The urgent need to restore women’s diaconate

At the opening of the new Synod Session in Rome, on 2 October, Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, exploded a bomb shell. He told synod members that the possibility of restoring the female diaconate remains an open question, but “rushing to a decision on it would short-circuit the necessary discernment on the question and the broader issues surrounding women’s ministries in the Catholic Church”.

It is reassuring that by talking of “restoring” he acknowledges the sacramental ordination of women during the first millennium. But what is his worry about not acting immediately? No doubt Pope Francis and his close curial advisers fear a schism. They rightly foresee a potential split off by the archconservative groups created by Popes John Paul II and Benedict XIV.

However, there is another side to the picture. Delay will cause many people to leave the Church, continued oppression of women on all continents and the creation of many splinter Churches cutting themselves off from the main Church body.

People, especially women, are leaving the Church in droves

It is difficult to establish figures for this, but people still going to church on Sundays can witness this with their own eyes. I received these messages on Facebook and in my email inbox:

• “This Church is over. Finished. No future! I am seeking refuge somewhere else.” The Netherlands
• “Rome’s refusal to ordain women forced me to take a dramatic step. With my family on Sundays I now visit an Anglican church, presided over by a female pastor. I want my daughters to at least remain Christian.” England
• “Laughable! Hilarious! After centuries of suppression, in our new fast-moving world, ‘we can’t rush!’ Like telling a cancer patient on his deathbed: ‘We could do an operation for this. But why rush?’ What has our dear old Mother Church come to?” Australia

Suppression of women in Catholic communities continues worldwide.

In my next book Why Christ rejects all Church prejudice against women, out in print by the end of November this year, scholars from many countries all over the globe report on the atrocious way women are treated in Catholic communities: 

Dr. Sr Marilú Rojas Salazar, Professor at the Universidad Iberoamericana Puebla and Interreligious Institute of Mexico, says: “The abuse of power by the Catholic hierarchy of Mexico in the case of women is truly aberrant, since it cannot be understood how, on the one hand, the equal dignity of women in the church can be affirmed in documents, encyclicals, and other writings and speeches; while on the other hand, they continue to keep the door closed to exclude women from the ordained ministry! This can only be explained by a kind of paranoia around the phallic centralisation of male patriarchal power . . .  Just listen to the misogynistic and violent language in many of the priests’ homilies, in addition to the treatment of the women who collaborate with them as cooks, secretaries, assistants or even the sexual abuse and harassment of which they are victims.”

Sr. Teresa Okure PhD SHCJ, Professor (em) at the Catholic Institute of West Africa, Port Harcourt, Nigeria; Inspirational Founder and Former President of the Catholic Biblical Association of Nigeria (CABAN), says: “In Nigeria women are appreciated for their traditional mothering and nurturing roles, especially in looking after bishops, priests and seminarians and raising funds during harvest and bazars. Men’s place as heads in the family governs how they view women in their church communities . . . On World Vocation Sunday, 2024, a Sister was asked to speak on ‘the impossibility of ordaining women in the Catholic Church’, not on whether or not they should be ordained. The topic reflected the belief on the unchangeable stand of the church. Addressing the topic, the Sister cited the church’s teaching on the necessity of natural resemblance of sacramental elements: water for baptism, bread and wine for Eucharist, male for Jesus, thus locking up Jesus, ‘the new humanity’ (kainos anthropos, new adam; Eph 2,15), in maleness.”

 Prof Dr Carmelita Usog, St. Scholastica's College, Manila and Institute of Formation and Religious Studies, Quezon City, says: “In the Philippines women are muted. What we see is male, what we hear is the male voice. In worship, it is obvious that the leader is male and is revered, followed by the congregation. I would venture to say that gender tracks have been created, be it in leadership, worship or other religious activities. I remember one concrete activity a few years back – the papal visit to the Philippines. It was a graphic picture of marked division of women and men where priests and seminarians sat on an elevated platform (a makeshift stage) and the women (students included) were seated on the ground. No single woman on the stage. In Catholic communities, women experience the woman question not as an abstract thesis but a fact: women are marginalised, oppressed and exploited.”

A delay in restoring the sacramental ordination of women would fail to begin lifting women from church oppression worldwide.

Lessons can be learned from history

The Reformation, triggered by Martin Luther in 1517, led to huge chunks of the Catholic Church separating themselves as other Christian Churches: the Lutherans, Calvinists, the Anglican Church, de Gereformeerde Kerk, the Presbyterian Church of Scotland, to mention just a few. Could that have been prevented? The answer is: yes it could, if Church authorities had only listened to the many voices clamouring for reform.

There are many well-documented examples.

John Wycliffe (1320-1384) translated the Bible into English and taught it should be available for reading by all the faithful.

The Lollards were religious dissenters in England. One group of them posted Twelve Conclusions on the doors of the English Parliament in 1395. Among questionable claims regarding the sacraments, it listed some valuable recommendations. Church leaders should avoid accumulating wealth as this leads them away from religious concerns and towards greed. Also, officials of the Church should not concern themselves with secular matters when they hold a position of power within the Church, since this constitutes a conflict of interest between matters of the spirit and matters of the State. Last not least, effort should be placed on helping the needy and preaching rather than working on expensive church decorations.

The Czech theologian John Hus (1370-1415) preached actively against the worst abuses of the Catholic Church of the day. He called for a higher level of morality among the priesthood. Financial abuses, sexual immorality, and drunkenness were common among the priests of Europe. He stated that preaching and Bible reading should be done in the local language, and all the faithful should receive full communion of bread and wine. He vehemently opposed the sale of indulgences. He asserted the primacy of the Scriptures over teachings by church leaders and councils.

If the General Church Council of Constance (1414–1418) would have listened to such cries of reform, the Reformation would have been avoided. Instead, it condemned John Wycliffe and Jan Hus as heretics.

Our Synodal Petition to Pope Francis to restore women’s diaconate, delivered in Rome to the Pope’s office and synodal headquarters on the 3 October, was signed by 53 huge international Catholic organisations. See the document here. Will delay split them off? Many splinter “Catholic” churches have already cut themselves loose. Many more will follow if Church authorities continue to ignore their pleas.