A high-level Vatican commission voted against allowing Catholic women to serve as deacons, maintaining the global Church’s practice of all-male clergy, according to a report given to Pope Leo.
The commission, in a 7-1 vote, said historical research and theological investigation ‘excludes the possibility’ of allowing women to serve as deacons at this time but recommended further study of the issue.
Discussions about the possibility of women deacons, who are ordained and can assist with Church services but cannot celebrate Mass, have convulsed the 1.4 billion-member Church for the past decade.
Catholic deacons can baptise people, witness marriages and preside at funerals, among other duties.
In some areas of the world they can also lead parishes in the absence of a priest, but a priest must still celebrate the Mass.
The role, for centuries considered only a stepping stone to the priesthood, was re-envisioned as a permanent post for married Catholic men after a series of reforms by the Church in the 1960s.
Some women have said they believe God is asking them to take on the post, which is understood by the Church as a role of service.
The panel, led by a cardinal and a priest from the Vatican’s top doctrinal office, included men and women church scholars.
They said in the report that their assessment against women deacons was strong, but ‘does not as of today allow a definitive judgment to be formulated’.
The late Pope Francis opened the conversation, after a request in 2016 from the Rome-based umbrella group representing the world’s Catholic sisters and nuns.
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