Last week Pope Francis disappointed advocates for the ordination of women. His previous statements on the death penalty and Communion for the remarried had encouraged their hopes. If the Pope could apparently disregard previous teaching on these matters, they thought, why could he not announce that the Church will sacramentally ordain deaconesses?
First at an in-flight press conference, then at a meeting of nuns, Pope Francis punctured these hopes. “In regard to the diaconate we must see what was there at the beginning of revelation, if there was something, let it grow and it arrives, but if there was not, if the Lord didn’t want a sacramental ministry for women, it can’t go forward. For this reason we go to history and to dogma.” He pointedly added: “If anyone wants to found another church, they are free.”
