“I am convinced that we cannot wait to take steps forward for the empowerment of women in the church” by distinguishing what requires ordination and what does not, Cardinal Fernández told about 100 synod members.
There has been an alarming lack of transparency around the work of the synod’s ‘Study Group 5,’ tasked with examining, among other things, the subject of women deacons.
“We know that the Holy Father has expressed that at this time the issue of the female diaconate is not mature and has asked that we not entertain this possibility for now,” Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández told the synod Oct. 21.
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.
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.”