Pope Francis to consider idea of women deacons

In a potentially historic statement on Thursday, Pope Francis appeared to question the wisdom of the Catholic Church’s traditional practise of an all-male clergy when calling for a commission to investigate the role of women deacons, especially in relation to the early church.

During an audience with more than 900 leaders of women’s religious orders, the International Union of Superiors General, the pope engaged the nuns in a question-and-answer session.

At one point he was asked just why the church excludes women from serving as deacons. These are priests who cannot celebrate Mass but can lead prayer services, offer the sacrament of baptism and manage parishes as pastoral administrators in the absence of priests.

The pope responded by saying that he had spoken about the matter “some years ago . . . with a good wise professor” who had studied the use of “deaconesses” in the early church. He then went on to say that he would call for a commission which “might study the question”.

The position of deacon is generally open to married men who have reached the age of 35.