Why you should not be discouraged (or assured) by Pope Francis’ “No”to ordaining women as deacons

Recently 60 Minutes aired an interview with Pope Francis where he offered a succinct “no” to ordaining women as deacons. As expected, the internet went wild with hot disappointment on one side and giddy elation on the other. While each set of responses is understandable, there is something much deeper at work.

While Francis’ “no” appears on the surface to settle this issue, it doesn’t. What it does do is reveal quite plainly that this doctrine has been and continues to be open for discernment. This latest “no” is best seen as one more utterance in a long line of contradictory statements from all corners of the Church. Francis himself grapples. One minute, he is establishing commissions to study a female diaconate, another minute he is noodling the question in an interview, and the next minute he is saying “no” (to ordination specifically, not to women serving in some “deaconess” role where they are not ordained). Layer on top of this his assertion that the ordination of women as priests can be a “subject of study” and his decision to meet with female Anglican bishop Jo Bailey Wells to learn more. What will he say or do next month? While it might appear confusing, this wrestling is a hallmark of a vibrant relationship with God.

The inconsistency on this issue only grows when we zoom out to look at the whole of the Magisterium, with some bishops in favor while others decry it, as the vast majority remain silent. Not only this: the very next day after the 60 minutes interview, we are greeted with words from a Cardinal about the possibility of Francis agreeing that women should be ordained as priests! Whiplash, much? Then, of course, there is the Body of Christ, who—regardless of what the Pope or any bishops have to say—has trumpeted a resounding and universal call for a female diaconate, which makes Pope Francis’ “no” all the more curious since he is in the midst of championing a synod process rooted in the values of open sharing and prayerful listening. The more inconsistent the collective Church is on this doctrine, the louder the Spirit clamors for us to recognize that within this inconsistency pulses an invitation from God.
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But it gets even better. There is no question that people have been feeling great hope about the possibility of the Church ordaining women as deacons, even if hints from leadership indicate that the Church would steer those female deacons into something “other” than male deacons (never a good sign in a patriarchy, but, hey, let’s just take what we can get). Now that Francis has been so blunt, maybe we will finally wake up to the enormity of this rare and willing historic moment when it comes to the ordination of women in the Church. With four months yet before the Synod meetings in October, there is still time to embrace the freshness of opportunity before us.

First, the movement to ordain women as deacons must once and for all stop buying into the institution’s framing of the ordination of women as two distinct discernment questions: deacons and priests. It should be quite clear at this point that this strategy will not get the movement where it wants to go. When it comes to the ordination of women, there is one—and only one—discernment question: is God calling women to ordained ministries? To frame the discernment in any other way is disingenuous and will always set the process on the path to an incomplete or even mistaken discernment. The diaconate movement seems to think it has a better chance at success by approaching vocation as two separate questions, but even if this “success” were to materialize, it would only amount to a Pyrrhic victory that impedes the far deeper work of the Spirit to bring about true fullness of life for women in the Church and the world. The gift of Francis’ blunt response is that it spells out the reality that there can only be one movement when it comes to the ordination of women, and that is a united one that calls for the freedom for women to follow their vocation from God, whatever that vocation is.

Second, the bishops who are supportive of the ordination of women as priests need to speak up. It is as if they have forgotten who they are for the Church, largely remaining silent when collectively they have the power (and the moral obligation) to guide the trajectory of the Church. Francis is not a king, but the head pastor; and bishops are not his princes, but shepherds invested with a power all their own by the Holy Spirit through their ordination. The only reason Francis can get away with saying “no” to ordaining women as deacons, and—for that matter—excluding priesthood from the upcoming study on the role of women in the Church, is because those bishops who secretly support the ordination of women at all levels are largely remaining silent, rather than boldly—and collectively—claiming their God-given power to lead.

The plain, undeniable fact—whether you are on the left, the right, or anywhere in between—is that THE BISHOPS ARE NOT IN COMMUNION ON THE ORDINATION OF WOMEN AS PRIESTS OR DEACONS. No matter how you slice it, the doctrine is not settled, and it hasn’t been for decades. But as long as the bishops keep quiet, the institution can keep pretending—steamrolling over the ordination question and all the women within it while upholding a malformed theology that produces speeches like that of Harrison Butker, who genuinely believes in his heart that women’s elementary vocation in life is to be man’s helper through wife-ing and mothering. Even if collectively women are wives and mothers and somehow “maternal” (whatever that means), we are not merely that, which you only need eyeballs in your head to see. But he cannot see, because as long as the Church teaches through the lens of a lopsided theology, it will never be able to properly discern a more full understanding of who God is and what God desires of us.

Third, we simply need to stop tolerating this nonsense, the “we” being women and all our allies who know full well that God is—and has always been—calling women to be deacons and priests. Enough is enough already. At any time, we can claim our rightful place in the Church as God intends. Women are the ones doing the vast majority of work in the Church, women are the ones doing most of the catechizing in the Church, women are the ones directing much of the funds to the Church. Want to see the Roman Catholic Church come to a grinding halt? Then all that we and our allies have to do is just stop: stop providing our labor, stop offering our money, and stop lending our support…until they listen.

So, rather than get upset by or feel overly jubilant at Francis’ “no” on 60 minutes, take it as one more sign that the issue of the ordination of women in the Church is far from settled. God is a God of surprises, and God ain’t done yet. Not in your wildest dreams.
 
Father Anne was ordained on October 16, 2021, through the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests. She earned a Master of Divinity from Jesuit School of Theology, and her deepest desire is to be a parish priest in the Roman Catholic Church.