CANADA
CBC News
Aleksandra Sagan, CBC News
Posted: Feb 27, 2013
As Pope Benedict XVI prepares to retire this week, and the College of Cardinals readies to elect a new Roman Catholic Church leader, many wonder if Benedict’s successor will take a more liberal position on women joining the priesthood, a sacrament currently forbidden to women.
‘Whereas the Western world may be ready for women clergy … a lot of the world is just not ready for that yet.’—Terence Fay, theology teacher
“Respecting women and giving them a larger role in the church is very important,” Terence Fay, a Jesuit priest who teaches at the University of Toronto’s school of theology, told CBC News. “But, that takes time to move in that direction.”
He said the pope is the CEO of the largest corporation in the world and, like any administrator moving into a new leadership position, can only move so much on the political spectrum during a term. Making radical changes — such as starting to ordain women — would destroy the pope’s constituency, he said.
“Whereas the Western world may be ready for women clergy and so forth, a lot of the world is just not ready for that yet,” said Fay.
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