Vatican: Pope Francis writes preface to the book Women and Ministries in the Synodal Church

Pope Francis wrote the preface to the book Women and ministries in the Synodal Churchwritten by three theologians and two cardinals who participated in the meeting of the Council of Cardinals, C9, in February at the Vatican.

The theologians, he points out Vatican News, are Salesian Sister Linda Pocher, professor of Christology and Mariology at the Auxilium in Rome; who also signs the book’s introduction; Jo B. Wells, Anglican “bishop” and undersecretary general of the Anglican Communion; and Giuliva Di Berardino, consecrated woman of the Ordo Virginum of the diocese of Verona (Italy), liturgist, teacher and person in charge of spirituality courses and spiritual exercises.

The cardinals are Jean-Claude Hollerich, Archbishop of Luxembourg and general rapporteur of the Synod of Synodality, who in 2023 said that “over time” the Pope could allow the ordination of women; and Seán Patrick O’Malley, Archbishop of Boston (United States) and president of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors.

Pope Francis’ preface to the book Women and ministries in the Synodal Church

The preface, indicates Vatican News, has been published in its entirety in L’Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper.

In the text, the Holy Father laments that “the drama of abuse has forced us to open our eyes to the scourge of clericalism, which does not only affect ordained ministers, but also a distorted way of exercising power within the Church.” into which everyone can fall: even lay people, even women”.

In this sense, Pope Francis refers to “a certain suffering of ecclesial communities regarding the way of understanding and living the ministry is not a new reality.”

The Pontiff then states: “Listening to them without judging and without prejudice, we realize that in many places and in many situations they suffer precisely from the lack of recognition of what they are and what they do and also what they could do.” and be if they had the space and the opportunity.”

“The women who suffer the most are often those who are closest, those who are most available, prepared and willing to serve God and his Kingdom,” she stressed.

“Reality, however, is always greater than the idea, and when our theology falls into the trap of clear and distinct ideas, it inevitably becomes a bed of Procrustes (ie an arbitrary norm), which sacrifices reality, or part of it, on the altar of the idea,” says Pope Francis.

Women in the Church and the female diaconate

The issue of women in the Church appears in An instrument of labor (working document) for the second phase of the Synod of Synodality, which will take place in October 2024 in the Vatican.

The text highlights “the need to give fuller recognition” to the charismas and vocations of women who, “by virtue of Baptism are in a condition of full equality, receive the same outpouring of gifts of the Spirit and are called to the service of the mission of Christ”.

In an interview with EWTN News, Salesian Sister Laura Pocher pointed out that “at this moment the debate on this topic (the female diaconate) is very hot and various scientific publications are appearing, from the theological point of view that addresses this topic and the positions “They are very diverse.”

“There are many positions on this and the Pope has also expressed himself in an interview saying that he does not plan to ordain women,” he added.

In May of this year, the Holy Father gave an interview to CBS News anchor Norah O’Donnell, who asked him if a Catholic girl could ever become a deacon and member of the clergy. “No,” was Pope Francis’ firm response.

“3 possibilities” for women in the Catholic Church

“However, the possibilities are fundamentally three,” said Pocher. “The first is to do nothing and continue as we are. Some believe that this is the best option, because they know that in the first centuries there were women deacons, but with the sources we have it is not possible to reconstruct exactly what this diaconate consisted of,” he highlighted.

The second possibility mentioned by the Salesian theologian is “a form of diaconate without ordination, because it is important from an institutional point of view to recognize the service of women in the Church and thus give a form of ministries to the instituted age.”

“The third possibility, the most radical, is to also give women the possibility of being ordained deacons. Just as we have deacons, married men who are not priests,” she said.

Then, he continued, “an ordained diaconate should not be a first step towards priestly ordination, but should allow for recognized service within the Church, for example in the guidance of communities.”

When asked if the issue was discussed at C9 in February, Pocher said yes, although “it is not a possibility on the Synod agenda and the Pope is not very favorable, because this issue of the ordination of women is a “bit like the elephant in the room.”

That is to say, in his opinion, “not everyone thinks about it but often there is no courage to speak because it is a very conflictive topic and it seemed to us that in the spirit with which the Pope guides these meetings of the council (C9) it was important to put the difficult things on the table.”

Pope Francis and the deaconesses in the Catholic Church

Although the topic of the female diaconate does not appear in the Work tool 2Cardinal Mario Grech, Secretary General of the Synod, said in a press conference on July 9 that Pope Francis has asked the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) to study the participation and leadership of women in the Church Catholic, including the possibility of women deacons, to publish a document on the subject.

Prior to this assignment for the DDF, Pope Francis had created two commissions to study deaconesses in the Catholic Church: one in 2016; that was closed without reaching a consensus; and the second in 2020; after the majority of participants in the Amazon Synod expressed themselves in favor of the issue.

In Dear AmazonPope Francis’ apostolic exhortation following the 2019 synod, the Pope encourages women to participate in the Church but not in the ordained ministries of the diaconate or priesthood.