He Cardinal Fernandez communicated again during the general assembly of the synod that “the question of the female diaconate is not mature at this time”, but that the Pope is concerned about “the role of women in the Church” and that he has asked him to “explore possibilities of development without focusing on management. Francis’ idea is to evoke the figure of women who, without being priests or bishops, have “influenced” the Church, such as Teresa of Jesus, Hildegard of Bingen or Dorothy Day.
“There is no need to rush to ask for the ordination of deaconesses, because today it is not the most important response to promote women,” Cardinal Fernández stressed.
Last minute tensions
To understand the issue, we must keep in mind that this Monday begins the final stretch of the general assembly of the synod, which will close on Sunday, and that last-minute tensions are already emerging. One of the transversal issues of these meetings has been how to give greater space to women in matters of Church government. For some sectors, the answer lies in the female diaconate, although Pope Francis does not see this clearly and has requested that other avenues be explored that do not clericalize either the Church or women.
In March he attempted to remove this thorny issue from the debates, so that it would not overshadow the discussions, and entrusted the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith with a working group on “Theological and canonical issues surrounding specific ministerial forms,” which included “ “the question of the necessary participation of women in the life and leadership of the Church.”
In the first plenary meeting of the synod, on October 2, Cardinal Fernández reported on the work of this group of experts and announced that “there is still no positive decision from the Magisterium on women’s access to the diaconate understood as a degree.” of the Sacrament of Holy Orders”, an opinion shared by the Pope. The response troubled those who hoped the synod would open the door to deaconesses.
To give them new explanations, a meeting was called on the sidelines of the synod to exchange impressions. About 90 of the 366 participants in the synod attended the meeting, which was held on Friday. To their surprise, they were received by two collaborators of Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, who simply They proposed an email to which they could send their proposals.
The cardinal apologizes
This Monday, Fernández would have apologized for his absence and called a new meeting for this Thursday. “This working group is coordinated by the “doctrinal secretary” of the dicastery, not by me, but I knew that some were expecting my presence and I have offered to meet them next Thursday.”
In a note released this Monday, Fernández recalls that “the Holy Father has said that the question of the female diaconate it is not ripe at this moment, and has asked that we not dwell on this possibility now.
He clarifies that what concerns the Pope is “the role of women in the Church,” that “the diaconate for a few women does not resolve the question of (the role of the) millions of women in the Church” and that for this reason “before the synod requested it, it asked this dicastery to explore possibilities of development without focusing on the sacred order.
“By this I mean that we should not rush to ask for the ordination of deaconesses, since it is not the most important response today to promote women,” writes Cardinal Fernández.
In the two-page note distributed by the spokespersons of the synod, the cardinal recalls that the ministry of the catechist already allows that “in the absence of priests, there are women at the head of communities, who direct communities and perform various functions,” but that very few conferences Episcopalians have welcomed this proposal. He says that in the dioceses women have not been accepted into the “ministry of the acolyte” and that in many cases, men made deacons are only “ordained altar boys.”
Pope’s decision
Furthermore, it informs “those who are convinced that the question of the female diaconate must be studied in depth” that the Pope has decided to keep active the study commission that the Pope has chaired since April 2020. Cardinal Giuseppe Petrocchi and that they can send you material to advance the issue. This is the second commission that Francisco has established on this matter, after a previous one formed in 2016 and chaired by the Spaniard Luis Ladaria I couldn’t find an affirmative answer.
“I am convinced that we can advance step by step, and reach very concrete results, so that it is understood that there is nothing in the nature of women that prevents them from occupying very important places in the leadership of the Churches,” concludes Fernández.
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