The role of women has long been one of the major controversial issues in the Catholic Church. Actually, this should also be a topic at the World Synod. But now the Pope is speaking plainly.
Pope Francis has clearly rejected the ordination of women as deacons or priests in the Roman Catholic Church. This emerges from a message that the 87-year-old church leader had published on the sidelines of the current world synod in Rome.
It says: “The Pope has expressed that at this point the question of the female diaconate is not yet fully developed. He has asked that we not address this possibility.”
There have long been debates in the Roman Catholic Church about whether women should be allowed to work as deacons – as in other large churches. One of the supporters is the chairman of the German Bishops’ Conference, Georg Bätzing, who had just campaigned for it at the synod. Many consider a women’s diaconate to be a preliminary stage so that women can later become priests. Argentine-born Francis has been in office since 2013 as the head of 1.4 billion Catholics worldwide.
Controversial topics have already been outsourced in advance
The topic of women’s diaconate was originally supposed to be discussed at the World Synod, which has been running for three weeks, a meeting of more than 360 bishops, other clergy and also believers without offices. There are also more than 50 women with voting rights.
However, Francis decided in advance to outsource this question, like other controversial topics, to working groups. There was some dissatisfaction about this – especially after the Vatican did not provide any information about the women’s working group last week.
The Pope’s unusually clear clarification has now been made known by one of his closest confidants, the Argentine Cardinal Victor Fernandez. The 62-year-old heads the powerful Vatican authority for religious doctrine. At the same time it was announced that the Pope wants to publish a new encyclical this Thursday with the title “Dilexit nos” (“He loved us”).
The World Synod lasts until the weekend. At the end there will be a large service in St. Peter’s Basilica. The Pope alone has the final say on what is adopted from the Synod’s recommendations.
Source: Stern
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