"What Would Jesus do at the Masters?" by Maureen Dowd/New York times

"...Finally, in the perverse pantheon of reactionary men in robes, we have God’s Rottweiler, as Pope Benedict is known. He welcomed Easter by sitting on a golden throne and denouncing the “disobedience” of Catholic priests who want the decaying, ingrown institution that sheltered so many abusive priests to let in some fresh air and allow female and married priests, as well as Holy Communion for Catholics who have remarried without an annulment.

“It seemed like a bitter statement,” said Kenneth Briggs, the author of “Double Crossed: Uncovering the Catholic Church’s Betrayal of American Nuns.” “It further erodes, almost tragically, the respect for the papacy because it looks like what you want is institutional conformity rather than obedience to the Gospel.”

The message of Jesus, after all, is not about exclusion, but inclusion...

The Rev. Alberto Cutié, the handsome Miami priest who defected to become an Episcopal priest when he fell in love and married a woman from his parish, found the pope’s timing ironic.

“They say women can’t be priests because Jesus only called men to be apostles,” he said. “But the women close to Jesus were the first witnesses of the resurrection. When the men were afraid and hidden, the women went to the tomb and said, ‘Jesus is risen!’ If Easter is the most important part of Christianity, the first to proclaim the message were women. Who could make more effective preachers?”