In a transcript by the Vatican released on Tuesday the Pope said: “God created man and woman, God created the world this way, and we are doing the opposite”. “We do everything and the pastors, a lot of them are women”, Marianne Grazious of Duryea said. “In addition to Archbishop Ladaria, the commission is composed of six women and six men from academic institutions around the world”.
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Pope Francis is seen by many as progressive in terms of acceptance of the LGBT community, after saying the Church should apologize to gay people in June, but clearly, these sentiments have a breaking point.
Deacons, like priests, are ordained ministers, and as in the priesthood, must be men.
“The ordained ministry of service by women is necessary to the church-that is, to both the people of God and the hierarchy”, she wrote.
The panel will set out to determine the role female deacons played in the early church leadership.
“I have a PhD, I’ve been in political office, I’ve done many things”, Formicola said.
Francis also praised the Brazilian society for hosting the Olympics hoping that, by working together, it could overcome its difficulties and lead to a more just and safe country. Women can not now hold any clergy rank in the Roman Catholic Church.
“From my understanding of a deacon, it’s someone who cares for the needs of others”, said.
John Teehan, chairman of Hofstra’s religion department, said, “Phyllis Zagano is one of the leading scholars in the world today on the subject of women in the Diaconate. So there’s a lot of ways for women to serve very, very, faithfully”. “It mentions ‘ample evidence” that there were female deacons in the early centuries of the church, including one named Phoebe mentioned in the Book of Romans. He had however at the time made it clear that he was not in favour of women becoming priests. Father Georges Cottier, the head of that commission, said at the time that while the group came to no definitive position, it generally felt women had not served in a sacramental role in the early church.
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While some people say the issue is a slippery slope which could eventually allow women into the priesthood others argue the church needs to catch up with other denominations.
