McAleese’s wise words

FORMER president Mary McAleese is not one to mince her words. That is why when, last week, she likened the Catholic Church to an ‘empire of misogyny’, she grabbed global headlines. Here was a devout Roman Catholic of international repute, accusing the Church she loves of a systematic exclusion of women.

The fact that women are barred by the Catholic Church from ordination, has its origins in Christ’s selection of 12 men as his apostles. Even Pope Francis has, for this reason, insisted that the doors are firmly closed to women priests. However, in an age of universal equality, it is a rule that strikes many people as archaic.

Mary McAleese does not wish to undermine the Church but to shake it from its institutional torpor. As an institution whose influence is rapidly diminishing, it would do well to pay heed.