A church without women would be like the apostolic college

The words of Pope Francis resound like a hymn sung across the centuries: “A church without women would be like the apostolic college without Mary. The Madonna is more important than the apostles, and the church herself is feminine, the spouse of Christ and a mother.” This is not a casual saying, but a revelation. It tells us that without the presence of women, the Church loses her heart, her tenderness, her very identity. For in the same way that Mary gave flesh to the Son of God, so too do women give life, warmth, and fidelity to the Body of Christ on earth.

The ancients understood the sacred power of the feminine. In Mary, the humble maiden of Nazareth, the Eternal Word found a dwelling place. The apostles preached, but it was Mary who first bore the mystery of salvation within her womb. Pope Francis reminds us that the Church is not a cold institution of laws alone—it is a mother, nurturing her children, healing wounds, and offering refuge. This maternal spirit comes most clearly through women, who embody the gentleness and strength of the Bride of Christ.

Consider the story of St. Monica, the mother of St. Augustine. While Augustine wandered in error and worldly pleasures, it was Monica’s tears and unceasing prayers that brought him back to God. Her persistence, more than debates or sermons, changed the course of one of history’s greatest minds. Was it not her motherly love that kept the Church alive in her son’s heart until he found his way? This is the hidden power of women in the life of faith—the quiet force that sustains, transforms, and redeems.

To see the Church as feminine is to see her as tender yet unbreakable, gentle yet mighty. The apostles may have built the pillars, but without Mary and countless women like her, the temple would be empty stone. The spouse of Christ must reflect love, compassion, and fruitfulness, all qualities entrusted most deeply to women. Thus, the Church is not merely guided by authority, but by a mother’s embrace, which shelters her children through the storms of history.

Let the generations remember this wisdom: without women, the Church would be incomplete, a body without breath, a family without its heart. The true strength of faith is not only in preaching but in motherhood, not only in authority but in compassion. As Pope Francis declares, the Madonna is greater than the apostles, for she is the living icon of the Church herself—ever fertile, ever loving, ever the mother who never abandons her children.