Vatican commission again says no to ordaining women as deacons, but urges other ministries

A second Vatican study commission has determined that women should not be ordained as deacons, dealing another setback to Catholic women who hope one day to be able to preside at weddings, baptisms and funerals.

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The Vatican on Thursday took the unusual step of publishing a synthesis of the commission’s findings, including the members' votes on specific theological questions. The report left open the possibility of further study but proposed instead the creation of new lay ministries for women outside the ordained diaconate, suggesting that the issue for now is closed.

Deacons are ordained ministers who perform many of the same functions as priests, presiding at weddings, baptisms and funerals. They can preach but cannot celebrate Mass.

For male seminarians, the diaconate is a transitional ministry on their way to being ordained as priests. Married men can also be ordained as permanent deacons. Women cannot, although historians say women served as deacons in the early Christian church.

Pope Francis in 2016 ordered a first study commission on the issue following a request from the umbrella organization of the world’s female religious orders, the International Union of Superiors General. After that commission apparently failed to reach consensus, Francis created a second study commission in 2020, named for its president, president Cardinal Giuseppe Petrocchi, which released its report Thursday.

The members were not identified. Petrocchi though concluded that there are two currently irreconcilable schools of theological thought on the question, requiring the Vatican to take a prudential approach. One school of thought would allow for a female diaconate, while the other would not.