We Have No Authority To Ordain Women

"Rushing" to open the diaconate to women in the Catholic Church would short-circuit a necessary reflection on the relationship between ordained ministry and charismatic leadership, particularly as it impacts the participation of women in the church, said the head of the Vatican's doctrinal office. On the question of women deacons, "we know the public position of the pope, who does not consider the question mature," Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, told members of the Synod of Bishops Oct. 2. "The opportunity for a deepening remains open, but in the mind of the Holy Father, there are other issues still to be deepened and resolved before rushing to speak of a possible diaconate for some women," he said. "Otherwise, the diaconate becomes a kind of consolation for some women, and the most decisive question of the participation of women in the church remains unanswered."

After the first assembly of the synod on synodality in 2023, Pope Francis set up 10 study groups to reflect more deeply on some of the most controversial or complicated questions raised during the synod process. Opening the diaconate to women and ensuring they have decision-making roles in the church was one of those questions, as was ministry to LGBTQ people, how bishops are chosen, and improving seminary education. In his written report, Cardinal Fernández said that at this point, his dicastery "judges that there is still no room for a positive decision by the magisterium regarding the access of women to the diaconate, understood as a degree of the sacrament of holy orders."

But, he wrote, the dicastery thinks a "particularly interesting" way forward would be "to analyze in-depth the lives of some women who -- in both the early and recent history of the church -- have exercised genuine authority and power in support of the church's mission." Their "authority or power was not tied to sacramental consecration, as would be in the case, at least today, with diaconal ordination," the report said. "Yet, in some cases, one can perceive that it was an 'exercise' of power and authority that was of great value and was fruitful for the vitality of the people of God." As examples, the report listed Sts. Hildegard of Bingen, Catherine of Siena, Joan of Arc, Teresa of Ávila and Elizabeth Ann Seton, as well as Dorothy Day "with her prophetic drive for social issues."

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