Pope Francis has said that he is willing to create a commission to study whether women can be deacons in the Catholic Church, signaling openness to letting women serve in ordained ministry.
Francis agreed to a proposal to create the commission during a closed-door meeting with some 900 superiors of women's religious orders in Rome, gathered for their triennial assembly.
Deacons are ordained ministers but are not priests, though they can perform many of the same functions as priests: preside at weddings, baptisms and funerals, and preach. They cannot, however, celebrate Mass.
Currently, married men — who are also mostly excluded from the Roman Catholic priesthood — can serve as deacons. Women cannot, though historians say women served as deacons in the early Church.
Francis in no way signaled during the 75-minute meeting with the sisters that the church's longstanding prohibition on women priests will change. But when asked, he said he is open to a study on whether they could become deacons,"I accept. It would be useful for the church to clarify this question. I agree."
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