text: I sincerely hope that in some future century, (if we survive the present political and environmental dangers), the institutional Church will be honest enough and brave enough to acknowledge the courage and foresight these pioneering women showed in the earliest stages of breaking down this mysogynistic barrier.  I hope the female Pope of that day will lead a universal ritual of apology for the institutional oppression of all women and in particular those women denied consideration of ordination. I hope for equality, the freedom for women to serve as minister and leader, and for women's influence and wisdom in theology and Scriptural interpretation.  Women's place is not a step behind men's but equal before God in common humanity and in Christian baptism.