Click here: to donate by Credit Card
Or here: to donate by PayPal
Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794
Thank you very much and God bless you.
Posted on 03/24/2026 2:14:52 PM PDT by ebb tide
Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich has said he cannot see how the Catholic Church can endure in the long term if women continue to be excluded from ordained ministry.
Speaking at a symposium in Bonn, he said, according to Kath.Ch: “I cannot imagine how a Church can continue to exist in the long term if half of the people of God suffer because they do not have access to ordained ministry.”
The Archbishop of Luxembourg made the remarks during a conference examining synodality and curial reform, where he reflected on how his own thinking on the issue has developed. He said: “As a bishop, I have also learned that this is not just a demand of some left-leaning women’s groups.” He added that his encounters at parish level had shaped that conclusion, insisting that the concern is more widespread than is sometimes suggested.
“When I speak with women in parishes, 90 per cent share the same opinion,” he said, presenting this as a pastoral reality that bishops must take seriously. His comments place him among those senior churchmen who, while not proposing an immediate change in doctrine, have sought to emphasise the strength of feeling among sections of the faithful and the need for continued discussion.
At the same time, Hollerich acknowledged that the question is not viewed in the same way across the universal Church. He cautioned that in some parts of the world the debate is regarded with scepticism or indifference, describing how, for many outside Western Europe, it appears as “artificial problems”. That divergence, he indicated, complicates any attempt to treat the issue as a straightforward global priority and underlines the tensions inherent in a synodal process that seeks to listen to differing voices.
The cardinal’s intervention comes as reforms initiated under Pope Francis, particularly through the apostolic constitution Praedicate Evangelium, have opened senior positions in the Roman Curia to lay men and women. Those changes have been presented in Rome as a widening of participation in Church governance.
Cardinal Hollerich indicated that the expansion of women’s roles in leadership would continue under Pope Leo XIV, saying that the principle should be that women are able to take part in decision-making wherever possible within the existing framework. “It would be my deepest wish that the whole Church rejoices in this,” he said, referring to the growing presence of women in positions of responsibility.
The cardinal’s remarks follow the publication of a further Vatican study document commissioned after the opening phase of the synodal process, addressing the same questions from a more detailed theological and pastoral perspective.
The text, issued on March 3 by the General Secretariat of the Synod, sets out the findings of Study Group No 5, which was tasked with examining “women’s participation in the life and leadership of the Church”. It is one of several reports requested by Pope Francis following the first session of the Synod of Bishops’ XVI Ordinary General Assembly, with the aim of exploring issues that could not be fully resolved during the assembly itself and informing the next stage of the process.
In a statement accompanying the publication, Cardinal Mario Grech said the debate must be understood in its broader context, arguing that “when speaking about the role of women in the life of the Church, we must be aware that it is first and foremost a matter of cultural order”. He warned that “too often, the way faith is lived is determined by certain cultural aspects rather than by Gospel values”, and said the Church must ensure its mission promotes “respect for the rights of all and co-responsibility according to each person’s vocation”.
|
|
Click here: to donate by Credit Card Or here: to donate by PayPal Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794 Thank you very much and God bless you. |
However, God promised the Catholic Church will prevail against the Gates of Hell.
P.S. Hollerich is not only a Jesuit; he's a frankencardinal (2019).
Ping
The Church will suffer if it is influenced by agnostic bishops and cardinals. A purge is necessary.
The end of the Catholic Church, if they did that. It will go the way of all the other churches.
“I cannot imagine how a Church can continue to exist in the long term if half of the people of God suffer because they do not have access to ordained ministry.”
I wonder if he considers 2,000 years “long term” enough?
A Jesuit. We might have known. I cannot see how the Church CAN continue to exist in the long run if the ordained ministry is flooded with a bunch of narcissistic, ambitious, sexually ambiguous and spiritually untethered females. In spite of recent sign of growth and strength, it would wither and die, like Mainstream protestant churches, shriveled husks of leftwing social action clubs.
May as well invite an Imam to co-celebrate Mass, or a pope to preside over a pagan Amazonian ceremony.
Are you Catholic?
This is a Catholic Caucus. Posters must be Catholic to participate. Rules of the forum.
If they want the catholic church to be ruled by emotions that are void of standing for morals and biblical truths then go ahead and do that. I used to think it was more the other way around. But time and observation has changed that. There are exceptions, but that is a big gamble.
Maybe this guy should get another job
This idea is an extension of Vat II. Liberals need to reverse Vat II, stick to Christ’s Teachings and resurrect the Latin Mass so the Church can succeed.
Jesus Christ, Himself, instituted the priesthood at the Last Supper, and demonstrated that evening that priests were to be servants, not masters, of the laity.
“Women priests” are all about power, not service - the same as with so many gay priests. Sadly, women had the majority of power for many centuries by virtue of their gift of sex. But they squandered their power by adopting wide-scale birth control, and now are left powerless and irrelevant and sad. Hence, they seek to usurp power from men rather than doing the work of re-instituting their righteous sexual power.
Finally after 2,000 years this guy is gonna fix things.
If I walked into a “Catholic” church and saw a woman in vestments pretending to consecrate the Blessed Sacrament, I would shake the dust off my feet on the way out the door.
What a diseased mindset: the priesthood as a reward or key to power. There may be plenty of MEN who see it as such, but that’s a BAD thing, not something we want to encourage.
At the same time, the rampant clericalism of Pope Francis and Pope Leo, the seizure of temporal power wherein the papacy is a throne from which to steer the people of God into an army with which to influence politics, is an abject evil which encourages this rot.
Every decent Catholic priest and layman should proclaim from the rooftops that the Pope is not infallible on temporal politics, and is both abusing his power and fomenting heresy when he pretends that he is.
When did that change? I always understood that a Catholic Caucus thread was closed to non-Catholics. These were instituted so Catholics could discuss their faith without the vitriol and bigotry that often infests general Religion threads.
Moderator, what say you?
Synodality is a wicked thing and if pursued as these clerics and leftist lay people want to, will cause grave damage to the faith.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.