text: It is unlikely that there will be any change in the culture of the Church until women and men are treated as equals before God and are allowed to study together for the priesthood, whether they are gay or straight, married or single. The hierarchical structure needs to change to a horizontal structure that honors the majority viewpoints. The early Church relied very much on the "sense of the faithful". This means that the lay people were the voice of the Church and it was their common sense that determined the horizontal structures of the Church. The head of the Church was Jesus, not the pope, and that made all the difference. What are we doing honoring a human being as the head of the Church, especially when popes are ignoring the commands of Jesus and worshiping an institution instead? It has been many years since I have heard a bishop talk about living the spiritual and corporal works of mercy. All we hear are bishops interfering in the sexual lives of the lay people. Very sad.