In an interview with EWTN News, Salesian Sister Laura Pocher pointed out that “at this moment the debate on this issue [the female diaconate] is very hot and various scientific publications are appearing from the theological point of view that address this topic and the positions are very diverse.”
“There are many positions on this and the pope has also expressed himself in an interview saying that he does not plan to ordain women,” she added.
In May of this year, the Holy Father gave an interview to CBS News anchor Norah O’Donnell, who asked him if a Catholic girl could ever become a deacon and member of the clergy. “No,” was Pope Francis’ firm response.
“Three possibilities” for women in the Catholic Church
“However, the possibilities are fundamentally three,” said Pocher. “The first is to do nothing and continue as we are. Some believe that this is the best option, because they know that in the first centuries there were women deacons, but with the sources we have it is not possible to reconstruct exactly what this diaconate consisted of,” she explained.
The second possibility mentioned by the Salesian theologian is “a form of diaconate without ordination, because it is important from an institutional point of view to recognize the service of women in the Church and thus give a form of ministries at the established age (for ordination).”
“The third possibility, the most radical, is to also give women the possibility of being ordained deacons. Just as we have deacons, married men who are not priests,” she said.
Then, she continued, “an ordained diaconate which should not because of this be a first step towards priestly ordination, but which would allow for a recognized service within the Church, for example in the guidance of communities.”
When asked if the issue was discussed at C9 in February, Pocher said yes, although “it is not a possibility on the Synod agenda and the pope is not very favorable, because this issue of the ordination of women is a “bit like the elephant in the room.”
In the theologian’s opinion, “not everyone thinks about it but often there is no courage to speak because it is a very conflictive issue and it seemed to us that in the spirit with which the pope guides these meetings of the council (C9) it was important to put the difficult things on the table.”
Pope Francis and deaconesses in the Catholic Church
(Story continues below)
Subscribe to our daily newsletter
Although the topic of the female diaconate does not appear in Instrumentum laboris 2, Cardinal Mario Grech, Secretary General of the Synod, said in a July 9 press conference that Pope Francis has asked the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) to study women’s participation and leadership in the Catholic Church, including the possibility of women deacons, to publish a document on the subject.
Prior to this assignment for the DDF, Pope Francis had created two commissions to study deaconesses in the Catholic Church: one in 2016; that was closed without reaching a consensus; and the second in 2020; after the majority of participants in the Amazon Synod expressed themselves in favor of the issue.
In Querida Amazonia, Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation following the 2019 synod, the Pope encouraged women to participate in the Church, but not in the ordained ministries of the diaconate or priesthood.
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
Credit: Source link
