Pope Francis allowed women to vote for the first time at the world meeting of bishops to be held in October. Five nuns will be allowed to vote at the synod.

Previously, women were only allowed to attend meetings as observers. However, men would still retain a majority vote at the assembly.

Pope Francis also announced, in a break with tradition, that voting rights would be extended to 70 non-clerical members of the religious community.

He hoped that half of those chosen for the meeting would be women and that special attention would be paid to involving young people.