Pope Francis’ recently released statement on the transgender issue has prompted criticism from the British Humanist Association (BHA), which accused the Catholic leader of being homophobic.
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Pope Francis promised a group of nuns he’d look into the role of women within the Catholic Church, specifically their capacity to serve as deacons. The Vatican announcing a new commission of seven men and six women, charged with studying the historical role of female deacons.
As women were equal partners in the society, they should be equal partners in Church also, Zed stated.
Francis famously said, “Who am I to judge?” when once asked about homosexuals, however he as ruled out same-sex marriages.
Deacons are ordained ministers who can preach as well as preside over weddings and funerals.
The Vatican said Tuesday Francis “after intense prayer and mature reflection” made a decision to set up the commission, with 12 members – six men and six women – including priests, nuns and laywomen. For instance, the treatment of women within the Catholic Church under his watch has been called into question – and now he’s facing criticism due to his recent remarks about transgender individuals. Some historians say there were female deacons in the early church. “We can say that without mutual enrichment in this relationship – in thinking and action, in feelings and work, even in faith – the two can’t even understand fully what it means to be a man and woman”. One of those women is Dr. Phyllis Zagano, a professor at Hofstra University in NY.
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Pope Francis said this sin was often given financial backing by “very influential countries”: a form of “ideological colonization”, the Pope said, which is “terrible”. “God created man and woman, God created the world this way, this way, this way, and we are doing the opposite”, Francis told the Polish bishops Wednesday shortly after his arrival in Krakow at the start of a five-day pilgrimage. “I think it’s important that we pick up where others have left off and answer Pope Francis’s call to give more definitive answers on the history of women in the diaconate and possibilities for the future”, she said.
