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Will the Catholic Church Ordain Women?

Phyllis Zagano, PhD, Senior Research Associate-in-Residence and Adjunct Professor, Department of Religion, Hofstra College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Hofstra University

Introduction There is little historical evidence of women priests, but hundreds, even thousands of women were ordained as deacons throughout the Christian world in its various churches during the first millennium and to the 12th century, when the diaconate as a permanent vocation effectively died out. Following the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965), the diaconate was restored as a permanent vocation, but only for men.

General (UISG) in Rome revived the conversation about restoring women to the ordained diaconate. Pointing out that many women religious around the world performed diaconal works, one of the 900 sisters in attendance asked: “What prevents the Church from including women among permanent deacons, as was the case in the primitive Church? Why not constitute an official commission to study the matter?”

A single question presented to Pope Francis at the May 2016 triennial meeting of the women’s International Union of Superiors

Why women deacons? Deacons are typically responsible for the Church’s charity, for its ministry to the poor, the sick, the

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disenfranchised, and the abandoned. They are ordained clergy, and they participate in Catholic Masses by proclaiming the Gospel, preaching, and assisting at the altar. Because they are ordained, they also can hold certain offices restricted to clerics, and can serve as single judges in canonical proceedings. Restoring women to the ordained diaconate seemed to make sense, especially in mission territories where there are few trained ministers and fewer priests, but where thousands of religious sisters and other women ministers manage parishes and attend to the needs of

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the people. So, Pope Francis took up the challenge the UISG sisters presented and named 12 scholars to the Pontifical Commission for the Study of the Diaconate of Women in August 2016 (Box I). The question of women in ordained ministry in the Catholic Church was, and still is, complex. In the 1970s, a groundswell of interest in bringing Catholic women into the priesthood drowned out the conversation about women deacons. Despite the fact that Pope Paul VI asked about women deacons when he restored the diaconate as a permanent vocation for men after Vatican II, the voices asking for women deacons were not heard. In fact, soon, the theological objections to women priests clouded over the theological support for women deacons.

Women Deacons in History There has never been any doubt that women deacons existed. When he spoke to the UISG sisters that day in Rome in 2016, Pope Francis recalled a conversation with a scholar of Syriac Christianity. The pope told the sisters that in ancient Syria, when a woman accused her husband of abuse, the woman would go to the woman deacon, who would examine the bruises and testify to the bishop. Such is evidence of an early form of marriage annulment, but it means much more. The woman deacon’s word was accepted as valid. As a cleric, her testimony had weight. As the pope spoke to the UISG sisters, he knew the question had already been studied in Rome. In 2002, the International Theological Commission, connected to the curial office, Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, presented the results of its second study (the first concluded in

1997). While the first study was short and reportedly positive, the findings of the second study were inconclusive. The 1997 study was not published. The findings of the 2002 study were, essentially, (1) women deacons existed but were not identical to male deacons; (2) the diaconate is not the priesthood; and therefore, (3) ordaining women deacons is something to be determined by the Magisterium, essentially, by the pope. The pope at that time, Pope John Paul II, did not respond. Neither did his successor, Pope Benedict XVI. So, in 2016, Pope Francis called a new Commission to study the question.

BOX I: Members of the First Commission for the Study of the Diaconate of Women (2016-2018) Dr. Nuria Calduch-Benages (Spain), professor of Old Testament, Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome, Italy Dr. Francesca Cocchini (Italy), ordinary professor of history of Christianity, Sapienzia University, Rome, Italy; lecturer in patristics, Patristic Institute Augustinianum, Rome, Italy Msgr. Piero Coda (Italy), ordinary professor of systematic theology, Sophia University, Florence, Italy Rev. Robert Dodaro, OSA (USA), former president, Patristic Institute Augustinianum, Rome, Italy Rev. Santiago Madrigal Terrazas, SJ (Spain), ordinary professor of dogmatic theology, Comillas Pontifical University, Madrid, Spain Sr. Mary Melone, SFA (Italy), rector, Pontifical University Antonianum, Rome, Italy Rev. Karl-Heinz Menke (Germany), emeritus professor of dogmatic theology, University of Bonn, Germany Rev. Aimable Musoni, SDB (Rwanda), professor of ecclesiology, Salesian University, Rome, Italy

