Source: The Women's Alliance for Theology, Ethics and Ritual (WATER)
http://www.his.com/~mhunt/Pope's%20Death.htm
On April 4, 2005 The Women's Alliance for Theology, Ethics and Ritual (WATER) reported, "The death of Pope John Paul II brings to a close an era in the Catholic Church, inviting people of good will to observe, imagine, and create a new future. WATER joins billions of people who take this opportunity to express gratitude for the Pope’s contributions and to reflect on how spiritual leadership can make a difference in a troubled world. We invite everyone to observe through feminist eyes the funeral and burial of this pope, and the conclave that will elect his must-be-male successor. The scandal of the exclusion of women, and indeed of all lay people, is transparent for the world to see. This must be the last time an all-male clergy ever perform such functions if Catholicism is to have moral and spiritual credibility. We proclaim this period between pontificates as a time to imagine a new Catholicism, Catholicism with a symbol of unity and not an ultimate authority as its center."