Sir, – Prof John P McCarthy (December 20th) makes some claims which are rather surprising in their assumptions for an academic. He submits that because the male priesthood is a “doctrinal” matter it should not be compromised.
I would have thought that it should be questioned precisely because it is a matter of doctrine. However, his suggestion that the ordination of women has been the cause of the decline of other mainstream churches beggars belief! Oh dear, once again we women are to blame, but it is a cross we can carry (pardon the pun) if it contributes to the end of patriarchal and misogynistic institutions which are well past their use-by date. – Yours, etc,