Gardens and hills mike st peters on the colony. And it towers above the papal city which is my hometown and thats why its my favorite spot. And to be. A woman like i had the museums with overdue and theres no reason at all not the slightest why the vatican museums have to be run by a man to. Put up. With. A mortal. But when a woman climbs that high in the vatican its a reason to celebrate if she can succeed. Yeah. But the. Appointment was a sensation a year ago she was named director of the vatican museums the collections contain nearly a quarter of a million treasures administered by a host of historians curators and conservatives traditionally. An art historian and trained. To watch for years in charge of the prints and drawing section at the Vatican Library at first she was one of only three women. At among the put them in. It was a male dominated world. In the secular museums i had worked in there were more women. On the other hand when i left the Vatican Library twenty years later about half the staff were female and. The papacy adapted to social reality and it was inevitable that my. Father. The first woman to head the vatican museums still faces enormous challenges six million visitors pass through these hallowed halls each year as many as thirty thousand on a good day and all of them want to see the Sistine Chapel with its famous michelangelo frescoes. Extended Opening Times having days the pressure. Now. Is trying to reroute the stream of visitors. To chill nicole. Windows and there is only one entrance to the Sistine Chapel visitors have to pass through them at galleries and the room and listen to torah that. Were working on an alternative so that the chapel can be reached from various sides that could be equipped with the its complicated because of security considerations is that what i would handle but the data can is being supportive of the support that it. Believes in modern style management. Goals are better cooperation between departments digitise ation and targeted conservation although she was surprised by her appointment shes not blind to its significance. Let me and only now if it meant in the bus when i got it seems an Important Message to the world at large that pope francis wants to break down old patterns. There were six candidates at first then three and i was the only woman. Maybe that was what struck him and he decided to appoint me. The shape that. By. The austrian born journalist goodman sila has worked at Vatican Radio for the past fifteen years since pope francis ordered a shake up of the churchs communication structures the hierarchy at the vatican broadcaster has leveled out. There are more women working at the vatican than most people think of the one hundred sixty or so journalists employed by Vatican Radio about half are women. They say theyre respected by their male colleagues and treated as equals. When you talk to certain bishops or cardinals theyre well aware of the problems many women in the Catholic Church are turning away because they dont feel theyre taken seriously. Women want to be more visible. This isnt in different parts of the world white church theres a growing sensitivity to that desire and its also reaching the vatican only. Becoming more visible is part of the challenge anybody sees walk i was on behind the walls of the vatican. Bought a quarter of the staff are women many more lay women the nuns and many of them highly qualified. Editor in chief of the french section of Vatican Radio for twenty five years looking back she remembers how difficult it was at the beginning how some cardinals thought had been dignity to be interviewed by a woman and simply ignored her. Also said. As soon as i left the studios to interview somebody at the vatican it was dreadful when i was in a larger group of men i always had the feeling that i was somehow invisible when i asked a question the cardinals would reply to my male colleagues not to me. Although i was holding a microphone and had everything they needed to recognize. This mentality of pushing women to the margins of the workplace still exists everywhere women are supposed to be mothers brides or nuns they may work but they shouldnt want a career. Unfortunately thats what many women also think that its wrong to seek too much attention to ask for too much. The Catholic Church teaches that humility and modesty are virtues pope francis himself is critical of career minded priests and he often speaks out against traditional power structures that may be why he wants to see more women taking leadership roles people like the director of the vatican museums. The catholic journalist placed on a floor him welcomes this development but she says it doesnt go far enough she has recently written a book demanding more power for women in the Catholic Church. Is this why is it considered inappropriate for women especially for women to raise the question of power when they raise this question which i also do in my book theyre always told the church is not about power the church is about service and humility but thats not all fortunate alongside her administrative responsibilities she works in a field that has fascinated her since she was a child is a look at a flute that. Surrounded by this you know sort of my mothers restoration work my sister was also a conservatory of paintings and stone. My grandmother was a painter of i watched her making about pictures of in rome. That was the environment i grew up in and maybe genes and the family do play a role that when the sea. Will influence of i mean that it will work calls up. Growing up in rome baba yaga was always fascinated by art she has also learned the skills of curating an exhibition her entire life revolves around art and religion. She is currently working on an exhibition about the history of catholicism in korea the vatican took an exhibition to solve and this is its counterpart most of the objects of being exhibited outside korea for the first time. Is complementing them with items from the vaticans own collections. That would like to see more International Exhibitions held especially shows that have