Vatican ban on women deacons stays

--From a
Special Correspondent THE VATICAN has no plans "for the moment" to change current Church bans on ordaining women to the diaconate, a consultor to the Vatican's Doctrinal Congregation said in Rome.
Fr Louis Ligier, Si, told reporters that a recently released document restating the Church's ban on women's ordination to the priesthood purposely did not take up the question of ordaining women. deacons.
"This document is fully silent on the question of deaconesses and, for the moment, the Church has no intention to change its present discipline," said Fr Ligier. "For the moment the question is not open."
A commentary by the Doctrinal Congregation on its new women's ordination document indicates, however, that a future separate study of the issue of deaconesses could be undertaken.
Some ancient texts seem to indicate that deaconesses received a real sacramental ordination by a bishop, complete with laying on of hands (the sacramental sign of ordination). A document of the Syrian Church from the third century, and the Syrian Apostolic Constitutions of a century later, show the deaconesses as included among the clergy after receiving a true ordination, with laying on of hands by a bishop. A fifth century document, again from the Syrian Church, speaks of "ordained widows." Mgr. Philippe Delhaye, a theologian who is secretary of Pope Paul's International Theological Commission, has written that these ordained widows exercised "important female ministries" and received "ordination by imposition of hands."
Several scholars agree that the Church of the third and fourth centuries in the East was acting according to what it considered to he faithful to the traditional practice of Christ and the Apostles in ordaining women to the diaconate. A reporter at a Vatican Press conference asked last week: "Were there any women on the commission that drafted the Vatican document on priestly ordination for women?"
"Yes. there were," replied Bishop Albert Descamps, secretary of the Pontifical Biblical Commission.
"No, there were not," said Fr Roberto Tucci, SJ, directorgeneral of Vatican Radio. There followed a whispered conference, "No women were on the commission," announced Bishop Descamps, "but many women were consulted during the preparatory stages that led to the final draft which you have today."
Fr Tucci told reporters that great pressure on the issue of women priests had come from the United States. He then offered figures on research done by the American sociologist, Fr Andrew Greeley, indicating that the desire for women priests was far from being a majority position among American Catholics.
"Fr Greeley's figures," said Fr Tucci, "indicate that only 30 per cent of American Catholics favour the ordination of women, while more than 50 per cent 'strongly oppose' it.
"Oddly," he continued, "of those favouring the ordination of women, 32 per cent are men and only 28 per cent are women. Fr Greeley's figures indicate that the only group of Americans whose majority is in favour of ordaining women are men under 30 who are graduates of a Catholic college,"