Studying the History of Women Deacons The Pontifical Commission for the Study of the Diaconate of Women met four times in Rome in the offices of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, completing its work in June 2018. Nearly one year later, at the May 2019 UISG triennial meeting, Pope Francis gave what the UISG president later described as the history section of the Commission document. The pope had also told the sisters he had more papers, which they could request. It is unknown if the UISG has obtained the complete

Thank you

Rev. Bernard Pottier, SJ (Belgium), professor of dogmatic theology and philosophy, Institute of Theological Studies, Brussels, Belgium Dr. Marianne Schlosser (Germany), professor of spiritual theology, University of Vienna, Austria Dr. Michelina Tenace (Italy), ordinary professor and chair of fundamental theology, Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome, Italy Dr. Phyllis Zagano (USA), senior research associate-in-residence and adjunct professor of religion, Hofstra University, Hempstead, New York, USA

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a Belgian professor, Roger Gryson, published The Ministry of Women in the Early Church. Gryson presented his historical findings that women were ordained to the diaconate and performed diaconal ministries for many centuries, although somewhat more limited than those of their male counterparts. Gryson wrote about the ordination liturgy of women deacons: “nothing distinguishing it formally from the ordination of their male colleagues.”1

report and has not released what it did receive. Published or not, with or without the entire Commission report, the history of ordained women deacons is wellknown and incontrovertible. Women deacons ministered in various ways in multiple locations East and West throughout the Church, until the diaconate as a permanent vocation died out. Even so, their ministries, as well as the nature of their ordinations, have been repeatedly analyzed and debated. The disagreement is in two areas: ministry and ordination. As for ministries, it is widely agreed that women deacons participated in the administration of the sacrament of baptism, which in the ancient Church involved full immersion in water, with the individual to be baptized often unclothed or wearing a simple cloth covering. It would be unseemly for a woman to be seen or touched by a man, so the male bishop would need a female assistant in the ceremony, especially for the rite of anointing. Also, women

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deacons are known to have anointed ill women, for the same reasons of propriety. As for ordination, there are several liturgical ceremonies for the ordination of deacons, male and female. Several are even in the Vatican Library. Some are identical, with a few separate prayers for men and for women; some are listed separately in liturgical books. Early rituals for the ordination of a woman deacon make it clear that she is ordained to the same order of deacons as the men. The women were ordained by their bishops within the sanctuary of the Church during a Mass and in the presence of the clergy (priests and deacons) through the imposition of hands by the invocation of the Holy Spirit; the bishop placed a stole around their necks, and they held and drank from the sacramental chalice. Most importantly, in the ceremony they were called deacons. As the discussion continued through the end of the 20th century, two strains of thought appeared. In the early 1970s,

However, some years later, clearly in an attempt to overtake the growing acceptance of the recovery of the tradition of ordained women deacons, French liturgist Aimé-Georges Martimort published a refutation of Gryson.2 Even so, Martimort wrote that his own work was neither definitive nor determinative: “... theologians must strictly guard against trying to prove hypotheses dependent upon only a part of the documentation available” and “There exists a significant danger of distorting both the facts and the texts whenever one is dealing with them secondhand.”3 Meanwhile, a few academics and other writers took up the discussion about Catholic women deacons from time to time. Both the Canon Law Society of America (in 1995) and the Catholic Theological Society of America (in 1997) supported the restoration of women to the diaconate. My own work began to appear in 2000; Holy Saturday: An Argument for the Restoration of the Female Diaconate in the Catholic Church assumes the proven history and focuses on questions related to sacramental theology and pastoral need. Refereed academic discussion does not doubt the facts, although a strain of unofficial English-language Catholic journalism antithetical to Pope Francis (Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN),

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National Catholic Register, Catholic Herald, Church Militant, LifeSite News) and independent bloggers turn to Martimort, whose research was completed prior to 1982.

The World’s Bishops Take Up the Question Outside the academic debate, bishops began to ask for more serious consideration of women in both the ministry and the administration of the Church. Pope Francis had already called for “a more incisive presence of women in the Church” in 2013, soon after his election as pope. Formally and informally, bishops were responding to that idea. In October 2015, Canadian Archbishop Paul-André Durocher presented a strong intervention on behalf of the dignity of women at the Synod of Bishops held in Rome that year to consider questions surrounding the family and family life. Archbishop Durocher presented two strong proposals: (1) appoint women to positions in the Curia, the pope’s senior staff; and (2) open the diaconate to women. But the Vatican remained hesitant; the Vatican’s spokesman did not brief English-speaking media on Archbishop Durocher’s comments, which were made in French.

