Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Lucetta Scaraffia said there were 11 women on the magazine and they had all resigned (file pic)

The all-women board on the Vatican women's magazine have resigned citing a campaign to discredit them and put them "under the direct control of men".

Founder Lucetta Scaraffia said pressure on staff at Women Church World had intensified after it had published reports about sexual abuse of nuns by other members of the clergy.

The magazine comes as a monthly supplement in the Vatican daily paper.

Her criticism was made in an open letter to Pope Francis.

Last month, the Pope publicly acknowledged that nuns had been abused by the clergy and said the Church was still attempting to address the "scandal". He was speaking days after Women Church World highlighted a culture of abuse of women.

Why did the editors quit?

"We are throwing in the towel because we feel surrounded by a climate of distrust and progressive de-legitimisation," said Ms Scaraffia, in a letter addressed to Pope Francis. She said later that there were 11 women on the magazine and they had all quit.

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption The magazine has appeared as a monthly supplement in the Vatican newspaper

Launched in 2012, Women Church World is published every month in Vatican daily L'Osservatore Romano and is the only Vatican publication exclusively run by women.

It was seen as a turning point in the treatment of women's issues by both the newspaper and the wider Vatican and was published in Spanish, French and online in English.

For the first time, a group of independent women had been able to work at the heart of the Vatican, with the support of two popes, said Ms Scaraffia, referring to Francis and his predecessor Benedict XVI.

Getty Images It seems a vital initiative has been reduced to silence, and we return to the antiquated... custom of selecting, under direct male control, those women considered trustworthy"

Although they had not been first to speak of exploitation and sexual abuse that nuns had suffered, they had reported it after the facts had emerged, and had received letters from ordained women who had told of their experiences, she said. "We could no longer stay silent," she wrote.

But she said the Vatican newspaper's new editor, Andrea Monda, had tried to control the magazine's editorial line and bring in external collaborators. The freedom of speech - "parresia" - that Pope Francis had so often sought was being abandoned.

"They are returning to the practice of selecting women who ensure obedience," she said.

Mr Monda reacted on Tuesday with a promise to continue publishing Women Church World and he denied that anyone had been selected on the basis of obedience.

He insisted he had guaranteed the magazine's board complete autonomy and had not undermined them.

"In no way have I chosen anyone, man or woman, with the criterion of obedience," Mr Monda said in a statement.</s>The founder and all-female editorial board of the Vatican's women's magazine have resigned to protest what they call a campaign to discredit them and put them under the direct control of men. The editorial committee of Women Church World, a monthly supplement to the Vatican daily L'Osservatore Romano, claims the daily's new editor has sabotaged the magazine after it denounced sexual abuse of nuns by the clergy. VOA's Zlatica Hoke has more.</s>(VATICAN CITY) — The founder and all-female editorial board of the Vatican’s women’s magazine have quit after what they say was a Vatican campaign to discredit them and put them “under the direct control of men,” that only increased after they denounced the sexual abuse of nuns by clergy.

The editorial committee of “Women Church World,” a monthly glossy published alongside the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano, made the announcement in the planned April 1 editorial and in an open letter to Pope Francis that was provided Tuesday to The Associated Press.

“We are throwing in the towel because we feel surrounded by a climate of distrust and progressive de-legitimization,” founder Lucetta Scaraffia wrote in the open letter.

In the editorial, she wrote: “We believe there are no longer the conditions to continue our collaboration with L’Osservatore Romano.”

The decision is a blow to Francis’ efforts to give greater decision-making roles to women at the Vatican, a pledge that has in some ways fallen flat despite increased pressures in the #MeToo era. Scaraffia had become perhaps the most prominent woman at the Holy See, even though she never drew a salary for her 7-year leadership of the magazine she founded, “Women Church World.”

Scaraffia told the AP that the decision to leave was taken after L’Osservatore’s new editor, Andrea Monda, earlier this year planned to take over as the magazine’s editor. She said he backed off after the editorial board threatened to resign and the Catholic weeklies that distribute translations of “Women Church World” in France, Spain and Latin America, told her they would stop distributing if she weren’t in charge.

“After the attempts to put us under control, came the indirect attempts to delegitimize us,” she told AP in a statement, citing other women brought in to write for L’Osservatore “with an editorial line opposed to ours.”

