Paying lip service won’t end well

■ I would put Mary McAleese’s “empire of misogyny” speech in Rome up there with the iconic speeches.

Yet the author of this brilliant and far-reaching speech has absolutely no significant bearing within the Catholic Church simply because she is of the wrong sex – a female. The fact the Church even refused to let her deliver these inspiring words within the Vatican walls raises similarities with the Church’s treatment of another Mary – Mary Magdalene.

As the author Michael Haag said, “although Mary (Magdalene) stands at the heart of one of the greatest spiritual stories, she was sidelined and ignored by the new religion promoted by the 12 male disciples”.

If we in the medical profession had taken the same approach we would never have heard of Marie Curie or Florence Nightingale.

Common sense tells us that failure of the present day Church to treat women as equals, and not just offer lip service and kind words, will most definitely spell the end of the Catholic Church as we know it.

Dr Aidan Hampson Artane, Dublin 5