Papal contender says issue of women in church 'secondary'

Marc Ouellet, the Canadian cardinal who many believe has a shot at the papacy, says that questions regarding the role of women in the church, gay marriage and abortion are important but "secondary."

In the secondpartof a world-exclusive English language interview with CBCs chief correspondent Peter Mansbridge, the cardinal weighed in on major social issues of our time, including womens role in the church and challenges the institution faces in modern times.

"Obviously these questions are, have their importance, but it is secondary, you know, and it has been always secondary," said Ouellet.

At present, women cannot be ordained, which means they cannot become priests the first step in becoming the pope.

When specifically asked how far the cardinal would go in letting women be promoted within the church, Ouellet said, "I would not go to ordain ministry, for example, which is always the question that was raised, often, even now."

Not easy to move forward

Therese Koturbash, the international ambassador for womenpriests.org, an organization working towards achieving equality for women in the Catholic Church by using theological and academic arguments, said there are three historical reasons why women are not allowed to be priests.

Women were considered:

• Unclean during menstruation.
• Inferior in every way.
• The source of original sin because of the Book of Genesis Adam and Eve story where a snake tricks Eve into eating from the tree of knowledge, which God had forbidden the pair from doing.

Although the cardinal said the churchs current stance toward women "must be kept for the future," he believes there is room for womens role to grow within the church.

"You have many women working in key positions, even if they are not ordained, but this is open to further development, but we have to go, you know, with the time and its not easy to move forward."

Terence Fay, a Jesuit priest who teaches at the University of Torontos school of theology, echoed the cardinals sentiments.

"Respecting women and giving them a larger role in the church is very important but, that takes time to move in that direction," said Fay.

He said the pope is the CEO of the largest corporation in the world and, like any administrator moving into a new leadership position, can only move so much on the political spectrum during a term. Making radical changes, such as starting to ordain women, would destroy the popes constituency.

"Whereas the Western world may be ready for women clergy and so forth, a lot of the world is just not ready for that yet," said Fay.

The great drama of our times

It will be up to 115 cardinals the pope's most senior advisers to convene at the Vatican to elect a successor to Pope Benedict XVI sometime mid-March.

The election will be a historic one, as it has been sparked by Benedict's retirement the first time a pope has stepped down inalmost six centuries.

Ouellet discussed the pressure the College of Cardinals is under with this month's decision. Hesaid he did not believe the church was at a turning point but, rather, a time of "orientation."

Opposed toissues of gay marriage and abortion, the cardinal emphasizedthemain challenge for the church ishelping unite people with God.

"This is a great drama of our times, you know, to live without God," he said. "And so this is the awareness of the church and we have to respond to the need of the people and they need the creator, they need this relationship."

Inthe first partof the interview, which aired on March 4, Mansbridge and Ouellet discussed criticism over sex abuse scandals that have rocked the centuries-old institution in recent years, the chance of Ouellet becoming the next pontiff, and what Benedict XVIs unexpected retirement means for the church in the 21st century.