Robert Mickens (Letter from Rome, 4 January) draws attention to the fact that, despite well over half the people attending Mass for the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, being women, very few women were seen in liturgical roles. I presume, in charity, that the reasoning behind this has something to do with the fact that, since women cannot be ordained, they should not be allowed to take part in anything that might be seen as the prerogative of the ordained. Then, I’m not so sure. I attended in person several of the Masses at the time of the election of Benedict XVI. I noticed that few, if any, women took part in anything: no women handing out order of service booklets, no women guards at the check points, no women knights (ladies) of the holy something or other wearing funny hats, n