High-profile Swiss women abandon Catholic church

In protest against Pope Francis’s incendiary remarks equating abortion with the hiring of a contract killer, six prominent Swiss women have resigned from the Catholic church.  They are former Swiss parliamentarians Cécile Bühlmann and Ruth-Gaby Vermot, Anne-Marie Holenstein and Monika Stocker, as well as the feminist theologians Doris Strahm and Regula Strobel. The Swiss feminists made a joint announcement saying they would “no longer support the patriarchal power apparatus of the Roman Catholic Church” through their membership. All six have been fighting for change for decades and continue to do so today, according to the Catholic women's organisation Schweizerischer Katholischer Frauenbund: SKF, which regretted but understood the decision. Pope Francis compared abortion to “hiring a hitman” during his general audience at St. Peter’s Square on October 10. The remarks caused an uproar among feminists in Italy and beyond who want women to benefit from safe access to abortions.