“We stand before God, as Cain was, befuddled by a question that we simply cannot wish away at the wave of a magisterial wand. The question is: ‘Church, where is your sister? Church where is your mother?'”

When theologians or others raise concerns about the exclusion of women from decision-making roles in the Catholic church, critics often say such concerns only come from a certain subset of the Western faith community. They say those in places like Africa, where the church is burgeoning, have other worries.

“Yet one of the most trenchant voices in recent years for the full inclusion of women in Catholic ministry has been a Nigerian Jesuit theologian and priest. In 2012, for example, he came to the premier annual theological conference in the U.S. with an unsparing message.

“Discrimination against women within the Catholic community is so manifest, said the priest, that the church ‘totters on the brink of compromising its self-identity as the basic sacrament of salvation.'”

By Joshua J. McElwee, National Catholic Reporter — Click here to read the rest of this story.