WOMEN TRAINING PRIESTS?

'We are facing a crisis in the life of the church,' says Canadian cardinal
Marc Ouellet, pictured here in 2013 (AFP Photo/GABRIEL BOUYS,
GABRIEL BOUYS)

CARDINAL says women should train priests to fight abuse ''crisis''.

WOMEN should play a greater role in the  training of priests to fight the child abuse ''crisis'' that has  engulfed the Catholic Church, Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet has said.

More must be done within the church to tackle the root causes of the latest wave of global abuse  scandals to rock the institution, said Ouellet, the prefect for the Congregation for Bishops.

''We would need participation of more women in training of priests,'' he told reporters last Saturday on the sidelines of a meeting in the Polish city of Poznan.

Better care must be taken when choosing bishops, he said, adding that more women should select candidates for priesthood and assess their suitability for the job.

His comments at the four-day assembly of the Presidents of the Bishop Conference of Europe, come amid a slew of devastating assault allegations spanning several continents.

People in Australia, Europe, North and South America have charged they were sexually abused by clergymen and lay people, in what German Archbishop Georg Gaeinswein has called the church's ''own 9/11''.

''We are facing a crisis in the life of the  church. And also to certain extent a rebellion,'' Ouellet said.

''This is a  very serious matter that has to be dealt with in a spiritual way,not only in a political way,'' he said, but added that direct attacks against the pope over the scandals were  ''unjust''.

The Operational Research continues on the  'Abuse Crisis'.