For Austrian Cardinal, Possibility of Female Deacons Is an ‘Open Question’

Cardinal Christoph Schönborn said that there had been female deacons in the Church in times past and that, ‘basically, this [question] is open.’

Cardinal Christoph Schönborn of Vienna speaks at the Holy See Press Office April 8, 2016.
Cardinal Christoph Schönborn of Vienna speaks at the Holy See Press Office April 8, 2016. (photo: Daniel Ibanez/CNA)

VIENNA — Cardinal Christoph Schönborn has said that, in his view, whether the Church could ordain women as deacons remains an “open question.”

The archbishop of Vienna was speaking Sept. 29 to 1,700 delegates from parish councils and other bodies in St. Stephen’s Cathedral. Reflecting that he recently had ordained 14 men to the permanent diaconate, he added, according to local news agency Kathpress, “perhaps, one day, also female deacons.”

Cardinal Schönborn said that there had been female deacons in the Church in times past and that, “basically, this [question] is open.”

Pope Francis has spoken often about the importance of the role of women in the Church. In 2016, he appointed a new commission to examine the possibility of ordaining women to the permanent diaconate.

Archbishop Luis Ladaria, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, was appointed president of that commission, consisting of 12 members: six men and six women.

According to sources, drafting of their final report was completed in April. Whether it has yet been submitted to the Pope is unknown.

In 2002 the International Theological Commission, an advisory body to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, issued a report that gave a thorough historical context of the role of the deaconess in the ancient Church.

The commission overwhelmingly concluded that female deacons in the early Church had not been equivalent to male deacons and had neither a liturgical nor a sacramental function.

 

Read related Register article on the historical context of deaconesses here.

Divorce’s Many Victims

EDITORIAL: Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, the archbishop of Vienna, still points to the childhood trauma of his parents’ divorce as a critical turning point in his emotional and spiritual life.