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.
