Sister Nathalie Becquart | |
|---|---|
 In Versailles, 2015 | |
| Personal life | |
| Born | 1969 (age 55–56) |
| Nationality | French |
| Education | HEC Paris,Boston College |
| Known for | Among first women consultors to a Holy See general secretariat |
| Religious life | |
| Religion | Catholic |
| Institute | Congregation of Xavières |
| Senior posting | |
| Present post | Undersecretary of theSynod of Bishops |
| Previous post | Director of French Catholic National Service for the Evangelization of Young People and for Vocations |
Nathalie Becquart,XMCJ (born 1969) is aFrench Catholic religious sister who has served as an undersecretary of theSynod of Bishops since 2021. She is the first woman to hold such a position and the first to have voting rights in the Synod. She is a member of theCongregation of Xavières.
Becquart was appointed a consultor to the Synod of Bishops in 2019 and named one of its undersecretaries in 2021. From 2008 to 2018, she oversaw the National Service for the Evangelization of Young People and for Vocations (SNEJV) within theBishops' Conference of France.
Nathalie Becquart was born inFontainebleau in 1969. She graduated fromHEC Paris in 1992, with a major in entrepreneurship. She volunteered inLebanon for a year and then worked for two years as a consultant in marketing-communication.[2]
In 1995 she joined theCongregation of Xavières. After a postulancy inMarseille and two years ofnovitiate, she went on mission for three years to the national team ofScouts de France, in charge of thePlein Vent program (scouting in working-class neighborhoods). She studied theology and philosophy at theCentre Sèvres (theJesuit seminary in Paris)[3] as well as sociology at theSchool for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences.[4]
As soon as she joined the Xavières, Becquart began supporting young people within the Ignatian Youth Network (now known as the Magis Network). She was president of the association "Life at sea, entry into prayer" which offers young people spiritual retreats on sailboats and animates many cruise-retreats as skippers or spiritual guides. In her youth she had enjoyed vacations at sea.[5] In 2006, she became responsible for the chaplaincy of students inCréteil.
In 2008, the Conference of Bishops of France appointed her deputy director of student pastoral care, and in 2012 director of the national service for the evangelization of young people and for vocations.[6]
This led to her involvement in the preparation for the synod of bishops on "Young People, Faith, and Vocational Discernment", both in France and in Rome where she was appointed general coordinator of the pre-synod of young people in March 2018 and auditor for thisFifteenth Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on young people in October 2018.[7]
On 24 May 2019, she was appointed, along with four other women and one man, as consultor to the general secretariat of theSynod of Bishops in the Catholic Church. It is the first time for women to be appointed to that position.[8] She saw the appointment as a part ofPope Francis's effort "to implement synodality at every level of the Church’s life" and to benefit from the important contribution that women can make.[9] Becquart proposed a symbolic step of asking a woman to lead the retreat for theRoman Curia one year.[10][11]
On 6 February 2021, Pope Francis appointed her an undersecretary of the Synod of Bishops,[12] making her the first woman to have the right to vote in the Catholic Synod of Bishops.[13]
She is the author of several books:
Address to vocational directors at Hamilton, Ontario
Address to vocational directors at Hamilton, Ontario
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