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# Mary McAleese
Vast majority of people agree that Catholic Church is 'empire of misogyny'
Over 1,000 adults were polled about Mary McAleese’s comments.
ALMOST EIGHT IN 10 people agree with Mary McAleese’s comments that the Catholic Church is an “empire of misogyny”, according to a new opinion poll.
A poll of over 1,000 adults carried out by Amarách Research for Claire Byrne Live earlier today found that 78% of people agree with her remarks.
The former Irish president, a devout Catholic, made the comments in Rome last week. She also said the bar on women becoming priests should be lifted and called on Pope Francis to address gender inequality in the Church.
“Failure to include women as equals has deprived the Church of fresh and innovative discernment; it has consigned it to recycled thinking among a hermetically sealed cosy male clerical elite flattered and rarely challenged by those tapped for jobs in secret and closed processes.
“It has kept Christ out and bigotry in,” she said in a speech at a conference about women’s roles in the Church.
Earlier today, McAleese told Today with Seán O’Rourke her younger brother was “seriously, physically, sadistically abused” by the late Fr Malachy Finnegan.
In separate polls carried out for Claire Byrne Live, 92% of people said hospital car park charges should be scrapped for cancer patients and their families, while 5% disagreed and 3% said they didn’t know.
Another poll asked people if Ireland should keep its military neutrality. Eight in 10 people (80%) said we should, 9% thought we should give it up and 11% were unsure.
Read: Mary McAleese says her brother was ‘seriously, physically, sadistically abused by Malachy Finnegan’
Read: Mary McAleese says it’s ‘pure codology’ that women can’t become priests
