"It's been 50 years, and we have really seen no change," said Ms. McAleese, who, as the president of Ireland, brokered the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 that helped solidify a lasting peace between Catholics and Protestants.
"The church would be much better off, if the pope shared power with his college of bishops, and, if laypeople could become more involved."
Ms. McAleese, whose family was forced to flee Belfast because of the sectarian violence, became, in 1997, the first northern Irish native to become elected president.
After leaving office in 2011, Ms. McAleese practiced law and taught college in Ireland.
Now serving as the Burns Library Visiting Scholar in Irish Studies at Boston College, Ms. McAleese will be at the College of the Holy Cross tonight to discuss her book, "Quo Vadis? Collegiality in the Code of Canon Law."
The work, which was published last year by Columba Press, examines how Vatican II's teachings on collegiality, or, how power and responsibility were to be shared between bishops and the pope, have been sidetracked or yet to be implemented.
In an interview with the Telegram & Gazette, Ms. McAleese said the papacy of Pope Francis may be pivotal to promoting that and other reforms of Vatican II.
"Pope Francis has spoken on the issue of collegiality, but it's too early in his papacy to rush to judgment," said Ms. McAleese. "At this point, we have to take a wait and see attitude. We hear that he's a good cook. Now, we have to wait for the dinner."
She said she recognizes that the Vatican bureaucracy and hierarchy are well-established and set in their ways.
But she noted that history shows that it takes about 50 years before a council's reforms begin to germinate.
Ms. McAleese said it's important for the pope to share power with the bishops because they are close to the local Catholic communities that they serve.
She said the church also has to allow for more participation by the laity, especially as the ranks of the priesthood are being thinned by age and few vocations.
"There has to be a vehicle for the delivery of ecclesiastical services, and the best alternative is laypeople," said Ms. McAleese.
She said that she believes that, if Jesus Christ were preaching today, he would be "horrified" at the way the church is being run today.
Ms. McAleese noted that church canon dictates that lay people have a responsibility to advise their pastors on religious matters.
"It's not about fighting over issues, but discussing them," she explained. "Most people would be happy to lose an argument, as long as they have a chance to debate."
Ms. McAleese said that power must be effectively shared at the Vatican in order to realize the other far ranging visions of the council
"The people of the church would be better served, if the way of governance were changed," she said.
She said that's it's also important that the church become more accepting of women in leadership positions.
"From the beginning, women have been the mainstay of the church," she explained. "It's deeply offensive that they are not included in the decision-making process."
Ms. McAleese forged the Good Friday Agreement that established new political structures for Northern Ireland and that dealt with civil rights, policing, and other similar issues.
After serving two terms as president, she practiced law and was later appointed a professor at Trinity College in Dublin. She also served as director of the Institute of Professional Legal Services at Queen's University, where she subsequently became pro-vice chancellor.
In her capacity as the Burns Scholar, Ms. McAleese lectures in several disciplines.