( CNN ) -- There are approximately 600 million Catholic women in the world , but none will have a direct say in who the next pope will be . The 115 cardinals voting for the pope are men . One of these men will be chosen to succeed Benedict XVI , continuing an exclusively male club . Or is it ? Two movies have been made about Pope Joan , who , according to legend , was a ninth-century Englishwoman who disguised herself under voluminous clerical robes to become a priest , something women are not allowed to be in the Catholic Church . As the story goes , Joan outdid all the men in her religious studies and rose in the ranks of the cardinals to become pope . She then went into labor during a papal procession and the mob descended on her and her child , ending her reign . Diarmaid MacCulloch , a theologian and historian from Oxford University , said the story of Pope Joan is a myth , nothing but satirical fiction . `` It keeps appealing to new anxieties and new interests , '' he said . `` So first it 's medieval people who resented the papacy . Then it 's Protestants . Then it 's French revolutionaries who want to discredit the church . `` The next constituency is actually Catholics who want to see women priests . And this seems to me the most dangerous aspect of the story , because it 's using a story which is patently nonsense to boost a good cause . '' But Pope Joan still has her believers . Why , they ask , were cardinals asked to sit on a uniquely shaped chair well into the 16th century ? Was it a birthing chair ? Or , as legend holds , a specially designed seat for checking the next Pope had the right , shall we say , equipment for the job ? What about the peculiarly named Vicus Papissa , or Road of the Lady Pope , a medieval alleyway shunned by papal processions ? This , according to legend , is where Pope Joan came to an end . There is even a shrine said to be dedicated to her and her child . Historians say the road is named not for Pope Joan , but for the Pape family that lived there . Still , the legend endures , as do calls for women to break through the stained-glass ceiling and have a greater say in the church . At Rome 's Church of St. Lucia , the art on the walls highlights the central role that women have had in the church 's past . Catholics revere Mary , the mother of Jesus , and church history is replete with female saints who struggled and died for the faith . Others refused to stay silent when they saw evil in the church 's ranks : In the 14th century , St. Catherine of Siena famously called the cardinals `` devils in human form . '' `` Everyone would like to have more women everywhere , because this is a fact that is not possible to stop : Nowadays , women are very , very strong , '' said Alessandra Candrelli , one of the many women worshiping at the Church of St. Lucia . A bit of female advice might help the church steer its way through troubled waters , said Donna Orsuto , a professor from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome . `` It certainly brings more balance when you have contact with women and when you listen to women especially and listen to their perspective , '' she said . `` And I think a lot of the ways that this ( abuse ) crisis was handled in the church , to have had more women 's input in dealing with it would have been a better thing . '' Who are the front-runners to replace Benedict XVI ? Sister Mary Ann Walsh of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops concedes that the church 's hierarchy is male-dominated , but said women do occupy important lay positions in Catholic social and relief organizations . `` If you take ordination off the table , in the U.S. our statistics are better than the Department of Labor when it comes to women in executive positions , '' Walsh said . For now , however , women have at best an indirect influence on the Vatican 's upper echelon . `` Certainly the church is not a democratic society in the way civil society understands , '' said Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins of Portugal . `` It 's a hierarchical church , therefore not everyone is equal . '' Women 's voices might be louder than before , but will there ever be a female pope ? MacCulloch said he could see it happening one day . `` It 's surprising how quickly these things happen once the idea gets around , '' he said . `` But do n't hold your breath . ''
The Vatican 's upper echelon appears to be an exclusive men 's club . Women are n't allowed to be ordained as priests , so they can not become pope . Still , many women hold executive lay positions in Catholic organizations . Some believe there was once a female pope ; movies have been made about the medieval tale .