Bishop Vincent Long gave an address to the National Council of Priests (11^th September 2018) in which he called for a renewed understanding of the priesthood as well as greater inclusion of women in the life and ministry of the Church.

Interestingly, his concerns seem to resonate with some of those being discussed in the Synod on Synodality currently being held in Rome (October 2023).

A few weeks later, Fr Terence Mary Naughtin (OFM, Conv.) published a response to Bishop Long’s address, and in it he included (1) a discussion of the origin of the priesthood; (2) a safeguard against importing Marxist theories into the Church; (3) a synopsis of the true life of the Church; and (4) a beautiful image of the complementarity of both women and men in the mission of the Church.

Read Fr Terence’s complete response.