In the Aula, "Words of Fire"

As Day 2 of this summit wound down Friday night, the keynote from the first of three women slated to speak – Linda Ghisoni, now a #3 official at the Dicastery for Laity, Family, Life – brought a spontaneous response from the Pope, who highlighted her testimony as "the church speaking as herself": that is, a woman's charism, in contrast to the (all-male) clerics who could only speak "about" the church.

With that understanding in mind, this final day of the talks (its focus on "transparency") brought an astonishing one-two punch of a kind these gatherings are by no means used to, both from the remaining women on the roster – first, this morning's opening word by Nigerian Holy Child Sister Veronica Openibo, one of several delegates representing the leadership of the world's female religious orders....

Fulltext – and video:



...and from the Doyenne of the Vatican Press Corps, Valentina Alazraki – the four-decade veteran correspondent for Mexico's dominant Televisa network, who logged her 150th papal tour on the road last month; Fulltext:



While Alazraki's searing talk marked the end of the meeting's "business" portion, the last word remains the most critical of all – what's expected to be an extensive closing speech by the Pope following tomorrow's morning Mass.

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