By Philip Pullella

VATICAN CITY (Reuters] – Pope Francis conferred Sunday the lay Roman Catholic ministry of catechist and lector on women for the first times. This is a role that many others had previously done without institutional recognition.

At a Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica he conferred the ministry. He made a reference to some conservative resistance to change and criticised anyone who needs to adhere to rigid rules in order to find God.

Francis made changes to Church law last year regarding ministries of lector, acolyte and priest, which had mainly been reserved for seminarians in preparation for the priesthood.

The acolytes read the scriptures, lectors are adept at reading from it, and catechists can teach children and adults how to be Catholic.

While the ministry of acolyte or lector was previously available, it was only for men. The ministry of the catechist was established by Francis last year.

On Sunday, the pope appointed six women and two men to be lectors. Three women and five men were designated as catechists. Each lector received a Bible and each catechist a Crucifix from Francis.

Conservative bishops will find it harder to prevent women from being ordained in their dioceses by formalizing the process, which includes a conferral ceremony.

This will make a significant difference in recognition of women living in areas like Amazon (NASDAQ):, where they are de facto religious leaders for remote communities that have suffered from a shortage of priests.

Vatican stresses that these roles do not preclude women from becoming priests. According to the Catholic Church, priests can only be men because Jesus only chose men for his apostles.

According to supporters of a female priesthood, Jesus was following the traditions of his day and women were a more important part of the early Church than commonly recognized.

Francis appointed several women to high-ranking positions in Vatican ministries previously held only by men.