2024-10-26 23:09:00
The Catholic Church declared, on Saturday 26 October, to leave “open” the question of the ordination of women to the diaconate, a function prior to that of the priest, without addressing the possibility of the priesthood. The announcement comes at the end of a world summit on the future of the Church in the Vatican.
«The question of women’s access to the diaconal ministry remains open. This discernment must continue”we read in the final document approved by Pope Francis, at the end of a month of debates. If “Women and men have equal dignity as members of the people of God”, “Women continue to face barriers to gaining greater recognition” of their role, this 51-page document continues.
As with priests, and unlike other faiths, the Catholic Church only allows men to be deacons, a ministry that allows baptisms, weddings and funerals to be performed, but not masses. “There is no reason or obstacle that can prevent women from exercising leadership roles in the Church”the document specifies, without however detailing what these roles could be. There is not even mention of the possibility of ordaining women priests, requested by numerous associations, especially in Europe and North America.
The paragraph on women encounters the most objections
Since October 2, 368 people – religious, bishops and lay people, including women – from a hundred countries have debated behind closed doors in the Vatican during the general assembly of the synod on the future of the Church, already gathered for the first time in October 2023. Among the 155 paragraphs, the one on women is the one that met with the most objections, with 97 votes against and 258 in favor.
The document also proposes a reorganization of the training of priests, greater involvement of the laity, including in the choice of bishops, but does not make any proposals on the reception of LGBT+ faithful.
The synod is a consultative body that transmits its conclusions to the pope, who has the final say on possible doctrinal reforms. But, in a rare occasion, the latter announced on Saturday that it would directly adopt the assembly’s proposals, giving them official value.
«I don’t intend to publish an “apostolic exhortation”, what we have approved is enough. In the document there are already very concrete indications that can serve as a guide for the mission of the Churches, in the different continents, in the different contexts”Francis declared at the end of the assembly on Saturday evening.
The result of a consultation of Catholics from all over the world since 2021, this sixteenth general assembly of the synod stood out for its more horizontal functioning, with the first participation of lay people and around fifty women, a revolution for this institution created by Paul VI in 1965.
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