Washington D.C., Apr 27, 2005 / 22:00 pm
Pope Benedict XVI cannot change the Church’s position on abortion, birth control or women’s ordination because they flow from the core teachings of the Catholic faith, but Catholics can expect him to engage in the extensive conversations that may be necessary for understanding these teachings, says theologian Pia de Solenni.
In the Washington Post, de Solenni addressed the labels placed on Pope Benedict as someone who is “conservative” and against women’s equality in the Church.
“This is the man who was considered liberal as a professor and conservative as a Church leader,” said de Solenni in his defense. “His thinking has not changed substantially, but the perceptions of him have. We can rest on the perceptions that others have created, or we can encounter him for who he really is.”
In her column, titled “Our Role in the Church”, she commented on Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger’s document "On the Collaboration of Women and Men in the Church and in the World", which was released last year.