(by Catherine Hornby).
Pope Francis on Thursday
agreed to set up a commission to consider allowing women to
serve as deacons, opening the way potentially for a historic
move that would end the tradition of a male-only clergy in the
Catholic Church.
A deacon is an ordained minister ranking below a priest in
the Church hierarchy. They play a supportive role, dealing with
practical issues while higher ministries can focus on spiritual
teaching.
During a question and answer session on Thursday with UISG,
the International Union of Superiors General, Francis was asked
why women were excluded from the role nowadays even though
female deacons existed in the early church.
Francis responded that women deacons were a "possibility
for today" and said he would discuss setting up a commission to
clarify what role female deacons had played in the past.
He said he had spoken about the issue with a professor who
had studied the use of female deacons in the first centuries of
the Church. He said facts such as whether they were really
ordained or not had remained obscure, so a commission could help
clarify those questions.
Deacons can oversee baptisms, witness marriages and perform
funeral services, but are not allowed to celebrate Mass or hear
confessions.
The Catholic Church says that women cannot become priests
because Jesus Christ chose only men as his disciples. But
supporters of a female diaconate and priesthood point to records
of the existence of women deacons in the early Church, including
references in the apostle Paul's writing to a deaconess called
Phoebe who lived in the first century AD.
Opening the diaconate to women may be strongly opposed by
conservatives who could view it as a first step towards allowing
women to become priests.
Pope Francis has often spoken of the complexities
surrounding the role of women in the Church and of the need to
increase their presence and influence within its ranks.
Earlier this year he changed the rules for the Holy
Thursday foot-washing rite so that it can also include women.
However, he has also said that the "door is closed" to women
priests.
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