US EditionVatican Commission Says ‘No’ to Women as Catholic Deacons
The Vatican commission voted 9-1 against ordaining women as deacons but urged expanding women’s ministry roles and further theological study, the report said.
- On Dec 4, a high-level Vatican commission reported to Pope Leo XIV that it voted against allowing women to serve as deacons, maintaining an all-male clergy, according to the report sent by Cardinal Giuseppe Petrocchi, dated Sept 18.
- The late Pope Francis created two commissions to study the issue after a 2016 request from the Rome-based umbrella group representing Catholic sisters and nuns, and the commissions met largely in secrecy.
- Panel membership and votes reveal the commission panel included men and women scholars led by a cardinal and a priest, with a July 2022 working session approving exclusion by seven to one but showing splits on ministry access and report paragraphs.
- The report concluded that `does not as of today allow a definitive judgment to be formulated` and therefore urged further study, recommending new ministries with pastors to discern local implementation.
- The debate has convulsed the 1.4 billion-strong Catholic Church for a decade, with advocates citing early evidence of women deacons and Cardinal Giuseppe Petrocchi urging rigorous study amid regional variation in diaconal ministry.
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The Catholic Church will not allow women to be ordained to the diaconate for the time being, according to a commission document published by the Holy See at the request of Pope Leo XIV.
Vatican report says church teaching bars women deacons, but stops short of final ruling
(RNS) — The Vatican released a document Thursday (Dec. 4) stating that current church teaching does not permit women to be ordained as deacons, while emphasizing that the opinion is not a final ruling. The document, however, a summary of the work of a Vatican-appointed Study Commission on the Women’s Diaconate, is the most extensive official review to date on the issue. It was submitted to Pope Leo XIV, who will decide whether and how to act on …
A women's rights association, the Conference for the ordination of women, said on Thursday that it was "dismayed by the Vatican's refusal to open its doors to women, if only to entangle them".
Vatican commission says 'no' to women as Catholic deacons
A high-level Vatican commission voted against allowing Catholic women to serve as deacons, maintaining the global Church's practice of all-male clergy, according to a report given to Pope Leo and released on Thursday.
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