Around 100 synod delegates filed into the Vatican’s old synod hall yesterday afternoon seeking answers about the secretive Vatican-instituted study group that had, among other issues, been tasked with looking into the possibility of ordaining women deacons.
Women in the Church
Posted inFaith, News
Brazilian Cardinal talks restoring women deacons, ordaining married men at synod press briefing
Cardinal Steiner said they would like to call these women “deaconesses,” but they do not want to “confuse them with the ordained ministry,” and so, for now, they have not found a title that is “suitable.”
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Podcast: Women doing deacon-like ministry meet with Pope Francis
On the eve of the final session of the Synod on Synodality, a diverse group of women working in ministry at the margins of the church had the opportunity of a lifetime: a private audience with Pope Francis.
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New cardinals, a penitential liturgy and women deacons: Week One of the Synod
On this episode of Inside the Vatican, host Colleen Dulle and veteran Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell are joined by producer Ricardo da Silva, S.J., to recap the first week of the synod.
Posted inFaith, Synod Diary
Synod Diary: Women deacons are not a ‘Western’ obsession
At this stage of the discernment, we might ponder if the categorization of women deacons as a “Western obsession” has itself in some ways become a Western obsession.
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Synod bishop: Western Catholics ‘obsession’ with women deacons ignores marginalized women
When Catholics in the global North are “obsessed” with the issue of women’s ordination, “women who in many parts of the church and world are treated as second-class citizens are totally ignored,” Bishop Anthony Randazzo said.
Posted inDispatches, Faith
South African women feel left off the agenda at the synod—and they’re frustrated with Pope Francis.
One South African theologian described “a deep sense of disillusionment that the church, on the one hand, is saying we need to be a synodal listening church, and has yet again taken the diaconate for women off the table.”
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On Pope Francis’ visit to Belgium, critics spoke out on the role of women in the Catholic Church
In this episode of “Inside the Vatican,” Gerry and Colleen discuss the most newsworthy moments from Pope Francis’ visit to Belgium.
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Pope Francis defends giving women and lay men voting rights at synod
Pope Francis said he wanted to respond to a “storm of chattering” that had developed around his expansion of synod membership.
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Secretive Synod study group says no to women deacons
Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández, the Vatican’s doctrine chief, announced today that “based on the analysis so far…there is still no room for a positive decision” on ordaining women deacons.