A small group of women demonstrated in Rome on Monday in favour of ordaining women priests, which is banned by the Catholic Church.
The demonstration took place outside of a building hosting a meeting of cardinals from all over the world currently discussing changes to the rules of the Roman Curia.
They held up red parasols with slogans in English saying "Ordain women", "Men Rule", "Sexism Is a Cardinal Sin", "Reform Means Women", "More Than Half The Church", "Listen To The Church" and "Here There Are Extraordinary Women".
Vatican police took the protesters in for questioning. Women have been campaigning for many years for the introduction of women priests, like those in other Christian Churches.
On Saturday Pope Francis created 20 new cardinals, who will help elect his successor. The pope, who is often seen in a wheelchair these days due to nagging knee problems, rekindled speculation that he might resign early like his predecessor Benedict XVI did in 2013, by visiting the shrine of the first pope to quit in 1294, Celestine V, in the quake-hit Abruzzo capital of L'Aquila on Sunday.
