Women and priests

P.R.O.P.
In a paragraph of her article of October 12, Mrs. Mary Whitehouse mentioned P.R.O.P. as being "a handful of outside agitators who gained in a few minutes more publicity than responsible organisations working for penal reform have achieved in years."
The period to which she is referring is August 4, 1972. The 12 months since then has seen P.R.O.P. continually quoted in the national and local newspapers as well as television and radio in such a manner that we have been able to (nfluence the Home Office into making just a few changes in our penal institutions.
As she rightly points out, the "responsible organisations" as she calls them have not given any, or very little publicity to the filthy and stinking conditions and the lack of any human rights that confront the inhabitants of our institutions.
P.R.O.P. will continue to bring to the public's notice the injustices and inhumanities, and the views and feelings of all prisoners.
Geoff Sugden, Secretary, North London P.R.O.P. (Preservation of the Rights Of Prisoners). 339a Finchley Road, I ondon, N.W.3. I was fascinated to read that Fr. Kearney, of the National Conference of Priests, thinks (October 19) that the role of women in the world is "one of the burning issues of the future"
Imitation
Every day brings another sackload of copies of the "imitation", for which I appealed in your columns, and the task of answering individually has become totally beyond me.
If donors do not hear from me, therefore, would they kindly accept this letter as acknowledgment, with our very grateful thanks for their wonderful generosity in sending their copies, often treasured. I am assured by a nun friend that every one will find a home, either in India or in the London f house, or elsewhere in the world.
I also acknowledge with thanks two anonymous donations of £1 each (as received to the time of writing). I am arranging to have a Mass said for the donors, especially those who have asked for prayers.
Kathleen Bull Co-worker of Mother Teresa, 24 Lime Avenue, Stockton Lane, York. and merits a special place in the final report of "The Church 2000". But as a young woman active in the life of the Church I am afraid I cannot agree with hint.
The splits within the Church, the blatant disregard for the doctrine of papal infallibility by many priests and theologians, the future of our Catholic schools, the tragically diminishing number of vocations, the drop in Church attendance, the closure of convents and monasteries, the "playing down" of the significance of the Blessed Sacrament and the Real Presence in some of the latest religious text-books . . . these are some of the "burning issues' with which forwardlooking Catholics, both priest and lay, must concern themselves.
Really, 1 find the question of the role of women is quite unbelievably irrelevant at this stage! When all is well within the Church, and when we have removed some of the wrongs of the world. than maybe we can allow ourselves the luxury of discussing this subject — if it still seems interesting. Personally, I feel that by then it will have disappeared as do most trendy bandwagons sooner or later, (Miss) Joanna Nash 2 Redford Avenue, Wallington, Surrey.