Pope says study on women deacons was inconclusive

By Cindy Wooden, 8 May 2019
Pope Francis answers questions from journalists aboard his flight from Skopje, North Macedonia, to Rome May 7, 2019. Image: Paul Haring/CNS.

 

ABOARD THE PAPAL FLIGHT FROM NORTH MACEDONIA (CNS) — The commission Pope Francis appointed to study the history and identity of women deacons did not reach a unanimous conclusion about whether deaconesses in the early church were “ordained” or formally “blessed,” the pope said.

“What is fundamental is that there was no certainty that there was an ordination with the same form and same aim as the ordination of men,” the pope told reporters flying with him from North Macedonia to Rome May 7.

Pope Francis spent just under half an hour on the short flight answering questions, including about the study of women deacons he commissioned in August 2013.

After the six men and six women scholars on the commission finished their work, he said, there was “some agreement,” but not on the crucial question of whether women were ordained or solemnly blessed like abbesses are.

“Some say there are doubts,” the pope said. “Well, then, let’s study some more. I don’t have a problem with that.”

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With thanks to Catholic News Service (CNS) and Cindy Wooden, where this article originally appeared.

 

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