GO Mag: Vatican Says “No” To Women Deacons – Cites The “Masculinity Of Christ”
Continuing the all-male tradition, on Thursday, Dec. 4, the Vatican’s papal commission voted against permitting women to serve as deacons in the Roman Catholic Church. Though not the highest in the clergy food chain, deacons are ordained ministers permitted to administer the sacraments of matrimony, baptism and engage in other roles; they do not celebrate Mass or hear confessions.
This news was widely viewed as not shocking to women who had aspired to join the diaconate ranks. Still, many were disappointed, given the tease of a question that has been under study for a decade, with secret meetings and formal deliberations undertaken by the late Pope Francis, one of the more progressive popes.
“This latest statement is consistent with how the Vatican has handled the question of women’s ordination for decades. Which is to say, delay and therefore deny women’s equality… ” says Kate McElwee, Executive Director of Women’s Ordination Conference (WOC), the largest and oldest organization working to ordain women as deacons, priests, & bishops.
“Yes, there were some signs of hope over the past few years,” she tells GO, “the repeated calls for women’s ordination from every continent during the Synod on Synodality, the public support from several cardinals, and Pope Francis’ own decision to establish two commissions to study the diaconate. Those developments suggested that the church might finally be ready to not just listen to women’s experiences but be a church on the move.”