Sir, - I believe that the ordination of women priests of the Roman Catholic Church is quite inevitable and to delay its arrival serves the Church very badly.
To those opposed to this change I would point out that since the early 1960s we have seen the following changes in the customs and beliefs of the Church:
The vernacular Mass.
The redesign of churches so that the priest faces the people during ceremonies.
Lay readers and lay ministers of the Eucharist of both sexes.
Lay preachers and married deacons (both in England).
Altar girls (in some Irish parishes).
Apart from the pressure from Catholic feminists, the Church must take into account the shortage of men candidates for the priesthood, the closure of some seminaries and the trend in other Christian churches to appoint women priests and ministers with apparent success. - Yours, etc., Emmet M. J. McElhatton,
Letterkenny, Co Donegal.