The agenda for the next round of the Synod on Synodality, scheduled for Oct. 4-27 in Rome, will focus on female leadership and the inclusion of women in the Catholic Church, according to a document released Tuesday (July 9) by the Vatican. The “Instrumentum Laboris,” or “working document,” is an initial plan for the second Read more
Pope Francis’ recent interview that seemed to close the door to women deacons isn’t the final word on the topic says Sr Laura Vicuña Pereira Manso. She refers to the pope’s interview for a CBS “60 Minutes” show in May. In it Francis said he was opposed to women deacons if it involves the sacrament Read more
In a May 21 interview with CBS, the Holy Father confirmed the exclusion of women’s diaconal ordination from the scope of discussion at the Synod on Synodality in the Catholic Church. There are undoubtedly many reasons for this authoritative decision, and it can be legitimately reduced to the pope’s personal conviction formed in prayer, which Read more
On 2 May, the Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria and All Africa ordained Angelic Molen as its first modern deaconess in a church near Harare in Zimbabwe. The Western media has gone a bit mad, calling it “breaking with tradition” and a radical new step forward. Ordaining women deacons The usual suspects have trotted out the Read more
“Until the Holy Father has a woman proclaiming the gospel in St Peter’s at a Mass he celebrates, the Church really doesn’t have the right to say women are to be recognised as equal and to be held as equally human to men” said Phyllis Zagano PhD, a Senior Research Associate in Residence at Hofstra Read more
Following the closing Mass of the first session of the Synod on Synodality in Rome this October, Cardinal Blase Cupich, the archbishop of Chicago (pictured left), spoke with America’s Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell. Cupich told O’Connell about his experience of the meeting and the synod’s synthesis document, published Oct. 29. This interview has been edited Read more
By all accounts, Pope Francis has had an eventful papacy. This first pope from the Americas has breathed new life into the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, refashioned the Vatican’s staid bureaucracy, and pushed the Catholic Church to focus on the needs of the environment and global peripheries. One especially interesting turn: Only 22 Read more
Australia’s fifth plenary council (PC) finished on a united note on the final day of voting last Friday. The PC’s final acts will now be compiled and sent to Rome for ratification. PC vice president Bishop Shane Mackinlay says he believes “in time we will look back on this as an extremely significant event in Read more
The Second Assembly of Australia’s Plenary Council was disrupted on Wednesday when a vote to include women as deacons failed to attract enough support from Australian bishops. As a result, some delegates protested – they refused to take their seats and stood at the back of the meeting room. The Catholic Weekly understands the protest Read more
The confluence of two events, one Roman Catholic and the other Orthodox, point to a growing appreciation of the fact that women are indeed made in the image and likeness of God and are suited for altar service. In Catholicism, the argument against ordaining women to any grade of order rests in the intimation that Read more