VATICAN CORNER
On May 12, 2016 Pope Francis led an in-depth discussion with the women leaders of 900 female religious orders and congrega!ons. The subject of the discussion was the role of women in the Church. Those woman leaders form part of the interna!onal Union of Superiors General, or UISG who were holding their General Assembly mee!ng marking their 50th anniversary. During the hour and a half long discussion there were 4 subjects: the lack of consecrated and lay women in decision-making roles in the Church, how to be&er insert women into the life of the Church, as well as the tempta!ons of both feminism and clericalism. In a ques!on and answer session when asked about female deacons (deaconesses) in the New Testament and the possibility of the modern church admi*ng women to the permanent diaconate, Pope Francis said his understanding was that the women described as deaconesses in the Bible were not ordained like permanent deacons are. Mainly, he said, it appeared that they assisted with the bap!sm by immersion of other women and with the anoin!ng of women. However, he said, ‘I will ask the (Congrega!on for the) Doctrine of the Faith to tell me if there are studies on this.” He also voiced his desire “to establish an official commission to clarify this point. I am in agreement, and I will speak to do something of this kind.” “To me it seems useful to have a commission that clarifies this well, above all regarding the ancient !mes of the Church.” Without looking at what Pope Francis really said, the world press blew up his statements to mean that he agreed to create a special commission to examine the possibility of “women deacons” in the Church. But what he had really said was nothing new, and in fact the Congrega!on in a study only 14 years earlier concluded there is a supreme dis!nc!on between deaconesses and deacons and that the deaconesses of history “were not purely and simply equivalent to the deacons.” Pope Francis suggested that in modern !mes, nuns perhaps already fill the role of the permanent deaconesses. Asked at the discussion about the possibility of women preaching the homilies during Mass, the Pope said it’s important to dis!nguish between other types of liturgies, where the sermon can be preached by consecrated or lay women, and the Mass, where the homily is connected to the role of the priest serving “in persona Chris!”. Pope Francis reiterated that he wants to see an increase in the number of women in decision-making posi!ons in the Church, saying women’s perspec!ves are very important for both the elabora!on and the carrying out of such decisions. The integra!on of women into the life of the Church has been “very weak”, he said, adding that “we must go forward”.
Sources: ncronline.org, news.va, catholic.com/blog/deason-jim-russell