No matter: Francis himself seems to have forgotten the history of women ordained as deacons. When he spoke with CBS News’ Norah O’Donnell in an interview last spring, she asked if young girls ...

Every church, practically and functionally, has to come down on a position. You’re either going to install women into the office of deacon—or not.

26, it emphasized that the possibility of women deacons remains unsettled. “The question of women’s access to diaconal ministry remains open,” reads the document, which was expressly ...

"The synod is good news," said Amman, deputy director of engagement for Discerning Deacons, which advocates for restoring the female diaconate in the church. Not only did the synod on synodality ...

A major Vatican meeting gathering clerics and laity across the globe to discuss the future of the Catholic Church closes this weekend, thwarting discussion of women becoming priests or deacons in ...

Kasper has a history of backing the idea of giving women some of the responsibilities of deacons. At an assembly of German bishops in 2013, the cardinal presented the possibility of deaconesses ...

Frustrations about the slow pace of reform bubbled into the open during the assembly when the pope’s doctrine adviser ruled out ordaining women as deacons and then failed to turn up to a meeting ...

But women ordained as deacons could fill the gap, performing baptisms, witnessing marriages, presiding at funerals and preaching the homily at Mass. Expectations for change rose after Francis ...

But on the question of whether women could be ordained as deacons, the church said the possibility “remains open” and required further meditation. Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich of Luxembourg ...

But it referred questions on the ordination of female deacons, further outreach to the LGBTQ+ community and married priests for further study. The outcome calmed the fears of church conservatives ...