The Convocations of Canterbury and York are of ancient origin and bring together clergy in a deliberative and legislative body. The convocations have been reformed at various points in their existence, notably in the Reformation and during twentieth-century reforms of Church government. While they have waxed and waned in terms of importance and influence, the two convocations remain important components of the complex system of government of the Church of England.

Many observers detect a noticeable change in tone and practice between the pontificates of John Paul II and Benedict XVI on the one hand, and that of Francis on the other, a shift from what some have called a more rigorously doctrinal and juridical approach to a more inclusive and pastoral one. This change has been dubbed “the Francis Effect,” and numerous commentators have attempted to discern its fundamental characteristics and its impact on the wider church. This roundtable, based on a “reading of the Roman tea leaves” first proposed by James T. Bretzke, SJ, at the 2015 College Theology Society Annual Convention and revised for this issue, offers an interpretation that focuses on the service (munus) of teaching and governing exercised by the pope and its practical impact on the church. In their responses to Bretzke, Julie Hanlon Rubio and Reid Locklin explore this impact further and point out both the strengths and the limits of the Francis Effect.1

The controversy over the ordination of women as priests in the Church of the Province of Uganda has been going on for a long time. Today, there are a few women priests in a good number of dioceses in the Church of the Province of Uganda. But this revolution against the conservative order of male domination has not come without a price. Women who feel called by God to the ministry in the Church of the Province of Uganda are usually discriminated against even when they eventually become ordained. One wonders whether women are called by God but ordained by men. This article looks at the work and ministry of one of those women who opened the door to the ordination of women in the Church of the Province of Uganda. In her response to the challenges of the time, Njangali not only refused the old definitions of women’s involvement in church ministry but also guided the whole church to rethink and renew its leadership policy.