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Mainz (dpa) - For the first time in the history of the diocese of Mainz, a women's commission is to advise the bishop.

The twelve women for this body are to be determined at a digital women's meeting on June 19, as the diocese announced on Thursday.

Many Catholics have been criticizing the unequal treatment of women in the church for years and are calling for more equality.

Among other things, the diocese names “reflecting on and working out steps” as the task of the new women's commission on how “participation by women and gender equality can be promoted and implemented at all levels and in the structures”.

According to the information, the commission goes back to proposals from the “Catholic Women's Community of Germany” (kfd) and the “Catholic German Women's Association (KDFB)” to Bishop Peter Kohlgraf.

The body is elected for two years and is intended to advise the bishop and diocesan pastoral council.

Women from "all areas of church and society" are invited to the meeting that the commission elects and will discuss on the topic of women in the church.

Registration is possible online until May 20th on the diocese's homepage.

The diocese of Mainz extends to areas in Rhineland-Palatinate and Hesse.

The role of women in pastoral life is currently one of the most controversial issues in the Catholic Church, alongside the Vatican's ban on blessings for homosexual couples, compulsory celibacy and the processing of cases of sexual violence.

At the end of February, supporters of the Catholic reform movement “Maria 2.0” posted posters with their demands on the doors of churches in Mainz and the surrounding area.

The activists demand, among other things, more equality, the education of sexual abuse, the abolition of compulsory celibacy and the recognition of different ways of life.

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Bishop Kohlgraf said in the online invitation to the women's assembly: "In discussions with full-time and voluntary employees and with many believers, I perceive a great dissatisfaction with the current situation."

He hopes the new commission will provide concrete suggestions on how "we can better meet the issues and wishes of women here in the Diocese of Mainz".

© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210408-99-126312 / 2

Women's commission in the diocese