Speculation has been rife this week about which women might be made cardinals – names recently mentioned include Professor Linda Hogan, of Trinity College Dublin, and Sr Maryanne Loughry, associate director of the Jesuit Refugee Service in Australia. When asked about the prospects for female cardinals, Sr Maryanne said, “Not in my lifetime,” echoing the famous phrase used by Margaret Thatcher when she was asked about the possibility of a female Prime Minister in Britain. In the same way she was proved wrong, supporters of the idea of female cardinals are hoping that some day soon women may be given the red hat. Now a petition, started in Switzerland and asking Pope Francis to create women cardinals, has received just under 1,000 signatures. The move was initiated by Prof