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Female diaconate

St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City. / Credit: Xosema (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Vatican Commission Rejects Female Diaconate, Although Without a "definitive judgment"

Dec 4, 2025

The Vatican published on Dec. 4 the summary of the work carried out by the commissions studying the possibility of admitting women to the diaconate.

Pope Leo XIV listens to reports from seven representatives around the world about the implementation of synodality on their continents during the jubilee of synodal teams and participatory bodies at the Vatican on Oct. 24, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

Synod on Synodality Reports Reveal Continued Study on Women, But Not Female Diaconate

Nov 19, 2025

The reports also show that a new group on the liturgy, requested by Pope Leo XIV, is not addressing the Vatican’s controversial restrictions on the Traditional Latin Mass.

On the first working day of the Synod on Synodality at the Vatican on Oct. 2, 2024, 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. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

Synod Rules Out Women Deacons; Meetings Called to Be "laboratories of synodal life"

Oct 3, 2024

The Synod on Synodality commenced its second day on Thursday in which 356 participants convened at the Vatican.

Delegates to the Synod on Synodality meet in the final days of the synod, Oct. 25, 2023. / Credit: Vatican Media

Synod Organizer Says Vatican Doctrine Office is Studying Women Deacons

Jul 9, 2024

Cardinal Mario Grech said the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith is studying “the women’s diaconate” within the context of its in-depth study of ministries.