Few would disagree that the two most remarkable exponents of the Catholic Church of the past century were Mother Theresa and Pope John Paul II. One extraordinary man and one extraordinary woman touched the hearts of millions, including those who were not of the Catholic faith, as well as those we can call “culturally Catholic”, who have lapsed in many of the practices and beliefs of the Church today.

Of course one cannot compare their position in the hierarchy of the Church, but both were loved in a way that would put most other world leaders to shame. And people are not exceptional because they are men or women, Mother Teresa and Pope John Paul II were extraordinary in themselves, in their hearts and in their souls, as both demonstrated when they lived among us.

Today however, the Church no longer has the influence it previously had in those countries where people are educated and have a high standard of living. Today the majority of the Church's most devout believers can be found in poorer, less developed countries. It must indeed be worrying that while the number of Catholics is rising in the World, the number of practising Catholics is declining everywhere in the developed world.

Malta must be one of the exceptions to this trend, and although Church attendance is dropping even here, the Catholic faith is still widely practised on these islands.

Of course even here the Church bemoans the materialism that is setting in, the culture of the self as opposed to the culture of the good of others. But there is something far deeper going wrong. It is not just our faith we are losing because we are admittedly more materialistic, it is also because the Church has not moved with the times, although I do not intend to underestimate the wonderful and good work so many of its religious carry out on behalf of those who are the least advantaged and have the weakest voice.

There are many good people in Malta, as elsewhere in the developed world, who no longer practise their Catholic faith, or only believe parts of it. Now I was told, as a little girl being brought up here, that the Church is a club and you have to follow all the rules to be part of that club; but really that no longer holds water.

Very many people believe the words of Jesus but not always the rules made by the Church. Lots of people won’t admit it in public. They may even go to Mass, but privately they do not believe divorce is wrong, they do not understand why priests cannot marry, why women cannot be priests, they cannot understand the statement the Church issued against the use of condoms in countries which are riddled with Aids.

One area where the Church will eventually move forward, I believe, is on the issue of women priests. It will do so eventually, not because it wants to but because it will have to. It is after all very rare that any group will move aside to give authority to another. But in this day and age one can no longer rationally deny women the chance to be priests, the opportunity to be cardinals and the eventuality that one day we could have female Pope! The Church will have to move because there are so few vocations from men these days (particularly because priests cannot marry) that eventually, and I fear begrudgingly, women will be allowed into the priesthood, as they already are in some Christian faiths.

It doesn't matter how much theology I read on this, there is fundamentally nothing against women becoming priests, or could not make as good a priest as men. First though the Church will have to resolve the issue of married priests, and although this might seem light years away at the moment, it may be totally acceptable by the next generation. After all, in many countries the Church does close an eye to the fact that some of its priests have a regular partner (a wife in all but name) because there are tremendous difficulties to actually find a priest for that area.

Here, our Bishop of Gozo, who is retiring, said he didn't think marriage was a good thing because (I paraphrase) priests would then have a wife nagging them to get home whereas now they are free to dedicate themselves wholly to their parish. Like many arguments this does have an element of truth, but many of us feel that a man or a woman who lives a real life in a relationship is a little more in touch with the problems of modern life than a man who has never had any form of relationship with a woman, or is not married to one.

The Church also has problems of homosexuality and paedophilia (though I want to stress, the one in no way equals the other). It is perhaps inevitable that when you have an institution which is really only for one sex (or where one sex congregates) many homosexuals will be attracted to that path as they often are in areas like the army. Sadly, the American cardinal who was the most senoir prelate when the paedophilia scandals exploded in the US (where known paedophile priests were simply transferred to another parish and not sacked and sent to trial as they should have been) is one of the cardinals voting for the new Pope

It is very sad that a Church, which frowns upon premarital sex, which doesn't allow priests to marry, which won’t countenance women priests has so often been seen shoving these terrible problems under the carpet. Sexuality, even deviant sexuality is part of the human condition and the Church must face up to these realities in a way which leaves no doubt in people's minds that the welfare of children comes before priests in any case of alleged abuse, an order of welfare which ahs certainly not always been upheld!

I feel that women in the priesthood will help make the Church a meritocracy and more human. Women have everything to give and they do give everything up for families, for their careers and for others. It’s about time we stopped thinking God is a man and stopped interpreting God in man’s image and likeness. The sense and sensibilities of half the people on this earth needs to be represented in the hierarchy of the Church too.