commentary on the treatment of girls and women worldwide. Including terms like “domination” and “discrimination,” the Synod called for greater recognition of women in society, including women in Church decision-making, and wrote “the vocation to the permanent diaconate calls for greater attention, because the full potential of this resource has yet to be tapped” (para. 90).4 Again, as above, in May 2019, the pope gave the UISG a portion of the report and said he would recall the Commission. In October 2019, there was another Synod, this one a Special Assembly of the Synod of Bishops to consider questions of the Pan-Amazon region – the nine South American countries of the Amazon River Basin. The Amazon Synod’s final document reported: In the many consultations carried out in the Amazon, the fundamental role of religious and lay women in the Church of the Amazon and its communities was recognized and emphasized, given the wealth of

Both the Canon Law Society of America (in 1995) and the Catholic Theological Society of America (in 1997) supported the restoration of women to the diaconate.

services they provide. In a large number of these consultations, the permanent diaconate for women was requested. ... We would therefore like to share our experiences and reflections with the Commission and we await its results (para. 103).5 In his closing remarks to the Amazon Synod, Pope Francis said, “I welcome the challenge that you have given me:

The question of respecting women and including them more in official Church positions continued to circulate and, as above, the Pontifical Commission for the Study of the Diaconate of Women soon met in Rome and, eventually, produced its 2018 report. Then, in October 2018, another Synod of Bishops met, this one the Synod on Young People, the Faith, and Vocational Discernment. The Synod’s final document mentions women 31 times and includes pointed

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BOX II:

Members of the Second Commission for the Study of the Diaconate of Women (2020-present) Dr. Catherine Brown-Tkacz (USA), visiting professor of theology, Ukrainian Catholic University, Kiev, Ukraine Deacon Dominic Cerrato (USA), director of diaconal formation, Diocese of Joliet, Illinois, USA Rev. Santiago del Cura Elena (Spain), professor, Theological Faculty of Northern Spain Rev. Denis Dupont-Fauville (France), official, Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith; secretary to the Second Commission

Deacon James Keating (USA), professor of spiritual theology, Kenrick-Glennon Seminary, Saint Louis, Missouri, USA Rev. Angelo Lameri (Italy), professor of liturgy and sacraments, and associate dean, Lateran University, Rome, Italy Dr. Rosalba Manes (Italy), extraordinary professor of biblical theology, Gregorian University, Rome, Italy

Dr. Caroline Farey (England), diocesan mission catechist, Diocese of Shrewsbury, England

Dr. Anne-Marie Pelettier (France), professor of biblical exegesis, Notre Dame Seminary, Paris, France

Dr. Barbara Hallensleben (Germany), professor of dogmatic theology, University of Fribourg, Switzerland

Cardinal Giuseppe Petrocchi (Italy), archbishop of Aquila, Italy; president of the Second Commission

‘and that they may be heard.’ I accept the challenge [applause]. Some things emerged which should be reformed: The Church must always reform.”6 But the pope did not recall his original Commission for the Study of the Diaconate of Women. In April 2020, he named an entirely new Commission headed by the archbishop of Aquila, Italy, and composed of five men and five women, with a priest-secretary (Box II). The new Commission has not yet met, in person or via Zoom, but is expected to meet in fall 2021.

The Discussion Continues As individual research and general discussion have continued, and as Synods repeatedly ask for women deacons, negative efforts to forestall the restoration of women to the ordained diaconate press two related points. First, some writers attempt to give the false impression that the 1994 Apostolic Letter of John Paul II, Ordinatio sacerdotalis, outlawing women priests applies as well to women deacons,

Rev. Manfred Hauke (Germany), professor of patristics and dogmatic theology, Theological Faculty of Lugano, Switzerland

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despite the many doctrinal statements clarifying the fact that they are separate and distinct orders.7 Second, but related to the first, they present the so-called “iconic argument,” which argues a woman cannot image Christ. The concept implicitly denies Christian doctrine regarding the Resurrection, and the teaching that all persons are made in the image and likeness of God. The fact that papal teaching against women priests does not apply to women deacons is easy to misunderstand. From the Middle Ages until Vatican II, the diaconate seemed to be inextricably connected to the priesthood, a belief rooted in the medieval practice of the cursus honorum (course of honor). The cursus honorum had strict stages through which a man went on the way to priesthood: tonsure, lector, porter, exorcist, acolyte, subdeacon, deacon, and priest. Once the cursus honorum became law, and until Vatican II, generally speaking, only men on the path to priesthood were ordained as deacons.

