Pope Francis decided the question of ordaining women deacons was not to be discussed at the 2024 Synod of Bishops, and he directed a Synod-related study group on women’s ministries not to explore the matter, according to the Vatican’s doctrinal chief. Source: OSV News.
“We know that the Holy Father has expressed that at this time the issue of the female diaconate is not mature and has asked that we not entertain this possibility for now,” Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, told the Synod yesterday.
However, he said, the second commission Pope Francis set up in 2020 to study women deacons “will continue to work,” and the “partial conclusions” it has reached “will be published when the time is right”.
But, the cardinal said, “the Holy Father is very concerned about the role of women in the Church and, even before the Synod’s request” that the matter be studied, Pope Francis “asked the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith to explore the possibilities of development without focusing on holy orders,” or diaconal ordination.
The dicastery “cannot work in a different direction,” Cardinal Fernández said, adding that he agrees with the Pope “because thinking about the diaconate for some women does not solve the issue of the millions of women in the Church,” who serve in hundreds of ways.
While most of what is said in the Synod hall is considered confidential, the cardinal’s address to the Synod was released by the Vatican just days after Cardinal Fernández apologised to Synod members for not attending a meeting to discuss the work of his study group on women’s ministry.
While the cardinal had not promised to attend the meeting October 18 to speak about the study group’s work, about 100 Synod participants – cardinals, bishops, priests, religious and laypeople – thought he, or at least members of the group, would be there.
FULL STORY
Women’s ordination remains off the table at Synod in latest update (By Cindy Wooden, OSV News)
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