Inbuilt anti-woman bias

Sir — Dearbhail McDonald’s excellent article on the barring of Mary McAleese from the Vatican expresses the anger of Catholic women at her insulting treatment by Cardinal Kevin Farrell (Sunday Independent, February 4).

It beggars belief that the Vatican hierarchy still continues its misogynistic attitudes in this modern society where women are finally being accepted as equals in dignity, respect and talent to men.

But these inbuilt clerical anti-woman and anti-LBGTI orientations are not just limited within the confines of the Vatican as they have been exposed in the behind-thescenes banning of images of LBGTI couples in the booklet promoting the forthcoming World Meeting of Families being held in Dublin in August.

These Roman Curial Cardinals, who in effect control the Catholic Church, are driving young people and especially women from a Church which has failed to read the signs of the times and continues to be irreformable.

Pope Francis, now entering his fifth year in office, has adopted the softly, softly approach with these hardline cardinals; it is now time for him to exert his Papal authority over these men and replace them with men and women who are inspired by justice and compassion but most of all proclaim and practise the Good News of Jesus of Nazareth. Brendan Butler, Malahide, Co Dublin