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. – Originally reported 7 July 2022. As a result, some delegates protested – they refused to take their seats and stood at the back of the meeting room. Read more
Winston Churchill famously said, “Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it.” If the Catholic Church forgets history, it is simply doomed. Pope Francis recently issued a letter “On the renewal of the study of the history of the Church.” No matter: Francis himself seems to have forgotten the history of women ordained as Read more
Cardinal Victor Fernandez, head of the Vatican’s doctrinal office, issued an apology on Friday after missing a critical meeting of a synod group focused on women’s roles in the Church. The absence, confirmed to the National Catholic Reporter by multiple sources, triggered frustration among some delegates. Fernandez absence sparks discontent Fernandez was notably absent on Read more
The women’s diaconate is a discussion that won’t go away. Pope Francis consistently says “no” when asked if women can be deacons or join the Catholic clergy. But Francis supports discussion about the women’s diaconate. This October’s synod working document affirms “theological reflection should continue”. Since last December the Pope and his Council of Cardinal Read more
A Catholic woman has won a court case against the Archdiocese of Mechelen-Brussels, Belgium, after being twice denied access to deacon training. Veer Dusauchoit (pictured), 62, argued the refusal violated the Belgian Constitution. The court agreed, fining Archbishop Luc Terlinden and his predecessor Cardinal Jozef De Kesel €1,500 each. The court however made the point Read more
A Belgian woman is suing the Catholic Church for gender discrimination after being denied entry into deaconate training. Veer Dusauchoit, 62, claims her exclusion from the programme is solely because she is a woman. “I want to train as a deacon because it interests me and I think that I will then have more tools Read more
The Catholic Church in Australia voted in favour of the ordination of women to the diaconate and is putting the issue forward to the 2023 Synod of Bishops. Participants at the 1998 Wellington Archdiocesan Synod voted in favour of a lay pastoral leadership model rather than introducing the permanent diaconate, the major motivator reportedly that Read more