Now that many of the major Protestant churches accept women as ministers, expectations have been aroused that the Roman Catholic Church might also abandon its tradition of an exclusively male priesthood. Pope Paul VI chilled those hopes in 1975 when he declared that such a change would not be "in accordance with God's plan for his church." Nonetheless, delegations of U.S. Catholic priests, nuns and laity meeting in Detroit last October appealed publicly for the ordination of women priests. Last week the Vatican formally declared that no matter what other churches may do,...
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