Eight women theologians and voices from around the world: faith also has the face of those who study it
Leo XIV renews the International Theological Commission for 2026–2031. Thirty scholars, eight women and a mission to be told in simple words: helping the Church to deepen the great questions of faith.
Theology may seem like a librarian word: high books, difficult titles, questions that require a lifetime. Then you find out who works there and that word takes faces, names, countries. Women and men who teach, study, discuss; people who dedicate their work to understanding faith and finding words capable of expressing it rigorously.
On October 19 , 2026 , Pope Leo XIV renewed the composition of the International Theological Commission . The new five-year period will reach 2031. Among its thirty members are eight women: a figure that deserves attention, and above all some more names to know.
Eight women: that's who I am
The composition published by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith includes Teresa Hyeon Soon Choi, Mary Teresa Fattori, Shu Chin (Mary Teresa) Hu, Claudia Leal Luna, Isabell Naumann, Josée Ngalula, Sara Parvis and Anne-Sophie Vivier-Muresan.
The list includes different origins: South Korea, Italy, Taiwan, Chile, Australia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Scotland and France. Theology, seen through these names, stops having a single accent. Not all are new components: some presences continue a work already started.
The number of women rises from five to eight, five of them laywomen. Across the commission, there are eight lay members in total. Their work brings the contribution of people who study and teach faith outside ordained and consecrated life.
An international team, seriously.
The new group brings together thirteen representatives from Europe, four from Asia, four from Africa, three from North America, five from South America and one from Australia. The distribution is reported by the Vatican communication on renewal.
Experiences developed in different contexts matter. A question can be shared by many and, at the same time, present itself with different nuances depending on the language, culture and history of a community. The internationality allows to put these perspectives in comparison, within a common work.
It is also the reason why nominations do not end up in a list to scroll through. Behind each name there is a path of training and research. The feminine presence must be read within this competence: study, responsibility and participation in a reflection that concerns the whole Church.
But what does the Commission do in practice?
The official task is to help the Holy See, in particular the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, to examine doctrinal issues of greater importance. The body therefore has a role of study and advice.
The President is Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández; the Secretary-General is Monsignor Piero Coda. The members are appointed by the Pope for five years, on the proposal of the Prefect of the Dicastery and after consultation with the Bishops' Conferences.
The Commission shall meet in plenary session at least once a year and may also work through sub-committees. The results of the studies are presented to the Pope and made available to the Dicastery. For the new group, the plenary is announced from 23 to 27 November.
Study and the Magisterium have distinct responsibilities
To understand the news requires an essential distinction. The Commission makes a contribution to the Magisterium; its appointments do not announce new doctrinal decisions on their own. The work of theologians and the responsibility for the teaching of the Church are connected, with their own tasks.
This report is explained in the definitive statutes promulgated by John Paul II with the motu proprio Tredecim anni , of 6 August 1982. The document describes theological study as an aid to the service entrusted to the Pope and to the bishops. It also establishes how the work is organised, how the conclusions are submitted and under what conditions documents may be published.
The different qualifications of the texts must remain recognizable: a Commission study, a preparatory report and a personal opinion have different responsibilities. Understanding it also helps to better read the titles we meet online, without attributing to each intervention the value of an official decision.
A story started in 1969
The Commission was established by Paul VI on .. 11 April 1969, following a proposal from the Synod of Bishops. The renewal of 2026 is therefore part of a history of more than half a century: the idea of putting at the service of the Church the comparison between scholars of different schools and nations.
The statutes of 1982 also underline the value of knowledge of emerging cultures and problems. Theological work requires listening to the present, in addition to familiarity with the sources of faith. Questions change formulation, situations become new, words must be understood and used with care.
Why this news concerns us
Maybe we'll never open a theology treatise. Yet knowing who is involved in this work changes the distance we look at it. Faith lived in families, parishes and daily choices also needs people who are patiently studying what we confess and how we tell it.
Eight theologians within a Commission of thirty scholars do not tell all about the presence of women in the Church. But they tell a precise fact: these competences have a recognized place in an organism that offers its work to the Holy See. And a recognized name is already more concrete than so many generic formulas.
The next time we read the International Theological Commission, we can then imagine a working table with different voices. People who make years of study available. It is a faith that also invites you to think, to understand better, to seek the right words.
