Shafaq News/ The Vatican made a historic announcement on Monday, stating that Pope Francis has agreed to allow women to vote during a global meeting of bishops set to take place in October.

The move follows a similar decision made by the Pope last year, allowing women to hold more significant positions within the Vatican.

The Pope's latest decision will permit five nuns to vote for the first time at the upcoming meeting, a "historic" step towards empowering women in decision-making within the Roman Catholic Church.

Previously, women were only allowed to attend meetings of the Synod as listeners, without the right to vote. The Pope also decided to include "70 non-bishops representing different groups of the faithful of the people of God," chosen from a list of 140 recommended by national bishops' conferences, with a demand that 50% of them be women.

The Synod conferences usually have around 300 attendees, with a majority being bishops. These two new decisions follow the Pope's previous actions to allow women to hold decision-making positions within the Vatican.