Vatican names 3 women to office that vets bishop nominations

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis has named three women to serve as members of the Vatican office that vets bishop nominations. It’s the first time women have served as members of Dicastery for Bishops which oversees the work of most of the church’s 5,300 bishops. The pope still makes the final call on appointing bishops. But the addition of women into the consultation process is nevertheless significant. Women have often complained they have a second-class status in the church, even though they do the lion’s share of its work running schools, hospitals and passing the faith from generation to generation.