VATICAN— On the first working day of the Synod on Synodality at the Vatican on Oct. 2, Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, shut down speculation regarding further theological study into the possibility of women being ordained as deacons. “We would like to share from the outset that, based on the analysis conducted so far — which also takes into account the work done by the two commissions established by Pope Francis on the female diaconate — the dicastery judges that there is still no room for a positive decision by the magisterium regarding the access of women to the diaconate, understood as a degree of the sacrament of holy orders,” Fernández stated on Wednesday.
The Synod on Synodality — a multiyear, worldwide process of listening, dialogue, and discernment within the Catholic Church — commenced its second day on Thursday in which 356 participants convened at the Vatican to deep dive into the foundations and proposed mechanisms needed to realize Pope Francis’ vision for a more participative and missionary Catholic Church. During an Oct. 3 press briefing, Father Giacomo Costa, special secretary of the synod, said this month’s discussions held in the Vatican should serve as “laboratories of synodal life.
” “We must learn. Many things may not be quite perfect but these [synod groups] will concede precisely to organize the [Vatican] dicasteries that play an effective role, then pass on decisions t.