The effect, she said, was to “obscure our words, delegitimizing us as a part of the Holy See’s communications.”

In a statement, Monda denied having tried to weaken “Women Church World” and said that he merely tried to bolster other female voices and viewpoints on the pages of L’Osservatore. He said he always guaranteed the magazine’s autonomy, and limited himself to suggesting ideas or possible contributors.

“Seeking to avoid interference with the monthly insert, I asked for a truly free confrontation in the daily paper, not built on the mechanism of one against the other or of closed groups,” he said. “And I did so as a sign of openness and of the ‘paressia’ (freedom to speak truth) requested by Pope Francis.”

He said he took note of Scaraffia’s “free and autonomous” decision to leave, offered his thanks for her work, and pledged that the magazine would continue on “without clericalism of any sort.”

Scaraffia launched the monthly insert in 2012 and oversaw its growth into a stand-alone Vatican magazine as a voice for women, by women and about issues of interest to the entire Catholic Church. “Women Church World” had enjoyed editorial independence from L’Osservatore, even while being published under its auspices.

In the final editorial, which was sent to the printers last week but hasn’t been published, the editorial board cited L’Osservatore’s initiatives with other women contributors that they said constituted competing points of view “with the effect of pitting women against one another,” with the magazine’s editorial staff considered no longer trustworthy.

“Now it seems that a vital initiative has been reduced to silence and that there’s a return to the antiquated and arid custom of choosing women considered trustworthy from on-high, under the direct control of men,” read the open letter, signed by Scaraffia.

The departures are the latest upheaval in the Vatican’s communications operations, following the abrupt Dec. 31 resignations of the Vatican spokesman and his deputy over strategic differences with Paolo Ruffini, prefect of the dicastery for communications.

Scaraffia, a history professor and journalist, was perhaps the most high-profile woman at the Vatican, an avowed feminist who nevertheless toed the line on official doctrine. She frequently ruffled feathers, though, with her lament that half of humanity — and the half most responsible for transmitting the faith to future generations — simply is invisible to the men in charge of the Catholic Church.

She stoked uproar in February when, on the pages of the magazine, she denounced the sexual abuse of nuns by clergy and the resulting scandal of religious sisters having abortions or giving birth to children who are not recognized by their fathers.

The article prompted Francis to subsequently acknowledge, for the first time , that it was a problem and that he was committed to doing something about it.

Prior to that issue, the March 2018 issue was perhaps its boldest, denouncing the servitude of religious sisters who work for next to nothing to cook and clean for bishops and cardinals. The issue raised eyebrows for sure, but Francis himself had raised the very same issue only a few months before.

The articles on the religious sisters struck a chord globally, giving voice to suffering that has long been silenced because of nuns’ vows of obedience, their ingrained deference to clergy, second-class status in the church and fear of shame, scandal and reprisal.

It remains unclear what the future will bring for the magazine internationally. The Spanish editions are published and distributed in Spain and parts of Latin America by the Catholic publication Vida Nueva; the French edition is published as an insert to La Vie, a Catholic weekly.

Circulation of the Italian magazine is estimated at around 12,000, plus its online viewership.</s>The founder and the all-female editorial board of the Vatican’s women’s magazine have quit after what they say was a campaign to discredit them and put them “under the direct control of men” after they denounced the sexual abuse of nuns by clergy.

The founder and the all-female editorial board of the Vatican’s women’s magazine have quit after what they say was a campaign to discredit them and put them “under the direct control of men” after they denounced the sexual abuse of nuns by clergy.

The editorial committee of Women Church World, a monthly glossy published alongside the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano, made the announcement in a planned April 1 editorial and in an open letter to Pope Francis.

In the editorial, which went to the printer last week but has not been published, magazine founder Lucetta Scaraffia wrote: “We are throwing in the towel because we feel surrounded by a climate of distrust and progressive de-legitimisation.”</s>Rome, March 26 - The founder and the all-female editorial committee of Vatican daily L'Osservatore Romano's monthly insert Women Church World quit en masse Tuesday citing a Vatican campaign to discredit them and put them "under the direct control of men". They said the alleged campaign "has only increased after we denounced the sex abuse of nuns by the clergy", they said. Taking note of their decision, editor Andrea Monda said he had "always guaranteed autonomy and never interfered". Founder Lucetta Scaraffia said "I'm leaving because of our progressive delegitimisation".</s>The founder and all-female editorial board of the Vatican's women's magazine have quit after what they say was a Vatican campaign to discredit them and put them "under the direct control of men," that only increased after they denounced the sexual abuse of nuns by clergy.

