
Cardinal Fernández Says Female Diaconate Will be Studied ‘More Intensively’
This meeting was called at the initiative of the cardinal in response to some members being frustrated by his absence from a meeting scheduled for last week.
This meeting was called at the initiative of the cardinal in response to some members being frustrated by his absence from a meeting scheduled for last week.
ANALYSIS: News media already has a built-in tendency to downplay nuance and highlight novelty, but this is arguably accentuated at the synod.
The Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria and All Africa has been on the way to diaconal ordination of women for several years.
In an interview with a Spanish-language daily newspaper, Salesian Sister Linda Pocher added that the issue is something the Holy See is working toward.
ANALYSIS: While the synod’s working document gave some women’s ordination advocates hope that the Church would open up to the female diaconate, no ordained ministry has yet been considered by the Vatican.
St. John Paul II wrote in his 1994 apostolic letter Ordinatio Sacerdotalis that the ministerial priesthood is reserved only for men and that the Church has no power to change this.
The Holy Father was unequivocal on the question of the ordination of women priests.
Pope Francis wrote in Querida Amazonia that when considering the role of women in the Church, “we do not limit ourselves to a functional approach.”
Cardinal Christoph Schönborn said that there had been female deacons in the Church in times past and that, ‘basically, this [question] is open.’
The Patriarchate of Alexandria may become the latest Church to restore the ancient order of deaconess.
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