Pope Francis has created a commission to study the role of female deacons in the Church, the Vatican announced this week.
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The church now allows single and married men over the age of 35 to be deacons.
In May, the Pope joked that he felt like a goalie fielding shots – with women calling him out, asking why they can’t preach at Mass or be ordained as deacons. Rev. Thomas Reese, a Jesuit priest and senior analyst for the National Catholic Reporter.
Francis then brought up a conversation he had with Pope Benedict, who, it turns out, isn’t locked away at Shady Pines but rather is still squatting at The Vatican since stepping down in 2013. It also expressed hope its conclusions will lead to “a new reality for women in our Church: one that models equality and inclusion”.
The Vatican says the pontiff’s decision came after intense prayer and mature reflection – to appoint a panel to study the idea of women deacons in the Roman Catholic church, CBS2’s Marlie Hall reported.
They also insist there is no theological obstacle to the move because of the precedent established by women performing the role in the early centuries of Christianity. Eliel Criz, the executive director for Faith in America, said, “In believing that God is only represented in male or female, Pope Francis is effectively eliminating the diversity and complexity of the image of God”.
Francis added that Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, his predecessor, agreed with the warning, and said that “we are living in an age of sin against God the Creator”.
The BHA appeared to link the Pope’s Biblical beliefs with reports of child abuse, saying: “Obviously the Catholic Church has form when it comes to denying 1) children’s accounts of their experiences and 2) scientific consensus”.
Francis told the Polish bishops: “Today, children are taught this at school: that everyone can choose their own sex”.
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Last week, Pope Francis continued his tradition of condemning the “ideological colonization” of the world by new leftist gender theories. “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.
