Article: POPE RULES OUT WOMEN AS PRIESTS A LETTER FROM THE VATICAN STATES THAT THE ISSUE IS NOT TO BE DEBATED THE CHURCH ADMITS THAT HIS REMARKS MAY CAUSE TURMOIL AMONG AMERICAN CATHOLICS.(MAIN)

Byline: ALAN COWELL New York Times

ROME Pope John Paul II told the world's Catholics on Monday to abandon any thought of women being ordained as priests, saying that the issue was not open to debate and that his views must be ``definitively held by all the church's faithful.''

Although the Pope's words fell just short of a formal statement of infallible doctrine, the particularly severe and authoritative tone of his letter to bishops suggested that he was seeking to remove the idea from the Catholic agenda for decades to come.

Coming only three days after the Vatican unveiled the English translation of its new universal catechism ...

Related newspaper, magazine, and journal articles:

 
 
Newsweek Harper's Magazine The Washington Post Chicago Tribune Crain's Chicago Business PRNewswire Pediatric News The Nation Advertising Age The Economist (US) A FREE trial gives you access to over 80 million articles! Access over 6,500 publications with a FREE trial!