Catholics acquainted with the Catechism might well be forgiven for professing a certain degree of confusion in recent days, as a Vatican commission declaring the impossibility of women accessing the diaconate became major news in the Catholic world.
Why the need for such a declaration, one might ask, given that the Church already possesses a great wealth of clear teaching on this matter?
To answer this, one must first assess exactly what the commission said, examine what the Church has already taught on the subject, and ascertain why this issue is being discussed today.
