While much of the world’s attention is on what will happen in the Sistine Chapel and the men who began choosing the Church’s next leader May 7, the enduring legacy of Pope Francis is seen in the women whose voices helped shape — and carry forward — his vision.

Despite the fact that several women held influential positions under Pope Francis — including Sr. Raffaella Petrini, a Franciscan Sister of the Eucharist, who is the president of the office governing Vatican City State — none will participate directly in the conclave.

Nonetheless, Pope Francis’ decision to include women in Vatican governance is a significant legacy and a reminder of the pivotal roles these women have played and could continue to play in future papacies.

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One of the big questions in the air at the Vatican now is whether the direct style of communications of Pope Francis will endure. Pope Francis didn’t just change how the Church governs or teaches, he transformed how it speaks, said Paloma Garcia Ovejero, the first woman to become the Vatican’s deputy spokesperson.

García Ovejero, now head of international media for the nongovernmental organization Mary’s Meals, which focuses on feeding the millions of children who are still starving in the world, said she lived that change from the inside out.

“Pope Francis preached a Church with open doors — and that means everyone, everyone, everyone, including communicators, starting with himself,” García Ovejero said. “He broke every mold, every framework, every expectation — and even his own habits.”

Having first covered Pope Francis as a Rome correspondent and later serving directly under him as the deputy of the Vatican’s press office, García Ovejero experienced both the depth and daring of his communication style.

“What I discovered was the freedom with which he communicated — freedom that comes from having your foundations in the tabernacle,” she said. “Francis was a giant in faith, a man of prayer. And that’s what gave him wings — his spontaneity, his courage, even his provocativeness.”

For her, the most important lesson was clear: The Church is not just the Holy See — “those are just the offices.” For Francis, Church governance extended to the peripheries. 

“Just as important — if not more — are the women in the peripheries of the Earth. The sleepless nights of every woman who gives life in silence and anonymity,” García Ovejero said.

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For Xavière Missionary Sister Nathalie Becquart, undersecretary of the Synod of Bishops who in 2023 became the first woman with voting rights in a Synod, the Francis era was defined by a radical inclusivity and a new way of listening.

“Pope Francis’ legacy is a Church open to all, a Church of synodality that welcomes incredible diversity — people from every walk of life, from families with children to people with disabilities, to the poor and those on the margins,” she said. “Even now, as we gather to pray for him, we see his vision of a Church that listens and includes everyone, beyond all differences.”

Becquart, who was at the heart of the Synod on Synodality, says the process was not simply about structures, but about fostering a missionary spirit. 

“For Francis, synodality is not just a way of organizing the Church — it’s the path to renew its missionary spirit. Through the synodal process, we have learned to listen deeply to young people, those in the peripheries, and each other. This is how the Church becomes more missionary: by walking together, listening and accompanying one another in our diversity.”

Salesian Sister Alessandra Smerilli, secretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, sees Pope Francis’ impact most vividly in how the Church serves the world.

“The work of our dicastery is to accompany all the local churches, always aware that everyone needs development, and that peripheries are not only geographical. Our mission is not just to bring the Church to the margins, but also to bring the margins to the centre — to ensure that the voices of the peripheries are heard,” she reflected.

Smerilli is currently the only woman in a top position at a Vatican dicastery during this period of “sede vacante,” or the period when the see of Rome is vacant before the election of a new pope. Her position highlights the Pope’s push for financial transparency as a matter of credibility for the Church’s missionary mandate.

“There have been great strides in transparency, centralization and oversight of Vatican finances under Pope Francis,” she said. “All this is to ensure that nothing is wasted, and that what comes to us is used to serve local churches and the poor. Financial transparency is fundamental for the credibility of the Church as a missionary institution.”

Having participated closely in the Synod on Synodality, Kim Daniels sees in it the fruit of Pope Francis’ missionary openness. Daniels is director of the Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life at Georgetown University in Washington and a member of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communications.

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“A centuries-old, global, multicultural, multilingual institution of 1.3 billion people came together to listen to each other so as to face our deepest challenges head-on and work to renew our Church,” she said. Despite disagreements and human frailty, Daniels noted, the synodal process revealed a remarkable unity of purpose: “That’s remarkable and surprising — and a story that needs to be more widely known.”

For her, what Francis taught the world is that “we’re called to announce the Good News of the love of God and our neighbours, and that’s a social mission that flows from a posture of openness and engagement with the world.” She added that he reminded communicators that effective outreach requires a “clear and decisive focus on the beating heart of the Gospel” — a message of hope, mercy and encounter.