For synod, questions around women’s diaconate run right through the priesthood

For synod, questions around women’s diaconate run right through the priesthood

VATICAN CITY (VATICAN CITY)
Catholic Review - Archdiocese of Baltimore [Baltimore MD]

October 4, 2023

By Kimberly Heatherington

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As the Synod on Synodality opened Oct. 4 in Rome, among the most closely watched topics under discussion is the question of whether the Catholic Church can or will extend the permanent diaconate — restored after the Second Vatican Council — to women.

The synod’s working document released June 20 notes that most continental assemblies called for a discussion on the inclusion of women in the diaconate, and asked, “Is it possible to envisage this, and in what way?”

Up to now, the answer to that question is not clear and is debated.

“The key is not whether there were women deacons,” said Deacon Dominic Cerrato, director of the Office of the Diaconate in the Diocese of Joliet, Ill., and editor of The Deacon magazine, published by OSV, which is also the parent company of OSV News.

“Of course there were women deacons. But tradition never called them part of…