The memory of the custom of the cursus honorum supports a theory called the “unicity of orders.” The argument is that because the Church teaches that women cannot be ordained as priests, therefore they cannot be ordained as deacons. As the contemporary discussion continues, another false argument again circulates, stating that the women deacons of history were not ordained, only “blessed.” However, given that the same rituals were used, that argument seems to indicate that neither were male deacons ordained.

Conclusions Considering the facts that women deacons are historically documented, doctrinally possible, and pastorally necessary, it would seem the Church could move to restore women to the ordained diaconate. However, the resurgence of the argument that women cannot image Christ, despite the Church’s constant teaching that all are made in the image and likeness of God, is troubling and seems to deny women their full humanity. Such supports a dismissal of women’s intelligence

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that perdures in some societies and combines with superstitious blood taboos that argue women cannot participate in or even be near sacred ceremonies. Will the Church ordain women deacons? The doctrinal decision on the restoration of women to the ordained diaconate has yet to be made, but the Church as a whole seems to want women to be recognized as full participants, and it does not want to wait any longer.

Endnotes 1 Roger Gryson, The Ministry of Women in the Early Church, trans. J. Laporte and M. L. Hall (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical, 1976), p. 113. Translation of Le ministére des femmes dans L’Église ancienne, Recherches et synthèses, section d’histoire 4 (Gembloux: J. Duculot, 1972) 2 Aimé-Georges Martimort, Deaconesses: An Historical Study, trans. K. D. Whitehead (San

Francisco: Ignatius, 1986); Les Diaconesses: Essai Historique (Rome: C.L.V.-Edizioni Liturgiche, 1982). 3 Martimort, Les Diaconesses, p. 249. 4 The Fifteenth Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, http://www.synod.va/content/ synod2018/en/fede-discernimentovocazione/final-document-of-thesynod-of-bishops-on-young-people-faith-an.html 5 http://www.sinodoamazonico. va/content/sinodoamazonico/en/ documents/final-document-of-theamazon-synod.html 6 Asumo el pedido de rellamar a la comisión o quizás abrirla con nuevos miembros para seguir estudiando cómo existía en la Iglesia primitiva el diaconado permanente. Ustedes saben que llegaron a un acuerdo entre todos que no era claro. Yo entregué esto a las religiosas, a la Unión general de religiosas que fue la que me pidió hacer la investigación, se lo entregué, y ahora cada uno de los teólogos está con su línea buscando,

investigando en eso. Yo voy a procurar rehacer esto con la Congregación para la Doctrina de la Fe, y asumir nuevas personas en esta Comisión, y recojo el guante, que han puesto por allí: “y que seamos escuchadas.” Recojo el guante [aplausos]. Aparecieron algunas cosas que hay que reformar: la Iglesia siempre tiene que ir reformándose. http://www. vatican.va/content/francesco/en/ speeches/2019/october/documents/ papa-francesco_20191026_chiusurasinodo.html 7 For example, the recently retired Cardinal Robert Sarah wrote: “This question, nevertheless, was settled definitively by Saint John Paul II in the Apostolic Letter, Ordinatio sacerdotalis. ...” Cardinal Robert Sarah, From the Depths of Our Hearts, trans. Michael J. Miller, San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2020, pp. 87-88; Des Profondeur de nos coeurs, Paris: Libraries Arthème Fayard, 2020.

Phyllis Zagano is senior research associate-in-residence and adjunct professor of religion in Hofstra College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. She holds the PhD from the State University of New York at Stony Brook, master’s degrees from St. John’s University (NY), Long Island University (NY), and Boston University, and a baccalaureate degree from Marymount College (Tarrytown, NY). Her sponsored research focuses on the history of women in Christianity. She has published hundreds of essays, reviews, and journal articles, as well as monographs on the question of Catholic women deacons. Her work has been published in a variety of outlets and in several languages, including recent articles in Studies: An Irish Quarterly Review, Laval théologique et philosophique, Asian Horizons, Review of Religious Research, Theological Studies, Concilium, and the Harvard Divinity Bulletin. Her newest book, Women: Icons of Christ, addresses the historically documented diaconal ministries of women. She is founding co-chair of the Catholic Studies Unit of the American Academy of Religion. In August 2016, Pope Francis named her to the Commission for the Study of the Diaconate of Women.

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