Catholic groups start a conversation about women deacons

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VATICAN CITY (RNS) Several progressive Catholic groups are launching an initiative to give Catholic laity and clergy in the United States a direct say in whether the Church should ordain women deacons.

Their actions follow the appointment of a panel of experts set up by Pope Francis to examine the contentious issue.

The Association of American Catholic Priests, FutureChurch, and Voice of the Faithful launched DeaconChat to promote education and dialogue on the subject.

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“Pope Francis wants to hear the voice of the faithful,” Reverend Bob Bonnot, leader of the group of American priests, told RNS. “The church is not a clerical monopoly.”

Deacons are one of three “orders” of ordained ministry in the church, after bishops and priests, and may perform some but not all of the functions of priests, including preaching, conducting baptisms, and serving of Holy Communion.

Pope Francis welcomes participants to a special audience with members of the International Union of Superiors General in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican on May 12, 2016. Francis said he was ready to set up a commission to study whether women can be deacons in the Catholic Church. Church, signaling an openness to let women serve in ordained ministry currently reserved for men. Photo courtesy of L’Osservatore Romano

“Women convinced of a call to ordained service as deacons, supported by many men, including our member priests, deserve to be heard,” said Bonnot.

Last year, the pope met with the International Union of Superiors General, an organization made up of leaders of the Church’s nuns, and then appointed members of the panel.

Bonnot said Francois was paying serious attention to the matter.

“He has often said that we need to find ways to enable more women to take leadership roles in the church. This is a possibility that could affect the Vatican church at the grassroots parish ministry.

Francis previously ruled out ordaining women as priests, saying “that door is closed” in July 2013.

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But if the pope approves of women deacons, Bonnot said, more education and dialogue will be needed within the church.

“If this step is taken, people need to understand where the idea of ​​women deacons came from in the church tradition and why it is a well-founded way to strengthen pastoral care,” he said.

Donna B. Doucette, executive director of Voice of the Faithful, said the initiative was “designed to foster educational efforts to enrich dialogue.”

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Voice of the Faithful is a secular organization formed in Massachusetts in 2002 in response to the sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic Church and now has over 30,000 members worldwide.

“The program has three important components: learning, sharing and connecting,” she said.

FutureChurch supports a greater role for women in church leadership amid concerns over the dwindling number of priests.

“We hope that Catholics in the United States and around the world will be inspired to start a conversation in their parish,” said Deborah Rose-Milavec, executive director of FutureChurch.

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