Cardinal Fernández responds to criticism of his no-show for Synod group on female deacons

Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández has addressed criticism directed at himself after he failed to show up for a discussion during the ongoing Synod of Bishops on the controversial topic of female deacons.

Having missed the meeting on Friday 18 October, the Vatican’s doctrinal chief started this week by trying to explain his absence while insisting that now is not the time to resolve the issue of female deacons, as, he highlighted, has been made clear by Pope Francis. Instead, Fernández emphasised that the focus should be on the current roles for empowering women in the Church but which are being under utilised.

The Argentine cardinal said that a commission to study the possibility of women deacons created by Pope Francis in 2020, and led by Cardinal Giuseppe Petrocchi of Aquila in Italy, has reached a number of decisions which will be published shortly, though its work “continues” and is open to “considerations, proposals and concerns”.

Fernández’s communique, released 21 October by the Vatican Press Office, came after a series of meetings on 18 October, intended to give synod participants an opportunity to interact with the members of the ten study groups that Pope Francis established in advance of the October assembly, in order to consider some of the most contested issues.

By far, the largest number of synod participants showed up for the session with the group dedicated to theological and canonical matters related to ministry and which is the group to which the question on female deacons has been assigned. Most of those participants expected Fernández to be present, since he was the one who presented an overview of the group’s mandate in a 2 October address.

When Fernández didn’t show up, many participants came away expressing disappointment and irritation, which was compounded by the fact that two junior officials of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) appeared instead, though without authority to answer most questions.

In response to the ensuing disgruntlement, Fernández noted that he’s not actually the coordinator of the group, a role which belongs instead to the doctrinal secretary of the DDF, Italian Father Armando Matteo. According to Fernández, Matteo had a medical appointment on 18 October, which is why the other officials were dispatched in his stead.

Fernández said that when he realised that people had expected he himself to appear, he offered to arrange a second meeting on Thursday 24 October. He said he will also reveal at the same time the names of the individuals who make up the study group, in response to criticism that up to now it’s the lone group whose membership has been kept secret.

On the core issue of women deacons, Fernández said the pontiff has made it clear that the issue “is not yet mature”, though he insisted that Pope Francis is “very concerned for the role of women in the Church”, and has asked the DDF to explore other possibilities that don’t involve holy orders.

Fernández asserted that a focus on the diaconate “does not resolve the question of millions of women in the Church”. He also said that there are concrete ways of empowering women that haven’t been fully exploited.

He pointed to the new ministry of catechist, created by Pope Francis in May 2021 and opened to women. He said that one form of that ministry would be a catechist who actually leads a faith community in the absence of a priest, a role which implies real leadership and authority, and which women can perform. Yet, Fernandez said, “very few” bishops’ conferences have acted on the possibility.

He also pointed similarly to the ministry of acolyte, opened to women by Pope Francis in January 2021, noting that “it’s been conceded only in a small percentage in the dioceses, and many times priests don’t want to present women to the bishop for this ministry”.

Fernández highlighted that even the diaconate for men is underdeveloped, with many dioceses in the world not having any deacons at all, while many of those that do treat the role only as a step towards priesthood. (Statistics confirm the point: according to Vatican data, 97 per cent of the roughly 48,000 permanent deacons in the world, meaning men who are usually married and not preparing for the priesthood, are in North America and Europe.)

“These few examples make us understand that hurrying to request the ordination of deaconesses is not the most important response to promote women,” Fernández said.

Defending his dicastery’s focus staying on the ways women can exercise authority in the church without ordination, Fernandez said that “reality is superior to ideas”.

He tried to elaborate on how the interest in leadership roles that women have played and can play in the Church is “not because they were imposed on communities, or as the result of a study, but because [women] have acquired this authority under the impulse of the Spirit and facing a real need of the people”.

The cardinal added: “I’m convinced that we can move forward, step by step, and arrive at very concrete things, so that we may understand that there’s nothing in the nature of a woman that prevents women from occupying very important positions for the leadership of churches.

“That which truly comes from the Holy Spirit can’t be stopped,” he said.

RELATED: Synod opens with a ‘No’ to women deacons

Photo: Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández during a press conference at the Vatican, Vatican City State, 19 September 2024 in The Vatican. (Photo by TIZIANA FABI/AFP via Getty Images.)

The post Cardinal Fernández responds to criticism of his no-show for Synod group on female deacons appeared first on Catholic Herald.