Irish Jesuit theologian Gerry O'Hanlon SJ talks to Pat Coyle and outlines the theology underpinning Pope Francis' position on the non-possibility of women's ordination in the Catholic Church, and the pontiff's reliance on the theology of Hans Urs von Balthasar. Dr O'Hanlon's Ph.D. thesis was on the work of von Balthasar.
He says that the 'theological intuition' that von Balthasar had regarding men and women represents a peripheral minority opinion that is not generally acceptable in the theological community per se. He believes it was not a good theological mast for Francis to nail his colours to especially given his desire to insert women into significant leadership roles in the church.
