By Carol Glatz
VATICAN CITY — A commission set up by Pope Francis to study women deacons has voted against the possibility of ordaining women deacons, while also supporting more study on the issue.
It also expressed hope that women’s access to other ministries would be expanded.
Pope Francis established the “Study Commission on the Female Diaconate” in 2020 as a follow-up to a previous group that studied the history of women deacons in the New Testament and the early Christian communities.
Cardinal Giuseppe Petrocchi of Aquila, Italy, was chosen as president of the commission. Pope Francis had named 10 other members of the commission — five women and five men, including two permanent deacons from the United States and three priests.
The seven-page report published Dec. 4 was a synthesis of the commission’s work, which concluded in February, and was addressed to Pope Leo XIV. According to Vatican News, the pope requested the synthesis, which was dated Sept 18, be made public.
The Vatican published the synthesis, including the results of votes the commission members took on eight different statements or “theses.”
One proposition that showed members split exactly down the middle was: “The masculinity of Christ, and therefore the masculinity of those who receive Holy Orders, is not accidental but is an integral part of sacramental identity, preserving the divine order of salvation in Christ. To alter this reality would not be a simple adjustment of ministry but a rupture of the nuptial meaning of salvation.”
When this statement was put to a vote among 10 members in February, it received five votes in favor, confirming its current form, while the other five members voted to remove it.
A statement that received six votes against, two for and two abstaining was: “The undersigned is in favor of the institution in the Church of the female diaconate as understood as the third degree of holy orders.”
The commission unanimously expressed support in 2021 for the establishment of new ministries that “could contribute to synergy between men and women. Their implementation would require the development of appropriate means of formation — theological, practical, mystagogical — and support.” Pope Francis had announced several months before, in January 2021, that the ministries of lector and acolyte would be open to women.
During its last working session in February, the commission also reviewed materials it received after the Synod of Bishops had allowed anyone to contribute to the commission’s deliberations.
“Although many interventions were submitted, the persons or groups who sent their writings numbered only 22 and represented few countries,” the report said. “Consequently, although the material is abundant and in some cases skillfully argued, it cannot be considered the voice of the Synod, much less of the People of God as a whole.”
However, the report noted some of the arguments being made in favor of women’s ordination to the diaconate, citing how proponents have said excluding women from this ministry seems to contradict the biblical foundation of the equal status and dignity of “male” and “female” as images of God.
Because of that, some believe women should not only be allowed access to ordination as deacons, but also to the other degrees of Holy Orders: the priesthood and episcopate, the report said.
