WOMEN should be allowed to become cardinals and to participate in the election of popes, a Catholic theologian told an Adelaide audience on September 25.
Divine Word Missionary Father Stephen Bevans was speaking during his keynote address at a conference on September 25 to mark the 30th anniversary of Pope Paul VI’s apostolic exhortation Evangelii Nuntiandi.
Fr Bevans was due to speak on the same topic in Brisbane on September 30 and in Sydney on October 1.
The conferences are under the banner of “Witness to the Gospel in Australia” and sponsored by Catholic Mission, the Australian Conference of Leaders of Religious Institutes and Mission Net in the lead up to World Mission Day on October 23.
While praising Evangelii Nuntiandi (“On Evangelisation in the Modern World”) for its passion, elegance and eloquence, the internationally acclaimed writer, scholar and missionary cautioned against celebrating the document with “rose-coloured glasses”.
In particular, he criticised the fact there was no specific mention of women in the document, despite the fact that in 1975 they “had a tremendous part to play in missionary work, especially as teachers, nurses and physicians”, as well as those working as missionaries at home.
Fr Bevans said Catholics needed to work to make the Church a place where women’s voices could be heard.
He saw no reason why women could not be at the highest levels of parish, diocesan or Vatican decision-making and why they might not be invited to participate at events such as bishops’ synods.
Fr Bevans is based at the Chicago Theological Union in the United States, where he is part of a group of scholars from different faiths at the cutting edge of today’s religious issues.
