"Under Pope Benedict XVI and Pope John Paul II, discussions about women's ordination to the diaconate or the priesthood were actively suppressed. In Francis's papacy, they are occurring without apparent fear of repercussions."
Ending the former Gestapo way of immediately silencing all dissent is a major positive development. As I wrote a few days ago, the English priest James Alison once tried to convince a skeptical, mostly gay audience in San Francisco that Pope Benedict was quietly loosening the nuts and bolts deep within the ship of state, as it were, in order to slowly move doctrine forward on LGTB issues in the church. I didn't believe a word of it about Benedict, but I think that's indeed what Pope Francis is doing on many fronts and I believe he should be given a generous amount of time in order to continue the work he is quietly performing behind the scenes to move this church forward. I agree with Sr. Shenk that he deserves to be given the benefit of the doubt on this issue.