A Synod on Synodality study group responsible for evaluating the female diaconate has said that, while still exploring other forms of women’s’ involvement in the Church, they will not become deacons. Source: Crux.
Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, made the announcement during the synod’s afternoon session on Wednesday, the first official working day of the October 2-27 synod.
On the women’s diaconate, he said, “We would like to share from the outset that, based on the analysis conducted so far – which also takes into account the work done by the two commissions established by Pope Francis on the female diaconate – the dicastery judges that there is still no room for a positive decision by the Magisterium regarding the access of women to the diaconate, understood as a degree of the Sacrament of Holy Orders.”
“The Holy Father himself recently confirmed this consideration publicly. In any event, the Dicastery judges that the opportunity to continue the work of in-depth study remains open,” he said.
Pope Francis has previously established two different commissions to study the issue of the women’s diaconate, with the first being established in 2016. Both commissions presented their findings, which were ultimately inconclusive, to the Pope.
The topic of the women’s diaconate was among the most hotly debated during last year’s Synod gathering, which touched on other sensitive issues such as priestly celibacy, women’s priestly ordination, and a broader inclusion of the LGBTQ+ community.
However, Pope Francis in May took these questions off of the Synod discussion table, instead assigning them to study groups he formed to continue reflection on various points that emerged during the Synod discussion.
The groups, comprised of curial officials and experts from around the world, have been tasked with developing a working plan that they were to present to this year’s synod assembly, and with the goal of concluding their studies so as to present the results to the Pope by June 2025.
FULL STORY
As Synod opens, Vatican says ‘no’ to women deacons (By Elise Ann Allen, Crux)
Synod rules out women deacons; meetings called to be ‘laboratories of synodal life’ (By Kristina Millare, CNA)
