The former Catholic Archbishop of Newark and now member of the College of Cardinals Joseph Tobin’s ground-breaking comments in an interview with the New York Times, reported January 11 on Life Site, on the need to include women in the governance of the Church come as Pope Francis has continued his policies of liberalizing the Church’s teachings.
Now a member of the College of Cardinals, appointed by Pope Francis, Cardinal Tobin said in the interview that he "doesn’t believe there is a compelling theological reason why the Pope couldn’t name a woman cardinal."
When asked by the NYT, “So will we see women cardinals soon?” Cardinal Tobin delivered perhaps his biggest… https://t.co/y7xxlyRGL7
— Colin Ahearn (@ColinAhearn1) January 12, 2018
"My favorite definition of heresy is 'an unwillingness to deal with complexity'. It’s a desire to simplify into one bite-sized morsel. My hope is that the complexity of the mystery of the church is always revered." — Cardinal Joseph Tobin
— Black Prophetic Fire🔥 (@FrJarelRB) January 10, 2018
Questions regarding whether women should be appointed to the Catholic priesthood has been under consideration by a commission initiated by the Pope in late 2016.
Pope Francis has earned a reputation for offering a more theologically flexible approach to many fraught issues for the Catholic Church, including gay marriage, the ordination of married men as priests and action to combat climate change.
He recently courted attention by saying he wished to see the translation of The Lord’s Prayer changed, arguing the current popular version implies that God can lead people into committing a sin.
The Pontiff’s positions have made him highly popular among many Catholic churchgoers and even many non-Catholics despite facing significant internal opposition from more conservative figures within the Vatican.
