutti,” which uses the Italian masculine plural to address the world’s population.
Some are also baldly upset at the Vatican’s most recent explanations for not reconsidering or adapting the title, which appears to place the duty on women to see themselves as included. Francis’ encyclical, expected to focus on issues of solidarity and human friendship as the world continues to face the coronavirus pandemic, is set to be released on October 4. The title for the document is taken from one of St Francis of Assisi’s writings to the early members of his order, whom he addressed in Latin as his brothers.
Although the Italian translation “fratelli tutti” could sound to a modern Italian ear as “brothers and sisters all,” the exact one-to-one translation is “all brothers.”
Marie Dennis, who as the long-time co-president of Pax Christi International held one of the highest offices available to a woman in the Catholic Church, told NCR she was concerned the masculine construction of the title could distract from the importance of the rest of the Pope’s upcoming document.
“I understand that Pope Francis intends to be inclusive, but the tragedy of insisting on a title that excludes half the human family is immense,” said Dennis, who stepped down from the co-presidency role in 2019 after serving for 12 years.