Women deacons not on agenda for Synod talks: Vatican

Conclusions from the first session last October found an “urgent” need to give women more decision-making roles within the church

Pope Francis, presiding over mass, launched the Synod in 2021. Picture: AFP

Women must take a greater role in the Catholic Church but any reform allowing them to be deacons will not occur in the short term, according to a new Vatican document.

The issue will not feature on the agenda of a second session of Pope Francis’s Synod of Bishops in October, in which bishops, clergy and laypeople gather to collaborate on ideas and solutions to some of the most contentious issues affecting the 21st-century church.

The synod launched by Francis in 2021 invited the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics to share views on topics as diverse as divorcees and LGBTQI members, female deacons and priestly celibacy. October’s second session builds on ideas voiced last year at the first session of the multi-stage congress, which for the first time included women and laypeople to help chart the church’s future.

But, in a document published on Tuesday of central themes to be covered during the October 2-27 talks, the Holy See said the issue of women as deacons would not be the subject of talks.

“While some local Churches call for women to be admitted to the diaconal ministry, others reiterate their opposition,” the document states. “On this issue, which will not be the subject of the work of the Second Session, it is good that theological reflection should continue, on an appropriate timescale and in the appropriate ways.”

The Pope has welcomed discussions of the role of women within the church. But the issue of allowing women to be deacons – who are able to celebrate baptisms, marriages and funerals but not masses – is contentious.

Conclusions from the first session last October found an “urgent” need to give women more decision-making roles within the church, while calling for further research over the question of making them deacons.

Tuesday’s document acknowledges that the synod process “highlighted the need to give fuller recognition to the charisms, vocation and role of women”. It also recognises the possibilities for women to participate in church life “often remain untapped” and calls for the development of opportunities within parishes.

The document mentions a Latin American bishops’ conference that said “in our culture the presence of machismo remains strong, while a more active participation of women in all ecclesial spheres is needed”.

Under consideration are ways to include more women in decision-making, wider access to positions of responsibility within dioceses, seminaries and institutes, and more female judges in canonical processes. “The reports received also continue to call for greater attention to be paid to the use of language that is more inclusive,” the document states.

A final document will be submitted to the Pope, who can decide whether to incorporate its findings into a papal document.

AFP