Open warfare breaks out between Silere non Possum and Andrea Grillo

See the blogs 5/7/12 December on Silere non possum

Grillo hit back!

Grillo and Pocher, modernist super-heroes

OPEN LETTER. Women and the Diaconate: Solidarity with Linda Pocher by Andrea Grillo

Published on December 7, 2025, in the blog: Come se non 

We are publishing this Open Letter of solidarity with Linda Pocher on the style of communication within the Church. The text of the Letter is also published by SettimanaNews magazine (here).

When one lacks effective arguments in public debate, one discredits the person with whom one disagrees – this is the tone with which Silere non possum attacked Professor Sister Linda Pocher after her interview with Repubblica regarding the recent publication of the Vatican Study Commission's document on women's access to the diaconate.

This is a worldly, and even violent, instrument that is ill-suited to those who claim to defend the essence of the sacrament of Holy Orders within the Catholic Church.

***

The unjustified gratuitousness of this personal attack on Professor Pocher confirms, at least in part, what you observed—namely, that the problem of sexism plays a significant role in the ecclesial debate on the female diaconate, a problem from which it seems very difficult to resolve with even a modicum of style.

Silere non possum's intervention is not limited to this, because it is also abusive. The primary target is, in fact, Pope Francis and his pontificate—Professor Pocher is treated as a mere means to an end that, evidently, there is no courage to address directly. A collateral victim, in short.

***

The Catholicism that sees itself represented in this intervention feels authorized by this violence of speech, the first steps of the Petrine ministry of Pope Leo XIV—imagined as the great repairer of the house of the Lord.

And yet, precisely when describing the hard core of this ministry, Leo XIV spoke of "confirming in their faith" every brother and sister. We ask everyone to embrace that synodal attitude that listens to the sensibilities of others' faith—and learns from them.

***

This should be enough to feel the need to express solidarity with Professor Linda Pocher, because that's what she is, even if we disagree with the arguments she presents and the reflections she develops on the issue of women's access to the diaconate in the Catholic Church.

Revealing this kind of solidarity also means committing to a close and honest discussion, respectful of the individual, on the issues disputed within our ecclesial community.

This is not just the task of theologians, but of everyone in the Church—because without understanding the arguments, we risk selling out our faith to worldly powers and their power of attraction.

A list of no one anyone has ever heard of, apart from one Archbishop and a couple of convents

Andrea Grillo; Marcello Neri; Giuseppe Guglielmi; Alberto dal Maso; Stella Morra; Tonio Dell’Olio; Bartolomeo Puca; Gaia de Vecchi; Sergio Massironi; Cristina Simonelli; Martin Lintner, Sauro Scarabattoli, Grazia Villa, Giordano Remondi, Romano Cappelletto, Antonio Autiero, Münster-Germany, Paola Colombo, Frankfurt-Germany, Manuel Belli, Paolo Gamberini, Simone Morandini, Fausto Giuseppe Gianfreda, Roberto Oliva, Luca Castiglioni, Alessandro Cortesi, Mother Rosa Lupoli and the Capuchin Nuns of Naples of the Monastery of Santa Maria in Gerusalemme; Eraldo Cacchione; Paolo Russo; Lorenzo Barni; Daniela Elli; Antonio Pagani; Adriana Rosa; Gianni Checchinato, Archbishop of Cosenza-Bisgnano; Luciano Mauri; Youhyung Park; Emmanuel F. Durand, Fribourg-Switzerland; Stefania De Nardis; Sanghyeon Ryu, South Korea; Giuseppe Turani; Paolo Cugini, Manaus-Amazon; Romano Piccinelli; Alfonso Colzani; Vanda Giuliani; Sergio Ventura; Giovanna Mantellassi; Maria Pina Rizzi; Luca Niccheri; Federica Bettonte, Lucia Gabrielli (94)

Signatures after publication

Luigi Zaccaro; Mauro Castagnaro; Sister Myriam, Mother Noemi, and the Benedictine Monastery of Sant'Anna; Eleonora Merlo; Ilaria Fiorese; Elisabetta Scapin; Alessandra Cappelletti; Sister Valentina Conti; Jana Ďurišová; Francesca Geria; Mariangela Maraviglia; Paolo Molteni; Luisa Cristina Martini; Irma Bertocco; Adriana Valerio; Lucia Fontana; Daniela Davoli; Agostino Greco; Emanuela Davolio; Emanuela Ersoch; Ricardo Perez Marquez; Ernesto Borghi. (totale: 118)

Salvo Coco; Stefano Bucci; Norberto Fasoli; Mariateresa Govi; Maria Carmen Cangiano; Martina Ferri; Sara Cangiani; Valentina Cangiano; Paola Franchina; Francesca Cucuzza; Massimo Pieggi; Gino Aiello; suor Laura Masiero; Angelo Magnano; Franchina Sebastiano; Sara Catanzaro; Maria Rosaria Coppola; Sonia Leurini; Patricia Parraguez Núñez fma; Silvia Sanchini; Giancarlo Martini; suor M. Andreina Alfero; Ezio Molinari; Stefano Buttinoni; Romano Gambalunga; Roberto Del Buffa; Giuseppe Forle; Elisabetta Moccia; Pietro Pisarra; Renata Merlo; Maddalena Celano; Filomena Piccolantonio; Giuseppe Lusignani; Pietro Paolo Lissignoli; Daniela Conti; suor Filomena Rispoli; suor Daniela Rizzardi; Andrea Lebra; Liliana Lipone; Stefano Zecchi; Fortunato Romeo, Trans-Ekulu-Nigeria; Cristiana Gualtieri. (totale 161)

