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WORLD NEWS Friday 13 april 2018

Vatican panel: Bishops should meet on women's role in church

By NICOLE WINFIELD opportunities for women at plenary "Women, building
VATICAN CITY (AP) — The the parish, diocesan and block of the church and so-
Vatican's commission of Vatican level. ciety in Latin America." He
Latin American church "This opening isn't a con- has repeatedly called for
leaders is demanding cession to cultural or media greater roles for women in
greater decision-making pressure, but the result of a the church, though he has
opportunities for women realization that the lack of upheld church teaching
in the church and propos- women in decision-making that the priesthood is re-
ing that Pope Francis call roles is a defect, an ecclesi- served for men.
a special meeting of the ological gap and the neg- In one of his most significant
world's bishops to discuss ative effect of a clerical acts, he created a commis-
women. and macho conception," sion of study into the role
The Pontifical Commission the communique said. of women deacons in the
for Latin America said af- They warned that if the early church, amid calls for
ter its recent plenary that church doesn't fix the prob- women to once again as-
the church needs a radical lem soon, women will sim- sume the ministry to help Pope Francis arrives in St.Peter's Square for his weekly general
"change of mentality" in the ply leave. relieve priest shortages. audience, at the Vatican, Wednesday, April 11, 2018.
way it views and treats half The statement marks the The issue of women's roles Associated Press
of humanity. It was pub- latest evidence that his- in the church is already on
lished in Thursday's Vatican tory's first Latin American the agenda for the next where women are the pri- church." Such a meeting
newspaper, L'Osservatore pope is increasingly aware two upcoming synods mary carriers of the faith. would be fraught, how-
Romano. that centuries of institu- of bishops — the regular The Latin American com- ever, given a conference
The commission members tionalized discrimination meetings of church leaders mission, though, proposed room full of men — even
— 22 Latin American car- against women is indefen- at the Vatican. Later this that an entire synod be with women participants —
dinals and bishops, plus sible today and is hurting year, bishops will take up is- dedicated to "women in making and voting on pro-
15 women who joined the the Catholic Church. sues about young Catholics the life and mission of the posals about women.q
panel for the meeting — Francis personally pro- — male and female — and
said it was both possible posed that the commission next year they will discuss
and "urgent" to increase make as its theme for its ministering in the Amazon,

New Zealand puts brakes on

search for oil in bid to go green

By NICK PERRY Ardern has pledged to Zealand the move was a
WELLINGTON, New Zealand go green by reducing the "kick in the guts for the fu-
(AP) — Signaling its com- country's net greenhouse ture of the Taranaki econ-
mitment to a clean energy gas emissions to zero by omy."
future, New Zealand's gov- 2050. Her government also But Ardern said nobody
ernment announced Thurs- plans to plant 100 million would be losing their jobs
day it won't issue any more trees each year and en- as a result of the move.
permits for offshore oil and sure the electricity grid runs "We're striking the right bal-
gas exploration. entirely from renewable ance for New Zealand," Ar-
The move won't affect ex- energy. dern said. "We're protect-
isting permits for exploration The oil and gas indus- ing existing industry, and
or extraction, meaning the try is relatively small in protecting future genera-
industry is likely to continue New Zealand, employ- tions from climate change."
in the South Pacific nation ing about 11,000 people Opposition lawmaker Jon-
for several more decades. and accounting for about athan Young described
Still, the move is a change 1 percent of the overall the move as "economic
in direction after voters last economy. It is dwarfed in vandalism."
year elected the liberal importance by farming "This decision is devoid of
government led by Prime and tourism. any rationale. It certainly
Minister Jacinda Ardern. But the industry is impor- has nothing to do with cli-
That followed nine years tant to the Taranaki region, mate change," Young said.
of conservative leadership where most of the activity is "These changes will simply
under a government that centered. shift production elsewhere
favored expanding the in- New Plymouth Mayor Neil in the world, not reduce
dustry. Holdom told Radio New emissions."q