AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald
Joanne McCarthy
9 Feb 2017
ONE of the Australian Catholic Church’s strongest internal critics has told the child abuse royal commission that Pope Francis should replace half the church’s most senior clerics with “progressive women theologians”.
Catholics for Renewal president Peter Johnstone said women in the church was “an obvious lack”, a point accepted by Brisbane Archbishop Mark Coleridge during a hearing on Wednesday about church governance and its role in the child sexual abuse crisis.
“The first thing anyone who understands the challenge of leadership does, is understand the need for gender balance. Women are half the population and should be involved in good governance,” Mr Johnstone said.
“I think there needs to be a circuit breaker in the church. The Pope could appoint 50 per cent of positions within the curia as progressive women theologians. That would change the dynamic tomorrow.”
Mr Johnstone strongly criticised the church for failing to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ, a factor that he said contributed to the global crisis.
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