Ilia Delio

"There is something deeply disturbing about the entrenched resistance of women in the church, as sufficient reasons for full inclusion are lacking in terms of theology, biology and culture," writes Franciscan Sr. Ilia Delio.

It seems the pope wants to take the church to a new place in the world, not as an authoritarian leader, but as an animator of the spirit. However, he has ignored the novel theology ushered in by the early Franciscan theologians.

Pope Francis makes a plea for human solidarity and fraternity. But how does he tell the world what it needs to do when he spearheads an institution grounded in patriarchy, hierarchy and ontological differences?

Unless we grapple with matter — not only in scientific research but all aspects of world-unfolding life — we are missing out on the power of life itself, the power we name as God.

Religious life was never meant to be a bounded, closed system or a tribe, but a life lived on a new level of consciousness of belonging to the whole earth, in love with the whole Body of Christ.

The Gospel life was never meant to be lived enclosed, but on the edge of a new future in God. Francis of Assisi was a materialist in the best sense of the word, realizing that divine love incarnated all reality.