ROME – The Vatican responded Wednesday to criticism that the title of Pope Francis’ upcoming encyclical on the post-COVID world is sexist, saying the document, “Fratelli Tutti,” ("Brothers All") in no way excludes women.In Italian, “fratelli” means brothers but it is also used as the inclusive, brothers and sisters.
Since Francis takes pains to always address crowds as “fratelli e sorelle” (“brothers and sisters”) the absence of an explicit reference to sisters in the title was seen by some as another expression of exclusion in an institution long criticized for treating women as second-class citizens.On Wednesday, the Vatican’s editorial director, Andrea Tornielli, stressed that the title was taken from the words of St.