How the church can remedy an original sin

IN his recent very significant letter to the bishops of the Catholic church, which has been unfairly represented as a re-statement of traditionalism, Cardinal Ratzinger puts forward more questions than answers about the role of women in the church.

Among other things, he says that the traditional “societal subjugation of women” is due to original sin and that Adam and Eve had been equal in the sight of God in the Garden of Eden.

So, if one of the tasks of the church is to counter original sin and prepare for the kingdom of God, should the church be promoting rather than restricting women?

Should the church be seeking deliberately to include women in its structures and procedures?

Former President Mary Robinson is quoted (Sunday Business Post, August 29) as saying: “Women must be enabled to participate fully and equally in decision-making within the faiths themselves, and their concerns need to be embraced as priorities in prayer, advocacy and activism.”

If this mild suggestion is reasonable, why then will women be excluded from voting (under the guidance of the holy spirit) in the conclave for the election of the next pope - let alone from being candidates?

Maurice O’Connell

19 Forge Park

Tralee

Co Kerry