The editorial committee of Women Church World, a monthly glossy published alongside the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, made the announcement in the planned April 1 editorial and in an open letter to Pope Francis that was provided Tuesday to The Associated Press.

"We are throwing in the towel because we feel surrounded by a climate of distrust and progressive de-legitimisation," founder Lucetta Scaraffia wrote in the editorial, which went to the printers last week but hasn't been published.

Scaraffia told the AP that the decision was taken after the new editor of L'Osservatore, Andrea Monda, told her earlier this year he would take over as editor.

She said he reconsidered after the editorial board threatened to resign and the Catholic weeklies that distribute translations of Women Church World in France, Spain and Latin America, told her they would stop distributing.

"After the attempts to put us under control, came the indirect attempts to delegitimise us," she said, citing other women brought in to write for L'Osservatore "with an editorial line opposed to ours."</s>VATICAN CITY (AP) - The Latest on the resignation of the editorial board at the Vatican's women's magazine (all times local):

The editor of the Vatican newspaper has denied accusations that he sought to discredit the female editors of a monthly magazine that was distributed by his daily.

Andrea Monda, editor of L'Osservatore Romano, said in a statement that he fully respected the autonomy of the women's insert in the wake of the resignation of its editorial board.

He said at most that he suggested ideas and people to contribute to "Women Church World."

The magazine founder and the all-female board announced they were leaving, writing a planned editorial and open letter to Pope Francis. They cited what they said was a climate of distrust and claimed there was an attempt to impose male leadership on their publication.

FILE - In this Friday, Feb. 1, 2019 file photo, Lucetta Scaraffia, editor in chief of "Women Church World" a monthly magazine distributed alongside the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, talks to journalists during an interview in Rome. The founder and all-female editorial board of the Vatican's women's magazine have quit after what they say was a Vatican campaign to discredit them and put them "under the direct control of men," that only increased after they denounced the sexual abuse of nuns by clergy. The editorial committee of "Women Church World," a monthly glossy published alongside the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, made the announcement in the planned April 1 editorial and in an open letter to Pope Francis. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

The founder and all-female editorial board of the Vatican's women's magazine have quit after coming under what they say was a Vatican campaign to discredit them and put them "under the direct control of men" that increased after they denounced the sexual abuse of nuns by clergy.

The editorial committee of "Women Church World," a monthly glossy published alongside the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, made the announcement in the planned April 1 editorial and in an open letter to Pope Francis that was provided Tuesday to The Associated Press.

In the editorial, which went to the printer last week but hasn't been published, magazine founder Lucetta Scaraffia wrote: "We are throwing in the towel because we feel surrounded by a climate of distrust and progressive de-legitimization."

FILE - In this Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2018 file photo, Lucetta Scaraffia, editor in chief of "Women Church World" a monthly magazine distributed alongside the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, poses in her house in Rome. The founder and all-female editorial board of the Vatican's women's magazine have quit after what they say was a Vatican campaign to discredit them and put them "under the direct control of men," that only increased after they denounced the sexual abuse of nuns by clergy. The editorial committee of "Women Church World," a monthly glossy published alongside the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, made the announcement in the planned April 1 editorial and in an open letter to Pope Francis. (AP Photo/Domenico Stinellis, File)

Pope Francis caresses a child as he leaves the Basilica of Our Lady of Loreto where he celebrated mass and prayed in the shrine containing a small house traditionally venerated as the house of Mary, and believed miraculously transplanted from the Holy Land inside the Basilica, in central Italy, during a one-day visit, Monday, March 25, 2019. The pope chose Loreto to sign the Post-Synodal Exhortation of last October's Synod of Bishops. (AP Photo/Domenico Stinellis)</s>VATICAN CITY — The founder and all-female editorial board of the Vatican’s women’s magazine have quit after what they say was a Vatican campaign to discredit them and put them “under the direct control of men,” that only increased after they denounced the sexual abuse of nuns by clergy.

The editorial committee of “Women Church World,” a monthly glossy published alongside the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano, made the announcement in the planned April 1 editorial and in an open letter to Pope Francis.

