Pope Francis has now officially instituted a commission to study the issue of a diaconate of women.
According to Vatican Radio, after mature reflection and intense prayer, the Pontiff decided to create the commission, appointing as its president Jesuit Archbishop Luis Francisco Ladaria Ferrer.
In addition to Archbishop Ladaria, the commission is composed of six women and six men from academic institutions around the world.
During a dialogue with participants in the Plenary Assembly of Superiors General in a May meeting in the Vatican, Pope Francis expressed his intention to “establish an official commission that could study the question” of the diaconate of women, “especially with regard to the first ages of the Church.”
