During a Sept. 27 visit to one of the Catholic Church’s most storied universities, Pope Francis heard pleas for the church to reconsider its stance against the ordination of women, become more welcoming to LGBTQ people and have a deeper reckoning with its history of clergy abuse and cover-up. “Why do we tolerate this considerable gap between men and women in a church that is so often carried on the shoulders of women?” asked Luc Sels, rector of the Catholic University of Leuven (KU Lueven). “Would the church not be a warmer community if there was a prominent place for women, including in the priesthood?”