“We are throwing in the towel because we feel surrounded by a climate of distrust and progressive de-legitimization,” founder Lucetta Scaraffia wrote in the open letter.

In the editorial, she wrote: “We believe there are no longer the conditions to continue our collaboration with L’Osservatore Romano.”

The decision is a blow to Francis’ efforts to give greater decision-making roles to women at the Vatican, a pledge that has in some ways fallen flat despite increased pressures in the #MeToo era. Scaraffia had become perhaps the most prominent woman at the Holy See, even though she never drew a salary for her 7-year leadership of the magazine she founded, “Women Church World.”

Scaraffia said the decision to leave was taken after L’Osservatore’s new editor, Andrea Monda, earlier this year planned to take over as the magazine’s editor. She said he backed off after the editorial board threatened to resign and the Catholic weeklies that distribute translations of “Women Church World” in France, Spain and Latin America, told her they would stop distributing if she weren’t in charge.

“After the attempts to put us under control, came the indirect attempts to delegitimize us,” she said in a statement, citing other women brought in to write for L’Osservatore “with an editorial line opposed to ours.”

The effect, she said, was to “obscure our words, de-legitimizing us as a part of the Holy See’s communications.”

In a statement, Monda denied having tried to weaken “Women Church World” and said that he merely tried to bolster other female voices and viewpoints on the pages of L’Osservatore. He said he always guaranteed the magazine’s autonomy, and limited himself to suggesting ideas or possible contributors.

“Seeking to avoid interference with the monthly insert, I asked for a truly free confrontation in the daily paper, not built on the mechanism of one against the other or of closed groups,” he said. “And I did so as a sign of openness and of the ‘paressia’ (freedom to speak truth) requested by Pope Francis.”

He said he took note of Scaraffia’s “free and autonomous” decision to leave, offered his thanks for her work, and pledged that the magazine would continue on “without clericalism of any sort.”

Scaraffia launched the monthly insert in 2012 and oversaw its growth into a stand-alone Vatican magazine as a voice for women, by women and about issues of interest to the entire Catholic Church.

Circulation of the Italian magazine is estimated at around 12,000, plus its online viewership.

Nicole Winfield is an Associated Press writer.</s>The founder and the all-female editorial board of the Vatican’s women’s magazine have quit after what they say was a campaign to discredit them and put them “under the direct control of men” after they denounced the sexual abuse of nuns by clergy.

The editorial committee of Women Church World, a monthly glossy published alongside the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano, made the announcement in a planned April 1 editorial and in an open letter to Pope Francis. The letter was addressed to the Pope (AP)

In the editorial, which went to the printer last week but has not been published, magazine founder Lucetta Scaraffia wrote: “We are throwing in the towel because we feel surrounded by a climate of distrust and progressive de-legitimisation.”</s>Lucetta Scaraffia reads the special insert on the Theology of Women in L’Osservatore Romano, April 7, 2014. (Andreas Dueren/CNA)

What’s Really Behind the Vatican Newspaper Controversy?

Andrea Monda said he did not interfere in the printing of the monthly companion magazine Donna Chiesa Mondo (Women Church World), in the wake of the resignation of the founder of the multilingual magazine, Lucetta Scaraffia, and its all-female board.

The new editor of the L’Osservatore Romano responded Tuesday to accusations he had waged a Vatican campaign to discredit women working for a women’s issues supplement of the newspaper.

Andrea Monda said he did not interfere “in any way” in the printing of the monthly magazine but only suggested topics and persons for the publication called Donna Chiesa Mondo (Women Church World).

He also said he guaranteed the magazine “complete autonomy” and “total freedom,” and said its budget had been confirmed.

Earlier Tuesday, the Associated Press reported that the multingual magazine's founder, Lucetta Scaraffia, and its all-female board, had resigned on the grounds they were victims of a “progressive de-legitimization” and complaining that Monda had wanted to take over as editor.

But in a statement Tuesday, Monda denied the accusation, saying “in no way did my efforts undermine the scope” of the publication.

He added that his commitment “has been and continues to be that of empowering the daily edition of L’Osservatore Romano” but “certainly not in terms of competition.” Instead, he said he has sought “complementarity with the supplement.”

The Register contacted both Scaraffia and Monda for comment but they had not responded by the time of publication.

In an editorial to be published April 1, but which Scaraffia shared Tuesday with AP, the board complained of feeling “surrounded by a climate of distrust and progressive de-legitimization.”

