Nathalie Becquart,
XMCJ (born 1969) is a
French Catholic religious sister who has served as an undersecretary of the
Synod 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 the
Congregation 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 the
Bishops' Conference of France.
Early life and education
Nathalie Becquart was born in
Fontainebleau
Fontainebleau ( , , ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Functional area (France), metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located south-southeast of the Kilometre zero#France, centre of Paris. Fontainebleau is a Subprefectures in Franc ...
in 1969. She graduated from
HEC Paris
HEC Paris () is a business school and ''grande école'' located in Jouy-en-Josas, a southwestern outer suburb of Paris, France. It offers Bachelor, MiM, MSc in International Finance, MBA, EMBA, executive education, professional developm ...
in 1992, with a major in entrepreneurship. She volunteered in
Lebanon
Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...
for a year and then worked for two years as a consultant in marketing-communication.
In 1995 she joined the
Congregation of Xavières. After a postulancy in
Marseille
Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...
and two years of
novitiate
The novitiate, also called the noviciate, is the period of training and preparation that a Christian ''novice'' (or ''prospective'') monastic, apostolic, or member of a religious order undergoes prior to taking vows in order to discern whether ...
, she went on mission for three years to the national team of
Scouts de France, in charge of the ''Plein Vent'' program (scouting in working-class neighborhoods). She studied theology and philosophy at the
Centre Sèvres (the
Jesuit
The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...
seminary in Paris) as well as sociology at the
School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences
The School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (, EHESS) is a graduate ''grande école'' and '' grand établissement'' in Paris focused on academic research in the social sciences. The school awards Master and PhD degrees alone and conjo ...
.
Youth ministry
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. In 2006, she became responsible for the chaplaincy of students in
Créteil
Créteil () is a Communes of France, commune in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, Île-de-France. It is located from the Kilometre Zero, centre of Paris. Créteil is the ''préfecture'' (capital) of the Val-de-Marne Departments of France, dep ...
.
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.
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 this
Fifteenth Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on young people in October 2018.
Synod of Bishops
On 24 May 2019, she was appointed, along with four other women and one man, as consultor to the general secretariat of the
Synod of Bishops in the Catholic Church
In the Catholic Church, the Synod of Bishops is an influential, global, consultative and advisory body to the pope. It is one of the mechanisms through which Catholic bishops—the most senior ordained members of the Church—communally render ...
. It is the first time for women to be appointed to that position. She saw the appointment as a part of
Pope Francis
Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...
's effort "to implement synodality at every level of the Church’s life" and to benefit from the important contribution that women can make. Becquart proposed a symbolic step of asking a woman to lead the retreat for the
Roman Curia
The Roman Curia () comprises the administrative institutions of the Holy See and the central body through which the affairs of the Catholic Church are conducted. The Roman Curia is the institution of which the Roman Pontiff ordinarily makes use ...
one year.
On 6 February 2021, Pope Francis appointed her an undersecretary of the Synod of Bishops, making her the first woman to have the right to vote in the Catholic Synod of Bishops.
Bibliography
She is the author of several books:
* ''100 prayers to weather the storm'', Paris, Salvator, coll. "100 prayers", October 2012 ();
* ''The evangelization of young people, a challenge'', Paris, Salvator. May 2013 ();
* ''Religious, why?'' Paris, Salvator, March 2017, 144 p. ();
* ''The spirit renews everything'', Paris, Salvator, February 2020.
References
;Additional sources
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Becquart, Nathalie
1969 births
Living people
20th-century French nuns
21st-century French nuns
Women officials of the Roman Curia
HEC Paris alumni