- “There was not much to like in the Vatican’s news conference this week about its pedophilia scandal, but among all the defensive posturing and inept statements, there was one real stunner: The citing of the movement for the ordination of women as a ‘grave crime’ that Rome deems as offensive as the scandal of priests who sexually assault children.” [Editorial, The New York Times, July 17, 2010]
- “Re Female Ordination and Sex Abuse of Minors (July 16): The Vatican says the ‘attempted ordination’ of women is one of the gravest crimes under church law… Why is the Catholic Church so afraid of women?” [From a letter to the editor, The Globe and Mail, Toronto, July 17, 2010]
- The year is 1203. At the Abbey of Fontevrault, Eleanor of Aquitaine is instructing her young secretary, Aline:
“Language is a woman’s weapon. It is the siege engine that knocks down male walls. A woman’s body and her language are twin powers, Aline. Use them to negotiate from strength.”
“Therein lies a man’s fear. That his very being lives in awe of women is a secret he dare not disclose, although females know it, deep in their bones. Men’s awe makes them vulnerable. It is the hole in their chain-mail, the rip in their cassock. O, yes. Priests are no less men for being priests. They are vulnerable, too. Hence the fear and loathing shown us by the Church. If you would negotiate with men, Aline, you have but to dazzle, reject, enchant, confuse, torment and allure. Men need their goddesses, child. They need their Virgin Mary in her very flesh and warmth.” [From ‘Power of a Woman. Memoirs of a turbulent life: Eleanor of Aquitaine‘ Chapter 28, All Rights Reserved © Robert Fripp 2006]