Scaraffia told the AP that Monda had said he planned to take over from her as editor but reconsidered after the editorial board had threatened to resign.

“After the attempts to put us under control, came the indirect attempts to delegitimize us,” she continued, and added that other women were brought in to write for L’Osservatore “with an editorial line opposed to ours.”

That resulted, she said, in obscuring their words and “de-legitimizing us as a part of the Holy See’s communications.”

In their editorial, the board members complained that the Vatican was “returning to the practice of selecting women [writers] who ensure obedience,” to a “clerical self-reference” that surrenders “parrhesia (freedom to speak freely) that Pope Francis so often seeks.”

But Monda, who made a point of thanking Scaraffia for her “valuable work,” said “in no way” did he choose anyone “with the criterion of obedience” but rather with “the sign of the openness and parrhesia requested by Pope Francis, with whose words and with whose Magisterium we all identify.”

He gave as an example an upcoming roundtable at the newspaper of 17 “highly regarded theologians and scholars” who contributed to an essay called “The Voice of Women.”

“I can offer my assurances that the future of L’Osservatore Romano’s monthly supplement has never been under discussion,” he wrote in closing, “and therefore, that its history will continue uninterrupted. Without clericalism of any kind.”

An inside Vatican source told the Register Tuesday that at least two women who were working on the magazine are furious with Scaraffia because it wasn’t their decision to resign but she took the decision on her own and presented it to the other women as a fait accompli.

Hired by Monda’s predecessor, Giovanni Maria Vian, in 2012, Scaraffia became the most well-known woman in the Vatican and is married to the famous Italian secularist intellectual, Ernesto Galli della Loggia.

She has fought what she sees as “Catholic patriarchy” within the Church hierarchy, and expressed concerns about misogyny and careerism among the clergy. She is also no stranger to appealing, through major news agencies, for change.

“It’s not possible to go on like this,” she said in an interview with Agence France Press in 2012. “There is misogyny in the Church [and] women in the Church are angry!”

In February, she brought attention to the sexual abuse of women religious by clergy, which led to Pope Francis publicly recognizing the problem for the first time, and vowing to do something about it.

Last September, in an interview with Corriere della Sera, she complained that “for the Vatican, women don’t exist” and that the “Church has never faced the sexual revolution” that has “infiltrated inside” in the form of sexual abuse.

But questions were raised about the orthodoxy of some of the content of the magazine under Scaraffia’s leadership. One inside source told the Register there were many problematic pieces in the magazine.

In March 2017, Scaraffia wrote an article in which she said “even more disturbing” than adoption by homosexual couples was the fact that 90% of such court decisions involved male homosexuals, but little prominence was given to their female counterparts.

In June of that year, she wrote a thinly veiled critique of Pope St. John Paul II’s teaching on women, particularly his stress on the complementarity of the sexes.

Some writers who she had contribute to the magazine had little sympathy for orthodox Church’s teaching.

In a 2017 interview in L’Osservatore Romano, Italian author and friend of Scaraffia, Barbara Alberti, praised the Italian communist Antonio Gramsci and wrote that, besides the Italian communist newspaper Il Manifesto, L’Osservatore Romano was “the only newspaper on the left.”

Alberti wrote an article for that month’s edition of Women Church World.

Asked in the Corriere interview who monitors the magazine for orthodoxy, Scaraffia reportedly sighed before saying “everybody and nobody,” adding that some in the Vatican “pretend not to read it.”

One Vatican source called Scaraffia’s departure the consequence of a power struggle. She was one of the last members of the “old guard” to leave the Vatican, the source added, allied not only members such as Vian, but also Cardinal Angelo Becciu, the former sostituto at the Secretariat of State, now the prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

Scaraffia’s departure is just the latest in a major upheaval of Vatican communications.

Last December, Vian was abruptly asked to step down as editor of L’Osservatore Romano. Prior to that, Msgr. Dario Viganò resigned as the prefect of Vatican communications after the “Lettergate” affair, and Jan. 1, former Vatican spokespeople Greg Burke and Paloma Garcia Ovejero handed in their resignations.
The all-female board of Women Church World, a monthly supplement in the L'Osservatore Romano (the Vatican City daily newspaper), resign citing a campaign to discredit them and put them "under the direct control of men".