Comment 3 

[continued quote] "taking into account the changed and changing facts on the ground,” he said.  He also said that the Plenary Council will discuss the role of women:  “…we’ll need to ask how to include lay people – especially women – not just in the management of the Church (as we already do here on a large scale) but in the governance of the Church."

This must have been interesting discussions with not just Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State, and Gallagher, the Vatican’s foreign minister equivalent.  Not mentioned by Lamb in his article, there were also meetings with Cardinal Marc Ouellet, prefect of the Congregation for Bishops; and Archbishop Giacomo Morandi, secretary for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.  I am sure the issues of roles of women, roles of laity, authority of bishops, and the secrecy of the confessional were high on the agenda.

 Oh, to have been a fly on the wall.