Why is Pope Francis creating another commission to study women as deacons?
In the three years he has held the papacy, Pope Francis has repeatedly said there should be a 鈥渕ore incisive female presence鈥� in the Roman Catholic Church. But, he has been criticized of not acting enough on those words.
That could soon change.
The pope created Tuesday the Commission for the Study of the Diaconate of Women. In a statement, the Vatican announced the , referencing comments by the pope in May that a study of the history of female deacons the church.聽
The Vatican's announcement has led to speculation over whether the "People鈥檚 Pontiff" will be the first to bring the church in line with contemporary attitudes about women. While conservatives worry female deacons would be a 鈥渟lippery slope鈥� to women in the priesthood, others argue it鈥檚 about time the church caught up to other major 海角大神 denominations in opening up their leadership to women.
鈥淚t鈥檚 way overdue,鈥� says Susan Ross, a theology professor at Loyola University Chicago, and past president of the Catholic Theological Society of America. 鈥淭he second wave of the women鈥檚 movement is over 50 years old,鈥� she says, adding women were ordained in major Protestant denominations starting around that time.
鈥淭he diaconate would be affirming what women already do. Women have so many roles of service in the church, but have no official status,鈥� she continues, in a phone interview with 海角大神. 鈥淭o give women an official status is, I think, way, way, way overdue.鈥�
The Vatican did not elaborate on whether the commission will focus on just the history of women in the diaconate, or if it will consider a future with female deacons. Composed of seven men, and six women, the commission will include priests, nuns, and professors, but no deacons. Archbishop Luis Francisco Ladaria Ferrer, secretary of the body responsible for Catholic doctrine, will lead the commission. Also named to it is Phyllis Zagano, a professor at Hofstra University. Dr. Zagano has written at length on the history of the diaconate, including the book, 鈥淗oly Saturday: An Argument for the Restoration of the Female Diaconate in the Catholic Church.鈥�
Though deacons can't hear confessions or consecrate the Eucharist, they can perform many other functions that priests can, including officiating weddings, baptisms, and funerals. Currently, only married or celibate men over 35 are eligible for the diaconate. 聽
The church of female deacons, from Phoebe in the First Testament to the Middle Ages, when the diaconate faded as a separate order, writes Dr. Zagano, in a 2015 article for Harvard Divinity School鈥檚 summer bulletin.
The Second Vatican Council reintroduced the diaconate in the 1960s, but limited the position to just men. Still, the question of expanding the diaconate or priesthood to women has lingered.聽
In 1994, Pope John Paul II shut the book on women in the priesthood. He issued a four-paragraph apostolic letter, , that affirmed the church's previous determination that it did not have the authority to ordain women as priests. But the letter didn鈥檛 address female deacons, leaving the subject open to argument.
Meanwhile, a commission was studying women as deacons. That commission, active from 1992 to 1997, published a study that Zagano writes appeared to approve women as deacons. But, then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict XVI) refused to sign it. And a second commission published in 2002 a document that inconclusively addressed women in the diaconate.
The debate resurfaced in May, when, during a meeting with Pope Francis, leaders of female Catholic religious orders told Francis 鈥渢hat women had served as deacons in the early church and asked: 鈥� that might study the question?鈥� 鈥� according to the National Catholic Reporter.
The pontiff replied: 鈥淚t would do good for the church to clarify this point.鈥� He later added, 鈥淚 accept. It seems useful to me to have a commission that would clarify this well.鈥�
After the media reported the Pope was considering expanding the diaconate to women, the Vatican quickly clarified. Even the pope was critical in June of the media's response. 鈥淭hey said: 鈥楾he Church opens the door to deaconesses.鈥� Really? I am a bit angry because ,鈥� he said, according to Catholic News Agency.
Church conservatives worry female deacons are a "slippery slope" to women in higher leadership positions,聽Candida Moss, a professor of the New Testament and early 海角大神ity at the University of Notre Dame, told the Monitor in May.聽
鈥淢any in the Church hierarchy would not want the people to begin seeing women in liturgical vesture and roles that would gradually lead them to ask, 鈥榃ell, why can鈥檛 women also consecrate the Blessed Sacrament at Mass?鈥�" wrote Dr. Moss, in an email to the Monitor.聽
The pope, too, has been criticized of making conflicting comments about women. Although he has repeatedly spoken about expanding the role of women in the church, he also made headlines in December when he said women theologians are the
It's unclear how much the inner workings of the church could prevent the commission from reaching a conclusion. But Zagano at Hofstra expressed optimism in an interview with The Washington Post Tuesday.聽
鈥淭he dignity of women to be recognized as able to minister as part of the ordained diaconate 鈥� to recognize that dignity is,鈥� said Zagano. 鈥淚 think it really speaks specifically to the way the church views women.