Gianni Musella; Adelaide Baracco Colombo, Manresa-Spagna; Maria Rosa Ghidotti; Daniel Mauri Trezzi, Huaicán-Perù; Teodora Tosatti, vescova della Chiesa cristiana vetero-cattolica; Riccardo Bosi; suor Manuela Romano ocd e Comunità delle Monache Carmelitane Scalze di Lucca; Luigi Mariano Guzzo; Annalisa Picardi; Enzo Cicero; Federico Campanella; Michele Aramini; Amedeo Angelozzi; Giuseppe Giosmin; Laura Verrani; Margherita Bonanate; Ivo Seghedoni; Martin Werlen osb; Teresa Bartolomei; Nadia Toschi Vespasiani; Giovanni Lupino; Luca Palazzi; Francesco Strazzari; Giacomo Casarini; Francesca Cocchini; Paola Ferretti; Giuliano Paltenghi; Berni e Marco Spotorno; Roberta Viani; Pio Manici; Carla Bottinelli; Franco Annichiarico sr; Francesca Avitabile; Vincenzo Marras; Riccardo Borgonovo; Ottavio Pirovano; Miriam Milanese; Enzo Biemmi; Alberto D’Incà; Giorgio A. Pisano; Michele Cerasa (totale 205)

Renata Bedendo; Emilia Palladino; Stefania Di Terlizzi; Angelo Biscardi; Gabriela Graziadei; Bruna Maria Pestrelli; Paola Spagnolo; Francesco Morgese; Miriam Francesca Bianchi; suor Chiara Francesca Lacchini e suor Michela Argiolas insieme al Monastero delle Clarisse cappuccine di San Bartolomeo; Libera Carbone; Agnès Thery; suor Alice Reuter; Carolina Toso; Anna Maria Contursi; Valter Casse; Giandomenico Cova; Cristina Tabacchi; Emilia Cera; Lucia Romanengo; Fulvio Falleni; Gioia Parisi; Chris Sabbatini; Francesco Santoro; Marta Romanengo; Matteo Cavani; Christof Betschart; Federica Franceschini; Marilena Manenti; Giandiego Carastro; Anna Quinterio; Sergio Di Benedetto; Giovanni Castiglia; Adriana Somigli; Serena Ionta; Mauro Pandimiglio; Fabio Volpato; Andrea Camplani (254)

Lino Klamert; Giulio Osto; Giovanna Currarino; Marco Barabino; Rosa Capone; Fiorenza Pizzamiglio; Annamaria Fulloni; Irene Pilotto; Paolo Trotta; Antonio Bortone; Stefano Pepe; Emilio J. Martínez González ocd; suor Azia Ciairano; suor Maria Rosaria Fatone; Paolo Aglietti; Renato Marangoni, vescovo di Belluno-Feltre; Franco Pavesi; Fabrizio Rinaldi; Antonella Adani; Flavia Vezzaro; Anna Staropoli. (275)

Andrea Pontico; Maria Pia Bozzo; Patrizia Casarini; Donatella Bignardi; Alessandra Marcuccini; Paola Pasqualini; Anita Prati; Lucia Gatto; Franco Garelli e Leonarda Ramelli; Livia Calani; Giovanni Polidori; Pier Luigi Granata; Enrico Müller fsc; Jessica Trombatore; Massimo De Luca; Nicoletta Degli Innocenti; Marta Cascia; Eleonora Mineo; Eugenia Romano; Marco Cioni; suor Patrizia Pasini; Concetta Licitra; Federica Tassi; Lello Licenziato; Elena Tealdi; Francesca Pellarin; Michela Latini; Anna Santoro; Gabriele Venturelli; Antonio Caschetto; Francesca Pellarin; Daniela Rossi; Giovanna Pastorino; Gabriele Venturelli; Paola Pavan; Alberto Genzerli; Sandro Periotto; Enza Guazzi; Paolo Iannacone; Olinda Curia; Orietta Cagnana; Maria Bisceglie; Emanuela Cigni; Simone D’Agostino; Fabio Bilancioni; Elisabetta Castelli; Laura Saroglia; Francesca Scotton; Rossana Ragonese; Viviana Martinez (totale 325)

Daniela Redolfi; Lucia Capuzzi; Federica Spinozzi; Cristina Cecchini; Chiara Codardini; Eugenio Lenardon; Chang Suhee, Corea del Sud; Attilia Franchi; Rolando Covi; Otello Galassi; Grazia Papola; Maria Gabriella Martino; suor Patrizia Pasini; Margherita Pasini; Margherita Brondino; Grazia Grappoli; Valentina Conti; Anna Bigi; Fabio Marchetti; suor M. Lorenza Cossolo; Ilaria Schincaglia; Giuseppe Berlangieri, Raffaele Nogaro, vescovo emerito di Caserta (349)