Some Catholic Church teaching is “rancid” and “has gone off”, according to Mary McAleese, reports Breaking News.
The former president said such teaching “needs to be updated”, adding that “it’s not going to be… by a bunch of, tiny and increasingly small number of celibate male ordained bishops”, reports Breaking News.
She was speaking on a podcast with students at her former school, St Dominic’s in Belfast, Mollie Rodgers (18) and Kathryn Reynolds (17).
McAleese said Pope Leo is “no champion of women, unfortunately”, and criticised what she described as pushback within the Catholic Church against the ordination of women, whether as deacons or priests, reports Breaking News.
She said women look at the pope’s position on women and say “you’ve got a problem of relevance here. You’ve got a problem of credibility here. And you don’t see it, you know, because they’re just not in that field”, reports Breaking News.
In December, a Vatican commission report reaffirmed the ban on women deacons in the Church. A deacon can carry out all priestly duties except hearing confessions or celebrating the Eucharist.
McAleese said that “There are lots of wonderful young women who would make a great job of priesthood and of diaconate”, reports Breaking News.
She added that “there are lots of ideas from women” and “lots of intellectual energy that could really inform church teaching, in particular church teaching that is rancid and has gone off”, reports Breaking News.
Referring to a document presented to church representatives attending the Synod on Synodality in Kilkenny last October, she said: “I just find it so boring and depressing and trite and Pollyanna-ish and not really related to the world of faith that I live in, reports Breaking News.
“The dynamism wasn’t there… I would love to see the energy that… could galvanise the church. But it’s not going to… probably not during Leo’s lifetime anyway”, reports Breaking News.
McAleese told The Irish Times on Friday that by “rancid” teachings she was referring in particular to church doctrine on human sexuality, the ban on artificial contraception in the 1968 Humanae Vitae document, and the prohibition on women deacons and women priests, reports Breaking News.
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