No equal treatment for women

Catholic New Times, April 24, 2005

Many people loved the pope for his larger-than-life presence on the world's stage. His personal piety and spirituality spoke to them at a deep level. He was a powerful witness for the humanity of all peoples, regardless of station or intellect. John Paul II was a very complicated man and he left a very mixed legacy.

Under John Paul II, women were extolled for their "special genius." He tried to construct a new understanding of the role of women in church and society, spoke of women's "complementarity," their fundamental equality, but made sure they would never receive equal treatment in the church. He waged a war against homosexual persons, and bitterly denounced a gay pride march in Rome, taking it as a personal affront and never acknowledging the role that gay men exercise in staffing the churches as priests.

--Quixote Centre, Massachusetts