Pope Benedict's visit to Brazil has generated some backlash in that country, with a bishop saying that the Church might reconsider the ordination of women and a radical priest joining native groups in denouncing the Pope's praise for the evangelization of the Americas.At the 5th general meeting of the Latin American bishops' conference CELAM, which the Pope had addressed on Sunday morning, Bishop Antonio Celso Queiroz of Catanduva, Brazil, made the observation that Pope Benedict had acknowledged the debt that the Church owes to women.
"At the moment," the Brazilian prelate said, "we know that dialogue on the possibility of ordaining women is closed within the Church. But that does not mean that it cannot be opened." That statement directly contradicted the teaching of Pope John Paul II, who made it clear in Ordinatio Sacerdotalis (doc) that the subject is permanently closed.
"I declare that the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women," Pope John Paul wrote in that 1994 apostolic letter, "and that this judgment is to be definitively held by all the Church's faithful."
In his comments on the papal visit, Bishop Queiroz denied that Pope Benedict had indicated concern about the work of the Brazilian hierarchy in a talk that he delivered in Sao Paulo on May 11.
The Pope's words had been like "a kiss" to the Brazilian episcopate, the bishop insisted.
Meanwhile a Brazilian priest who works with native Indian groups sharply criticized the Pope for saying that the evangelization of Latin America had brought benefits to Indian culture.
Father Paulo Suess told the Reuters news service that the Pope's statement "was wrong and indefensible."
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