We have one question for you.
Has Catholic Online given you $5 worth of value this year? Maybe you came here for a prayer. Maybe you read today's Mass readings. Maybe you researched a saint. Maybe you needed an answer about the Catholic Faith. Maybe your child used Catholic Online School. If the answer is no, you don't owe us anything. Keep using Catholic Online. But if the answer is yes, we're asking you to give $5 today.
Catholic Online School has served 2.2 million student enrollments in 193 countries, and we continue working to make Catholic education available regardless of a family's financial circumstances. We don't need every reader to give. We need the readers who recognize the value of what they've received to stand behind it. Is Catholic Online worth $5 to you?
GIVE TODAY >>Pope Francis appoints five women to major theological council
FREE Catholic Classes
The International Theological Commission, established in 1969 to study doctrinal issues faced by the Catholic Church and to help the pope and the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, has just received five new female members, raising the number of female members above two for the first time ever.
Highlights
Catholic Online (https://www.catholic.org)
9/23/2014 (1 decade ago)
Published in Living Faith
Keywords: Pope Francis, Theology, Theological Commission
LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - "Women now constitute 16 per cent of the Commission's members, a sign of growing female involvement in theological research," the Vatican said in a statement following the appointment of the women.
Get your Catholic email address here. Hurry! Limited number available.
Australian theologian Tracey Rowland was one of the new female members. But Pope Francis also appointed Sister Prudence Allen, Sister Alenka Arko, Dr. Moira McQueen and Professor Marianne Schlosser to the Commission.
Earlier in September, Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Muller, the prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, said that the number of women serving on the commission would be increased, adding to the two current female members, Sister Sara Butler and Professor Barbara Hallensleben
Francis has said that the Catholic Church has "not yet come up with a profound theology of womanhood," which may be part of the reason for the increased number of female appointees. While women have served on this panel since 2004, there has never been more than two.
The Vatican released the names of the 30 theologians who will serve a five-year term on the commission on September 23.
---
'Help Give every Student and Teacher FREE resources for a world-class Moral Catholic Education'
Copyright 2021 - Distributed by Catholic Online
Come Grow With Us
Sign up and walk the Catholic journey with millions around the world.
Receive inspiring emails on saints, daily readings, and free faith-building resources—no cost, ever.
What if your child could learn the Catholic Faith for FREE?
Please Watch
- 7 Morning Prayers
- Mysteries of the Rosary
- Litany of the Bl. Virgin Mary
- Popular Saints
- Popular Prayers
- Female Saints
- Saint Feast Days by Month
- Stations of the Cross
- St. Francis of Assisi
- St. Michael the Archangel
- The Apostles' Creed
- Unfailing Prayer to St. Anthony
- Pray the Rosary
Copyright 2026 Catholic Online. All materials contained on this site, whether written, audible or visual are the exclusive property of Catholic Online and are protected under U.S. and International copyright laws, © Copyright 2026 Catholic Online. Any unauthorized use, without prior written consent of Catholic Online is strictly forbidden and prohibited.
Catholic Online is a Project of Your Catholic Voice Foundation, a Not-for-Profit Corporation. Your Catholic Voice Foundation has been granted a recognition of tax exemption under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Federal Tax Identification Number: 81-0596847. Your gift is tax-deductible as allowed by law.