Catholic bishops backflip on status of women in Church, giving hope to reformers | KnottMatthew
Australia’s Catholic bishops have agreed to work to elevate the status of women in the Church – including by potentially serving in the ministry as deacons – after a major gathering plunged into chaos over the issue last week.
After the motions were slightly redrafted, the plenary council voted overwhelmingly that each Catholic diocese in Australia should commit to creating “new opportunities for women to participate in ministries that engage with the most important aspects of diocesan and parish life”. Deacons are ordained ministers who do not intend to become priests but can conduct baptisms, witness marriages, perform funeral and burial services outside of Mass, and distribute Holy Communion.
Plenary council vice president Shane Mackinlay said the Church had averted disaster by agreeing to the reworded motions, saying: “I believe in time we will look back on this as an extremely significant event in the life of the Church in Australia”. Mackinlay said there was a “great sense of celebration” when the motions eventually passed, but participants were “emotionally exhausted” by the drama of the week.John Warhurst, a prominent advocate of church reform, said: “This must be seen as an encouraging step forward from a group of men who wield ultimate power in the church and have resisted any effective recognition of ministries for women in the past.
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