Vatican commission says ‘no’ to women deacons, but not definitively

A Vatican commission concluded that the Catholic Church should not proceed with the ordination of women deacons, but said it could not offer a definitive judgment.
The Vatican released the findings Dec. 4 of a study commission on the female diaconate established by Pope Francis in 2020.
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The commission’s seven-page report was submitted Sept. 18 to Leo XIV by its president, Cardinal Giuseppe Petrocchi, and made public at the pope’s request.
At the commission’s second session, held on July 11-16, 2022, members voted 7-1 in favor of a thesis that said: “The status quaestionis [state of the question] surrounding historical research and theological inquiry, considered in their mutual implications, excludes the possibility of proceeding in the direction of admitting women to the diaconate understood as a degree of the sacrament of Holy Orders.”
“In light of Sacred Scripture, Tradition, and the Magisterium of the Church, this assessment is strong, although it does not allow for a definitive judgment to be made at this time, as in the case of priestly ordination.”
Pope Francis established two commissions to study the possibility of women deacons during his 13-year pontificate. The first, created in 2016, did not result in a published report.
But the document released Dec. 4 said the first commission concluded that “the Church has recognized the title of deacon/deaconess in relation to women at different times, in different places, and in various forms, but has attributed a non-univocal meaning to it.”
Pope Francis created the second commission in 2020, following discussions about the female diaconate at the 2019 Amazon synod.
At its first session, held on Sept. 13-18, 2021, the second commission voted 7-0, with one abstention, in favor a statement that said: “Based on the current state of historical research and our knowledge of biblical and patristic evidence, it can reasonably be stated that the female diaconate, which developed unevenly in different parts of the Church, was not understood as the simple female equivalent of the male diaconate and does not appear to have had a sacramental character.”
Commenting on the statement, Petrocchi said that ultimately the question of women deacons needed to be decided at a doctrinal level, because it could not be resolved based on historical research alone.
“Therefore, issues relating to the ordination of women as deacons remain open to further theological and pastoral study, while maintaining the principle of communio hierarchica [hierarchical communion], which assigns the final decision on these matters to the Magisterium of the Church, as an authoritative response to questions raised in some sectors of the People of God,” he wrote.
The Catholic Church teaches that there are three degrees of Holy Orders: deacons, priests, and bishops. The third degree is the diaconate.
At its 2021 meeting, members of the commission were asked to say whether they favored the institution of female deacons understood as the third degree of Holy Orders. Two voted in favor and six against, with two abstentions.
Members also voted unanimously in favor of the possibility of establishing new non-ordained ministries that “could contribute to the synergy between men and women.”
Cardinal Petrocchi said that commission members reviewed outside submissions on the question of women deacons at a final meeting on Feb. 7, 2025. An invitation to send material to the commission was issued during the 2023-2024 synod on synodality in Rome.
Petrocchi said: “Although numerous contributions were received, only 22 individuals or groups submitted their papers, representing only a few countries. Consequently, although the material is abundant and in some cases skillfully argued, it cannot be considered the voice of the synod, much less of the People of God as a whole.”
The cardinal that said many of the submissions called for women to be admitted not only to the diaconate, but also to the priesthood and episcopate.
“The argument based on the masculinity of Jesus Christ is seen as a sexist and narrow view, leading to discrimination against women,” he observed.
He said that in submissions received by the commission, “many women described their work for the Church, often carried out with great dedication, as if it were a sufficient criterion for ordination to the diaconate.”
“Others spoke of a strong ‘feeling’ of having been called, as if it were the necessary proof to guarantee the Church the validity of their vocation and to demand that this conviction be accepted,” he wrote.
“Many already performed diaconal functions, especially in communities without a priest, and believed they were ‘worthy’ of receiving ordination, having, in some way, acquired the right to it. Others simply spoke of wanting ordination as a sign of visibility, authority, respect, support, and above all, equality.”
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Commission members were asked to vote on a statement that Christ’s masculinity was “an integral part of the sacramental identity.” They were evenly split, with five in favor and five against.
But the commission voted 9-1 in favor of a statement that the Church should “broaden women’s access to ministries established for community service.”
Petrocchi’s report to Pope Leo concluded with a personal reflection, in which he argued that the debate over women deacons reflected a clash of “two theological orientations.”
He said: “One of them insists on the assertion that the ordination of deacons is ad ministerium and not ad sacerdotium [directed to ministry and not to priesthood]: this factor would open the way to the ordination of female deacons.”
“The other, on the other hand, insists on the unity of the Sacrament of Holy Orders, together with the spousal meaning of the three degrees that constitute it, and rejects the hypothesis of the female diaconate: it also points out that if the admission of women to the first degree of Holy Orders were approved, their exclusion from the others would be inexplicable.”
“The conflicting pronouncements of these theological ‘schools’ and the lack of convergence on fundamental doctrinal and pastoral polarities motivate, in my opinion, the maintenance of a prudential approach on the issue of the female diaconate.”
Petrocchi suggested that further reflection was needed on the distinctive characteristics of the diaconate.
He noted that in many countries the permanent diaconate does not currently exist.
“Where it does exist, the activities of deacons often coincide with roles proper to lay ministries or liturgical ministers, raising questions among the People of God about the specific meaning of their ordination,” he wrote.