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Church in the WorldQuotas to empower women approvedIndia Anto Akkara - 8 March 2008India's bishops have cleared the way for women to have a greater presence on diocesan and parish councils and become professors and spiritual directors in seminaries, which have previously had all-male staff, writes Anto Akkara. The bishops agreed that quotas should be established so that women accounted for at least 35 per cent of seats in diocesan and parish councils. Many diocesan and parish councils contain no women. The decisions were made at the February plenary assembly of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India (CBCI), at which the theme was "The empowerment of women in church and society". More than 200 bishops attended the meetings. "There was great openness among the bishops while discussing and approving these steps," said Sr Lilly Francis Poovelil, executive secretary of CBCI Women's Commission. Sr Poovelil, of the Salesian Missionaries of Mary Immaculate, added: "Now, some bishops say, the challenge is to prepare the parish priests to implement this at the parish level." |
 In this week’s issueMaking markets moral Iron and velvet Love in a Catholic climate Someone to talk to A good Lent takes planning South American surprise Can the Church support abuse victims on its own terms? Elena Curti Is the Church too slow in recognising that academies are the future for Catholic schools? Christopher Lamb Goodwin the scapegoat Elena Curti The pain of being a coeliac Catholic Sr M, guest contributor The Church's moral obligation to victims of clerical sexual abuse Speeches from this week's conference in Rome This week in Rome bishops and religious superiors met at the first Vatican-backed symposium devoted to forging a global response to the crisis of clerical sexual abuse that has disgraced ... Archbishop voices 'shame and sorrow' after priest's abuse trial Longley to visit parishes 'damaged' by Walsh Today, Tuesday 7 February, Bede Walsh, who served as a Catholic priest in the Archdiocese of Birmingham, has been convicted by a jury, following a 10-day trial at Stoke-on-Trent ...
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