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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World

Pope Francis is no champion of women

Pope Francis in St Peter's Square, Vatican City, 15 March 2023
Pope Francis’s church ‘denies women equality and fertility control and refuses their participation as priests,’ writes Michele Roberts. Photograph: Maria Grazia Picciarella/REX/Shutterstock

Your editorial (13 March) claims that Pope Francis champions “the marginal, peripheral and excluded”. His church does not champion women, however, denying them equality and fertility control and refusing their participation as priests. You say that the pope emphasises “mercy over judgment”. What is the sin here? Who are the sinners?
Michele Roberts
London

• Despite Dave Young describing the difference between a shovel and a spade (Letters, 14 March), I’m confused. In Thursday’s crossword a clue asks: Dug up by a shovel (6). The answer is Spaded. Dave, help us out here please.
Peter Stewart
London

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