Could Pope Francis be considering the appointment of a woman as cardinal?

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/nov/04/pope-francis-consider-appointment-woman-cardinal

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To the horror of many of the frocked misogynists at the Vatican there are rumours, unconfirmed, that the reforming Pope Francis could be considering the first ever appointment of a woman to the rank of cardinal early next year. Women make up about 70% of the Catholic churchgoing population but there are relatively few likely contenders. Here are five of them:

▶ Linda Hogan is 49, married (gasp!), and vice-provost of Trinity College Dublin. She's the feminist frontrunner.

▶ Mary McAleese, fellow Irishwoman and former president, might get the Irish back batting for the Catholic side after the church was decimated by the child abuse scandals.

▶ Lucetta Scaraffia is an academic in Rome who is both a radical feminist and an orthodox Catholic. Last year she launched a women's supplement to the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano – with the Pope's blessing.

▶ Sister Teresa Forcades, a leftwing firebrand who thinks the church should be completely overhauled for the 21st century.

▶ Ana Cristina Betancourt. Head of the women's section of the Pontifical Council for the Laity, a red hat would open career paths currently closed to her. Fast-tracking women to the top of the Vatican could be the quickest way of creating real change.

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