Reply #9: Agreed - in the end, if we can't agree we have to leave,

[Matilda]

and that's what happened to Paul Collins, but in his case I think
they (read Archbishop Pell) had made up their minds that he was too
troublesome to have around. His rebuttal does make interesting
reading, if you'd like to take a look - he's not saying anything
that many others, before and since, have also said.

http://www.usao.edu/~facshaferi/collinscdf.htm


I think there are purely spiritual things that we have to accept to
call ourselves Catholic - the divinity of Christ, the Real Presence,
etc. But other things, such as women's ordination, birth control
and married priests are more political in nature, and I think we have
every right to voice our opinions. Nobody, but nobody, has a right
to tell me what I can discuss, and I have no hesitation in ignoring
such a ban. Of course, I'm nobody and they're unaware of what I
might be saying, but a priest has a higher profile, especially if he
goes about writing books to advance his theories.

I don't think saying, for example, that you favor the ordination of
women amounts to sleeping with the enemy - it is simply looking at
women in a different light from the traditional Church teaching. I
truly believe their objections are based on their fear of female
sexuality, and also on an aversion to sharing their power. The
Vatican hierarchy are not saints, they're human and fallible, subject
to anger, greed, bigotry, fear, pride and intolerance just like
anybody else, and all these things can color their thinking whether
or not they're aware of it. They're certainly not alone in their
attitudes, but that doesn't make them right or fair.