Female deacons. A story full of uncertainties

Certainly, one of the “hot” topics that has traversed the synodal journey is the issue of women’s access to the diaconate. The summary report of the First Session of the Synodal Assembly (October 2023), A Synodal Church in Mission, bears witness to this. In two specific passages, indeed, it refers to this topic.

In the section dedicated to “Women in the Life and Mission of the Church”, the various positions that emerged during the synodal assembly regarding women’s access to the diaconate are presented, albeit succinctly. It states as follows: “Some consider that this step would be unacceptable as it would be a departure from Tradition. Others, however, believe that granting women access to the diaconate would restore a practice of the early Church. Still, others discern in this step an appropriate and necessary response to the signs of the times, which is faithful to Tradition and capable of resonating in the hearts of many who seek renewed vitality and energy in the Church. Some express concern that this request reflects dangerous anthropological confusion, and suggests that to accept it, the Church would align itself with the spirit of the times”.  Furthermore, in the chapter dedicated to “Deacons and Priests in a Synodal Church”, the document highlights that the debate surrounding the theology of the diaconate is broader than the issue of women’s access. Indeed, “the uncertainties surrounding the theology of the diaconal ministry are also due to the fact that in the Latin Church it has been restored as a distinct and permanent grade of the hierarchy only since the Second Vatican Council. A more in-depth reflection on this matter will also shed light on the question of women’s access to the diaconate”.

In light of this, with a healthy dose of realism, the Summary Report calls for continuing “the theological and pastoral research into the access of women to the diaconate, and make use of the results from the commissions specially established by the Holy Father and of the theological, historical, and exegetical studies that have already been carried out. If possible, the results should be presented at the next session of the Assembly”. 

However, when moving on to the Instrumentum Laboris for the second session of the Synod (October 2024), there is a likelihood of disappointment. This is because it has been requested that the issue of women’s access to the diaconate not be considered. In fact, in the local Churches, there is no convergence on this matter, as the topic requires further study. The document under review reads:

“While some local Churches call for women to be admitted to the diaconal ministry, others reiterate their opposition. On this issue, which will not be the subject of the work of the Second Session, it is good that theological reflection should continue, on an appropriate timescale and in the appropriate ways. The fruits of Study Group 5, which will take into consideration the results of the two Commissions that have dealt with the question in the past, will contribute to its maturation”.

Female Deacons: A “recent” debate 

To understand the decision, it is necessary to consider how the reflection on women’s access to the diaconate is a rather “recent” issue. A first mention of female deacons, albeit quite vague, can be found in the pre-preparatory phase of Vatican Council II (1959), in the vota submitted by Msgr. Giuseppe Ruotolo, Bishop of Ugento - Santa Maria di Leuca, and Msgr. León de Uriarte Bengoa, Apostolic Vicar of San Ramón in Peru”.

The 1970s also saw “heated” discussions regarding the sacramentality of the female diaconate. Key figures in this debate include Cipriano Vagaggini and Aimé Georges Martimort. While the existence of female deacons in the early Church was not disputed, the discussion focused on whether the diaconate given to women was truly a sacramental ordination.

Un esempio significativo, oggetto di discussione, è quello della diacona Olimpia, che nel iv  secolo a Costantinopoli era igumena (badessa) di un monastero di donne, protetta da san Giovanni Crisostomo. «Fu “ordinata” (cheirotonein) diaconessa con tre sue compagne dal patriarca. Il canone 15 del Concilio di Calcedonia (anno 451), sembra confermare il fatto che le diaconesse sono veramente «ordinate» con l’imposizione delle mani (cheirotonia). Il loro ministero è detto leitourgia, e ad esse non è più permesso di contrarre matrimonio dopo l’ordinazione» (Commissione teologica internazionale, Il diaconato: evoluzioni e prospettive, 2003).

A significant example, which is often discussed, is that of female Deacon Olympias, who in the 4th century in Constantinople was the igumena (abbess) of a women’s monastery, under the protection of St. John Chrysostom. “She was ‘ordained’ (cheirotonein) as a deaconess, along with three companions, by the Patriarch. Canon 15 of the Council of Chalcedon (451 AD) seems to confirm that female deacons were truly “ordained” through the laying on of hands (*cheirotonia*). Their ministry was called leitourgia, and after ordination, they were no longer permitted to marry” (International Theological Commission, The Diaconate: Evolution and Prospects, 2003).

These studies were part of a broader debate on the diaconate ministry that was restored on a permanent basis by Vatican Council II, which recognized its sacramentality. For this reason, in 2003, the International Theological Commission, who were aware that the conciliar documents had not provided (nor intended to provide) a doctrinal systematization of the diaconate. This emphasized how the restoration of the diaconate had been implemented unevenly in the post-conciliar period and stressed the need to “pay particular attention to the doctrinal fluctuations that have accompanied various pastoral positions like a persistent shadow. There are numerous and diverse aspects that today require a theological effort of clarification”, such as the theological and ecclesial identity of the diaconate, which forms the foundation for inspiring the renewal of this ministry in Christian communities. For this reason, the Summary Report of the First Session notes the ongoing theological uncertainties regarding the theology of the diaconate, uncertainties that must be addressed with balance, particularly with a view to deepening the possibility of women’s access to this ministry. This explains why the issue of the diaconate cannot be fully resolved in the Second Session of the Synod.

The Synodal Path and Church Reform 

As it progresses in what could be considered concentric circles, it is necessary to remember that the reflections mentioned above -while offering their contribution-, are part of the broader path of Church reform. The reference point as such is Vatican Council II, and which, in essence, represents the subject of this Synod.

It is important to remember that in the very first paragraph of the conciliar Constitution on the Liturgy—Sacrosanctum Concilium (December 4, 1963)—the first document approved by the conciliar assembly, the Council Fathers focused on the need to reform the Church, to “adapt those institutions which are subject to change according to the needs of our time”. To succeed in this task, they deemed it necessary to “pay special attention (etiam) to the reform and promotion of the liturgy”. Today, sixty years later, we can observe how the reform of the liturgy has not been accompanied by a corresponding reform of the Church, which clearly needed—and still needs— a series of long and gradual processes. The synodal path, through its various phases, which have seen the at times challenging involvement of different ecclesial communities, has permitted not only discussions about the Church as the People of God, a sacrament of unity, but also the experience of it. This has contributed to adapting “those institutions which are subject to change”.

 The important French theologian, Ghislain Lafont, in a work that has now become a classic, titled Imagining the Catholic Church (1998), asked:

“a) What is the image that could allow the Church not only to bear witness to the Good News of the Gospel, but also to be recognized as the space in which the Good News is alive, and where people desire to reach for that reason? [...] 

b) What structures could the Church adopt so that, through their example, they might help human communities to create their own organizations aimed at a unity in which all diversities can converge? [...] What kind of communities can she present, both open and vigilant, that know how to balance the desire for relationship and the thirst for knowledge, that are not afraid to set boundaries because only these can liberate and help people grow, and that can prove capable of uniting freedom and authority, while respecting—without falling into anarchy—the relative autonomy of different areas of thought and action?”

We hope that the ongoing synodal process will pave the way to respond to everything mentioned here.

by Elena Massimi
Daughter of Mary Help of Christians, President of the Association of Professors of Liturgy*”

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