The step is seen as a possible turning point for the Roman Catholic Church, which does not allow women to serve in ordained ministry.
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He’s the first pope we have ever had who was ordained to the priesthood AFTER Vatican II. But that might change in the coming years as Pope Francis has recently announced plans to study the possibility of ordaining women deacons in the Catholic Church.
Referring to the Pope’s much reported remark about setting up a Commission to study the question of female deacons, Father Lombardi said this was an issue that has been talked about within the Church in the past and arises from the fact that in the early Church there were women described as deaconesses who carried out certain tasks within the Christian community.
“Why not construct an official commission that might study the question”, the pontiff was asked.
According Vatican media, Francis said: “It would be useful for the church to clarify this question”. I am in agreement.
“However, in my reading of the news reports, it seems that, as usual, Pope Francis was listening to the questions put to him in a very sensitive and compassionate way, and that he is going to respond thoughtfully and with care”, Karlovic said.
Ursula Pfahl, vice president of business development for Bigham Jewelers, is also a devout Catholic.
He has tried to make the global institution more understanding, less judgemental in its approach to divorced, cohabiting and gay believers.
For a man seeking ordained ministry, but not to the priesthood, there is the permanent diaconate. Fr Dwight Longenecker observed that according to one important collection of 3-century regulations, The Constitutions of the Holy Apostles, “the role of deacon and deaconess were not interchangeable”.
Lower House Speaker Laura Boldrini on Friday called the panel a “momentous decision” and said it’s “redemption for the Catholic women who want to have a role within the Church”. “And when you superiors are asked (to assign a sister) for something that is more servanthood than service, be courageous and say ‘no'”. Mainly, he said, it appeared that they assisted with the baptism by immersion of other women and with the anointing of women. They are not, however, allowed to deliver the homily at Mass, and some are unsung and invisible in their parishes.
Rev. Allison Farnum has been with Unitarian Universalist Church of Fort Myers since 2008.
Church liberals had hailed his call for a commission to look into the question of deacons.
“She went through all kinds of hell having to fight tooth and nail for her calling”, Farnum said of Olympia Brown.
“So, the good news about this is that Pope Francis has said it’s important to focus a concerted effort on trying to figure out what exactly is the historical precedent and what that might mean for the future”, said Cummings. He has repeatedly acknowledged this shortcoming, but so far, he has not really addressed it.
“The female diaconate is not only an idea whose time has come, but a reality recovered from history”, he said in an email. “Taken together, all this would be an huge gift to the church”.
“When you deal with the church, you’re dealing with God’s children, and so to incorporate and have an open heart and a mind to bring women into more of a leadership role in the church, you’re gonna find that people are gonna warm more to the church”, Walker said. A 2014 Pew Research Center study showed 54 percent of Catholics nationwide are women.
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