Women heading Roman Curia?

What role should women play in the Church? It is a pity that we are still discussing this topic. It should have been resolved ages ago. Unfortunately, the macho attitude that has reigned in the Catholic Church for centuries is still alive and kicking in several quarters.

We do not want to go into controversial topics like women priests. We think that in fact such discussions sometimes do not do any good for the cause of women in the Church.

A recent story which would perhaps cause more controversy without concomitant fruit was the position taken by Auxiliary Bishop Vincent Malone of Liverpool. He said there might be circumstances in which it was more appropriate for a woman to give absolution than a man.

In a new book, Healing Priesthood: Women's Voices Worldwide, the bishop compared the confessional to a medical practice, where patients are routinely given the choice between a male and a female doctor, and he asked whether the time had come to offer Catholic women a similar choice of confessor. The bishop also questioned whether the Church should continue to keep lay men and women from administering the sacrament of anointing of the sick.

Bishop Malone, episcopal liaison to the National Board of Catholic Women of England and Wales, said: "It is not difficult to conceive circumstances in which a female minister could more appropriately than a man be the receiver of the humble confession that opens a soul to hear the glad words of the Lord's forgiveness.

"So could the Church think of the possibility that a lay man or woman attending a sick person could not only pray with them and pray over them, but could pray the Church's most solemn prayers over them with sacramental anointing? Certainly no individual can simply take that initiative by himself/herself and act against the present discipline of the Church: that would not be a sacramental act," the 71-year-old bishop wrote.

Lay administration of the sacraments of reconciliation and anointing of the sick are forbidden under canon law. But Bishop Malone insisted that his reflections were not meant to provoke disobedience among the faithful. "Such thoughts are not intended as an incitement to rebellion; rather they are a quiet reflection on what is meant by healing priesthood," he wrote.

We do not doubt the good intentions of Bishop Malone but we question the wisdom behind such strategies.

Much more fruitful is the attitude of the Belgian Cardinal Godfried Daneels. He has indicated his belief that women should be included among the leaders of the Church, including positions at the Roman Curia. "Two of my deputies are women," the cardinal observed, "so I cannot see why a woman could not lead a Vatican congregation."

The cardinal, who is often listed among the leading candidates to replace Pope John Paul II, explained that in his Brussels archdiocese, two women carry out the duties that are ordinarily assigned to a vicar-general.

Church law requires that a vicar-general must be a priest, and so the women do not hold that title. But the cardinal indicated that he believes that Church law should be changed. "Today the power structure of the Church is male," Cardinal Daneels said. "But it does not necessarily have to stay that way." He argued that the common reference to "Mother Church" shows a widespread appreciation of the feminine aspects of Catholicism.

Cardinal Daneels made his remarks in an interview in Jubilee, a publication issued for the 75th anniversary of the University of Tilburg.

Most probably it would take some more years before Daneels ideal would be put into practice in the Vatican. Quite naturally we are here not contemplating the scenario that Cardinal Daneels will be the next Pope since that would tend to expedite matters!