A chara, – I welcome the findings of the recent survey carried out among the faithful in the Diocese of Killala and I commend Bishop John Fleming for his courage in making this possible.
The results confirm what many already know, that most people in the church are in favour of women priests, women deacons and married clergy.
It seems to me that there will be no real change and no end to clericalism in the Catholic Church until women have a say at the highest level of the church. They make up over 50 per cent of the membership of those baptised in the church. Women will never have a say so long as they are treated as second-class citizens. I hope and pray that Pope Francis will soon appoint some women cardinals and then make it possible for women who are called to ministry to be ordained either as deacons or priests. It is a matter of time before this happens and if it provokes a split, so be it. The dinosaurs who oppose change will die out but the Church of Christ will live on enriched and empowered by the new experience and guided, as always, by the Holy Spirit. – Yours, etc,
Fr JOE McVEIGH,
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Enniskillen,
Co Fermanagh.