relevance to the vaticans collections she says shed even be prepared to loan out more of the vaticans treasures. Most impressed with your new single but it was there what i mean is that the evil an exhibition is more than just a collection of art orks every item involves work with the administrators conservators and curators. But the. Even its all very important that we participate in these projects when theyre academically interesting or promote ecumenism. Because most of the. Transition is the focus as in the korea exhibition i could even get at the clinic with that with it will of the. South korea is one of the Catholic Churches Success Stories this exhibition documents the beginnings how in the seventeenth century diplomats from china brought the catholic faith to the Korean Peninsula this chapter of Church History is being shown at the vatican for the first time and the turnout is impressive cardinals and senior bishops some of the vaticans most powerful men are here today. Is in her element explaining the structure of the exhibition catholicism was introduced into korea by lay people impressed by the jesuits in china. At first they had to operate in secret. They baptized each other because there were no priests in korea many women were drawn to the new faith perhaps because it promised justice and equality. The young church was actively persecuted as recently as the mid Nineteenth Century the exhibition chronicles this history of suffering and martyrdom it also documents the strength and confidence that characterized the beginnings of the korean. The korean version of the virgin mary a clear indication of how deeply the koreans internalized catholicism. Even today many korean catholics draw inspiration and strength from commemorating this history of courage and perseverance through the dark days have passed. How. The Korean Church is very focused on equality and has always throughout its history encouraged women to get involved that can be observed from the beginning from the first days of the founding of the church women have played an Important Role in. Frances commends women for witnessing to the faith and he champions the course of women. Like his predecessor as benedict and john paul the second he has a deep devotion to the virgin mary the catholic icon of womanhood. But francis is also a pope who understands our lives are not simply an embodiment of ideals. He reaches out to each individual passenger. This is a pope who encounters men and women and children with the same warmth compassion and respect all. Oh at some general audiences you might think he was simply a pop star being mobbed by his fans. The popes deputy spokesperson polo mogul c. E. O. Of a hero explains the special report that he seems to have with women. In the squad to see the pope francis grew up surrounded by women not what looks revolutionary in the vatican is really quite normal the pope always close his grandmother he had sisters his mother and close female friends his right hand in buenos aires was a woman his private secretary who died a few months ago. It is. Perhaps it was this female environment in which Jorge Bergoglio grew up that makes him more receptive to the role of women in the church. He wants to make sure the church is accessible to everybody. He has already done a lot to make that happen in nearly five years in office he has appointed five women as undersecretaries the third highest leadership level at the vatican. And it will be what we have on his last trip to colombia the pope stative that women should play Important Roles in society and in the church we represent fifty percent of the population. He says why should this resource be neglected why shouldnt we view women in the same way as men and all of us benefit those. But gender. Quality and the role of women are not at the top of the agenda everywhere in the church. There is still an immense gap between the vatican and the Secular Society when it comes to promoting women for instance by means of employment quotas. Although pope francis never tires of saying that women must be given more responsibility they are still woefully under represented at the vatican. If you compare him with his predecessors especially benedict the sixteenth and john paul the second i think its clear that he goes further his predecessors would never have said Something Like that they had a very clear idea that the main duty of a woman is to serve the family as a wife and mother of god and if women go out to work then only in social professions. The idea that they should do every job that men do was beyond their comprehension. In that respect francis is pretty advanced that is why. Its in the wide. Agrees she has studied the situation of women at the vatican for years and has written books on the role of women in the church. She believes pope francis might soon go even further. I was personally disappointed that for instance in a new vatican agency for the laity family and life the under secretary is a priest he could have been a lay person. Maybe the pope couldnt find a suitable woman who is prepared to take the job. Why a woman has exercised managerial responsibilities for decades in catholic organizations and then has to change to a number two position at the vatican it might not seem so attractive. Consigner is meeting with her former Vatican Radio colleague from elder found out how they are founding members of donna in vatican the fast organization representing female staff at the vatican it has about one hundred members who made one some month to discuss issues of common concern however these women dont want to be labeled feminists networking is the password to their club is a registered association which means they have official recognition and transparent structures. People are still afraid to set up an organization and expressed themselves. When you talk about a womens group people immediately think its about women being admitted to the priesthood. All those issues that are still taboo in the Catholic Church. And that our society doesnt promote ideas like that. These women are not demanding