The Synod in Rome is well in to its final week. I am disappointed with the very limited coverage being given to the event by the Irish media in general. For ‘anoraks’ like myself there are numerous websites which give a blow by blow of everything that is happening. But for the average Irish person, I suspect there is very little awareness that anything at all is going on.
And that is a pity.
A reminder that Tony Flannery will be the speaker at our meeting at 7.30pm on Monday 12th of October 2015 in the Jesuit Conference Centre, Milltown, Ranelagh, Dublin 4.
He will be sharing his views about the Women’s Ordination Worldwide (WOW) Conference in Philadelphia (18-20 September 2015) at which he was a speaker.
Please note that Tony Flannery has launched an urgent appeal looking for a group of priests, still active in ministry, who would be willing to put their names to a statement calling for open discussion on the equality of women, including all aspects of ministry.
Pope John Paul, followed by Pope Benedict, put the issue of womens’ ordination off the agenda, formally declaring that it cannot even be discussed. During Pope Benedict’s time an effort was made to make this into an infallible teaching.
I have no doubt that the issue of women’s place in the Catholic Church is going to be an increasingly defining question for the Church, and potentially the greatest obstacle to the Church fulfilling its mission of promoting the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
