When Pope Francis mused aloud that a commission to study the question of deaconesses would be “useful”, he provoked some excited reactions. “This news fills me with immense joy,” tweeted the author Fr James Martin SJ. In some quarters it was mooted that this might be a “first step” towards women’s ordination. (How this could play out was not explained.)
A more sanguine response came from the philosophy professor Chad Pecknold. “Just a heads up,” Pecknold said. “When the Vatican says they’re going to ‘study’ a matter, it’s like when your parents told you they’d ‘think about it’.”
The issue of deaconesses has been little discussed recently, partly because there is not much demand for it, and partly because those who do call for it are often advocates for women’s ordination. The Vatican is not keen to encourage such fruitless speculation.
But the priesthood and the diaconate are separate issues. There were no women priests in the early Church, but there are references to “deaconesses” from the New Testament onwards. But as the Pope said in his remarks – made to a gathering of women Religious from around the world – the question is historically complex and “obscure”. Nevertheless, some things are fairly clear.
Firstly, “deaconess” was not a word like “actress” denoting that a woman is performing the same role as a man. Deaconesses, as the Pope implied, had a distinct role in the early Church. For instance, they catechised women and helped anoint them during baptism: in the era of full immersion, there were good practical reasons why women were needed for that role.
This is clearly very different from the modern-day role of the deacon, who can officiate at baptisms, weddings and funerals, and on occasion preach at Mass.
Francis said he would ask the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) whether there were any studies on this topic. If he does, he is likely to be directed to a 2001 study by the International Theological Commission, which advises the CDF.
The study concluded that deaconesses’ historical role was not equivalent to that of deacons, ancient or modern. Cardinal Gerhard Müller, the CDF’s current prefect, spoke after participating in the study, saying: “The deaconesses mentioned in the tradition of the ancient Church – as evidenced by the rite of institution and the functions they exercised – were not purely and simply equivalent to the deacons.”
The commission was sceptical about historical precedents. St Paul refers to “our sister Phoebe, servant [he diakonos] of the Church at Cenchrea” (Romans 16:1). But this could mean “servant” in a broad sense; as the commission noted, Paul also uses diakonos in reference to political authorities, and to servants of Satan. So Phoebe may not even have had an institutional role.
In the 3rd century, there were deaconesses in the Eastern Church – specifically, in eastern Syria and Constantinople – but they were not to administer baptism or the Eucharist. “A deaconess does not bless, nor perform anything belonging to the office of presbyters or deacons,” says the 3rd-century Constitutiones Apostolorum, a summary of Eastern practice.
So the historical record doesn’t seem to provide a watertight case for deaconesses. But nor does it rule out the notion, says John Rist, professor of philosophy at the Catholic University of America. “The patristic evidence is simply ambiguous, uncertain, and the world is so different from what it became later on that it can’t be used in arguments for or against.”
Rist thinks there is no reason not to have deaconesses, given that the permanent diaconate is separate from the priesthood. But of course, that issue is itself highly complex. Is ordination to the diaconate a sacrament, as ordination to the priesthood is? Or is it a different kind of ordination?
Pope Benedict’s 2009 change to canon law distinguished between the two. Under Benedict’s change, the priest acts in persona Christi, unlike the deacon; so the ordination should be regarded differently. “It probably is a necessary distinction,” says Rist.
But clearly, there is a lot more study needed. Pope Francis was right to refer this to the theologians. But they need to clarify the question of deacons before they can address deaconesses.
Areas of Catholic Herald business are still recovering post-pandemic.
However, we are reaching out to the Catholic community and readership, that has been so loyal to the Catholic Herald. Please join us on our 135 year mission by supporting us.
We are raising £250,000 to safeguard the Herald as a world-leading voice in Catholic journalism and teaching.
We have been a bold and influential voice in the church since 1888, standing up for traditional Catholic culture and values. Please consider donating.