Former LCWR President’s Dynamic Speech May Change Pope’s Mind On Female Ordination

PHOTO: Lisa Johnston

ROME––Former President of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, Pat Ferrell, delivered an electrifying speech yesterday to Pope Benedict XVI and top Church officials regarding the necessity of female priests. Many Vatican analysts now believe the speech will be the catalyst to female ordination. “It was one of the most insightful…one of the most profound talks since John Paul II gave the address that helped bring down communism,” an aide close to the Pontiff said, choking up. In an amateur video shot by one insider, Ferrell can be seen with tears in her eyes as she walks away from the podium after giving her address. The Pontiff, visibly moved by the passionate speech, stands with tears in his eyes and begins to clap, slowly. Gradually, his aides, one after another one, rise to their feet and begin to clap, louder and louder until the entire antechamber is filled with thunderous and uproarious shouts and whistles, as all begin to cheer, “Fe-rrell…Fe-rrell…Fe-rrell…”