Breaking with tradition and opening a new door in the synodal process, Pope Francis has appointed a woman, Sister Nathalie Becquart, as one of two new undersecretaries of the synod of bishops.

“Science has made my faith stronger,” she said. “The DNA structure is amazing. It is beautiful and is evidence of what God can do and has done.”

Germany’s Catholic bishops will resume discussions this week to plan the Synodal Path, a set of conferences slated to address controversial questions such as women’s roles and LGBT acceptance, even as the country faces yet another scandal of sexual abuse by clergy.

Saint Ignatius was opposed to women Jesuits for reasons that were cultural, practical and canonical, but other Jesuits were not. The question was a hot topic in the early Society.

Women have served as lectors and acolytes for decades. Now Pope Francis has changed canon law to formally recognize their ministry.

Recognizing “the gifts of each baptized person”—women and men—Pope Francis ordered a change to canon law and liturgical norms so that women could be formally installed as lectors and acolytes.