Pope Francis faces calls for ‘paradigm change’ on women’s issues

Pope Francis delivers his message as he meets with students of the Louvain Catholic University (Andrew Medichini/AP/PA)

Pope Francis’ trip through Belgium reached new lows on Saturday when Catholic university women demanded to his face a “paradigm change” on women’s issues in the church and then expressed deep disappointment when Francis dug in.

The Catholic Louvain University, the Francophone campus of Belgium’s storied Catholic university, issued a scathing statement after Francis visited and repeated his view that women are the “fertile” nurturers of the church, inducing grimaces in his audience.