34 female religious superiors ask for access to all Church offices, including priesthood

October 30, 2018 (LifeSiteNews) – The general superiors of 34 female orders from Austria, Germany, Switzerland, and Luxembourg are demanding more influence in the Church. As part of an international umbrella organization, they ask that women be admitted to all offices in the Church, including ordained offices. Already in 2016, some superiors general of the umbrella organization asked Pope Francis about a commission on female deacons. The final document of the Youth Synod seems to resonate with some of the requests of the women religious.

As several German-speaking outlets reported on October 25, the German-speaking members of the International Union Superiors General (UISG) had a meeting in Innsbruck, Austria, at which they also requested that women have voting rights at future synods of bishops.

“In the future, more women are to be included at synods of bishops – of course with voting rights. That is the only way they can influence decisions,” they explain.

The general superiors of the German-speaking orders met from October 18 to 22 in Innsbruck, according to a report on the website of the Austrian religious orders. The local bishop, Hermann Glettler, visited the general superiors during their meeting and spent some time with them. Inge Metzmacher, pastoral counselor of the Archdiocese of Cologne, Germany, moderated the discussions.

According to this report, these religious leaders see a need for a new “culture of dialogue, of participation, and of gender equality” in the Church. The Church's teaching should be adjusted to “new scientific findings in the theological and other academic disciplines.” The general superiors are of the opinion that an increase of qualified women in the Church would bring “diversity and an enrichment on all levels.” One could learn from religious communities “how men and women have fruitfully worked – and still work – together for the people.”

Read the rest here.

Of course we too have our w/o heretics. See here (scroll to page 5). Though in the case of Orthodoxy I believe this is still fairly fringe. Sadly in the Roman Church this heresy has become so widely embraced that it may well be a majority view in some quarters.