Pope Francis's response to the Synod's call for the ordination of married men and for women deacons eagerly awaited.

Commenting on the retired pope’s new book, Dr Austin Ivereigh, Vatican expert and biographer of Pope Francis said, “It’s a totally imprudent and ill thought-out intervention which has the effect of undermining Francis’s authority.”

“While affirming that celibacy is a gift for the Church, it is asked that for the most remote areas of the region, the possibility of priestly ordination of elders ... even those who already have stable and consolidated families, be studied in order to ensure the sacraments to accompany and sustain Christian life.”

“Thank God I had the opportunity to do something to help community relations in Northern Ireland.”

Fr Brian D’Arcy has called for the Church to allow married men and women to be ordained as priests.

Support for Bishop O’Reilly's suggestion that the bishops set up a commission to study the possibility of ordaining married men & appointing female deacons.