anything they are simply expressing a desire to make progress together in the church. Christiane a flaw handouts not enough. Women working in the vatican or in the Catholic Church in general have to proceed diplomatically. They cant raise the question of power as such why do only men or ordained men have the right to make the decisions forty years ago even twenty years ago there was an aggressive generation that fought for ordination admission to the priesthood as well as to the diaconate would please the. Days of the void today these women are either disillusioned and have left or theyve resigned. Yeah or theyve left the church altogether. For the strong opposition in many places to admitting women to the priesthood a quick survey of tourists in st Peters Square suggests that european and north american catholics are generally open to the idea. Of give benson for my time as a traditional its easier for me to accept a man as a priest but at the end of the day i think the situation will change not soon but some time maybe. If youre through with people but i dont think it was visited by the clergy might benefit from a bit of femininity. The female aspect could open up new horizons and. Its not about positions of power whether male or female its about serving the individual person rank is not important whether somebody is higher or lower the real task is to serve i would love to have a Roman Catholic priest definitely women are good managers. And i suspect a radical needs managing. Institutions like the us as i read as they may be they really should be much more inclusive and im sure promoted and then not only because theyre women but because theyre really good at what they do. To get it i mean if you want to abolish the patriarchy you should start with the church that would be a tremendous signal for believers. I mean really but is it the this has initiated positive changes. He has modernized the church and we believe he will complete the task but he needs time. We have full faith in francis name of war as catholics and as argentinians. Many catholics believe that pope francis will succeed in reforming the church but he has stated clearly that he will not admit women to the priesthood the church has a long tradition of reserving the top jobs for men priests bishops and cardinals. The churchs patriarchal structure is a centuries old tradition and tradition is one of the benchmarks of catholic theology. Relatively speaking pope francis is liberal he wants to give laypeople more responsibility so it seems quite likely that he will appoint more women like barbara yata to managerial positions. So far she has only met the pope once he hasnt yet visited the museums but shes hoping he will. She knows he has a full shadow but then so does she without efficient planning and the support of her husband this mother of three would never be able to manage the job. Youll miss a lot of any of that that included organize my life well gatto because of course its more difficult with the children but we divided up the household chores. You know what i mean that wasnt very common thirty years ago not that its gone i was lucky than that and then the fact one that i was able to combine family and work at that but i think ive managed my children are wonderful but in the end what about you must be grateful and what it might give she had all the wheat there with the one of them isnt getting enough that it would have been. Barbara yachters simple positive way of accepting things stems from her faith. If she didnt believe she wouldnt be able to work at the vatican. And religion are inseparable hair. And as with the korean exhibition the focus is often the universal church. And. The midsouth of the fighting but i never intended to have a career at the vatican even the idea of it is strange i just tried to do my work as well as i could at the premier level of problem a deal in mid one of the did it that it was i would take on it because thats my role as director of the vatican museums put a lot of responsibility on my shoulders. But its also a privilege it is that im very conscious of the fact that i work for the holy father and for the conservation of this tremendous World Heritage the show moment they need it with the ground about the monarch i am but im one of the one that. Has first year as director of the vatican museums she has made some changes and initiated some projects but above all is the custom of collections representing two thousand years of christianity and thousands of years while culture. Creative and political courageous stories that the burly nonmetallic can see. Engaged in the fight for equality and justice and. Hatred and violence. Filmmakers fighting for their cause. Our special program. Thirty men. Succeed in dividing us not succeed in taking the people off the streets because were tired of. Taking a stand. Global news that matters d. W. Made from mines meet the germans new and surprising aspects of noise and culture in joining. Us american good news that takes a look at germany it is increasing at the traditions every day lives and language akin to some of the highlights and so on and young good. Looking guy r t w dot com meet the german. There black and living in germany. Shes reminded what that means on a daily basis presenter down up like this not being able to blend in and i was. Taking a Holiday Group and being you know different than the way. She travelled across germany to meet other black people and to hear their stories so. Its as. I grew up in a white family in a white neighborhood it was definitely a challenge. She decided to put me up for adoption. The main thing was to keep your head down and your mouth shut of course of the face like this i could never completely disappear if you see all these stereotypes about africa its good to see you. Do something for your country but youre still the black guy with an. Afro germany starting december tenth d. W. This is due to the news life from berlin not terrorism but blackmail authority fate suspicious package that caused a bomb scare in a town near berlin was in fact and attempts to extort