Women's synod will see Mary McAleese and Cherie Blair push for female equality in Catholic Church

Both women will be urging change in the official Church’s thinking on the role of women, who "are already doing 90% of the work in the parishes", according to Miriam Duignan of Women’s Ordination Worldwide.

The Catholic Church 'have to do something more than a cynical exercise of kicking the can down the road', said Mary McAleese. Picture: PA

Next Wednesday Pope Francis will formally open a Synod of Bishops in Rome that could plot the future of the Catholic Church — but an international group of women will hold an alternative synod alongside the official event, pushing for female equality.

Two of the keynote speakers at the alternative synod — entitled Spirit Unbounded — will be former Irish President Mary McAleese and Cherie Blair, wife of the former British prime minister.