Priesthood ‘a hiding place for men who don’t want to deal with their sexuality’

Trinity College Dublin (TCD) professor Siobhan Garrigan said it was fundamentally unjust that women could not join the priesthood.

Prof Garrigan made the comments ahead of the visit by Pope Francis to Ireland this week to attend the World Meeting of Families (WMOF).

“The priesthood has become a hiding place for men who don’t want to deal with their sexuality,” she said.

“That’s just one of the problems caused by the fact that women are not allowed to be priests.

“Only men are allowed to be priests and they are required to be celibate. Both those rules are terrible.”

She added: “You have to be identified as a man to even begin training for priesthood. That is just fundamentally unjust.

“We should be pushing for women priests.”

Prof Garrigan said the Church changing its rules to allow women to become priests would not solve the misogyny problem overnight but it would be an important milestone for the institution.

“It’s only one step on the road to where we need to get to,” she said.

“Where we need to get to is an end to misogyny.

“Misogyny pervades every aspect of church life.”

The Loyola chair of Catholic theology and head of the school of religion at TCD said she would be a lot happier about the pontiff’s visit if it was not tied to the WMOF.

The WMOF, which gets under way in Dublin on Tuesday, has faced criticism from LGBT+ groups, who have complained about being left…