The newly appointed Archbishop of Dublin has expressed support for the ordination of women as deacons, and suggested that Church tradition is the main impediment to a female priesthood. “That’s the hurdle that has to be overcome,” he said. The archbishop-elect also said that “I don’t have a difficulty” with a priest who blesses rings for a homosexual couple, as long as the blessing is conferred privately, rather than in a church ceremony that might appear equivalent to a wedding.