Did you remember that the Pope formed a Committee to study the question of female deacons? Deaconettes?
Right. Not exactly on the top of the list of things to think about.
Archbishop Francisco Ladaria Ferrer, the Secretary of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith is the one who is running, at the behest of the Pope, the Committee on Deaconettes. He is rather retiring, so this interview at ZENIT is interesting, to say the least.
There were questions on other topics, but this one requires special attention.
INTERVIEW: Feminine Diaconate: ‘Only Study, No Decisions Right Away,’ Says Archbishop Ladaria
[…]
ZENIT: One last question. We know that the Pope recently appointed the President of the Commission of Study on the Feminine Diaconate. Can this rediscovery eventually foster the ecumenical dialogue or rather hurt it?
Archbishop Ladaria: In my opinion, at this moment the Pope wants to make an objective study, not to come to a decision, but to study how things were in the early times of the Church. This study doesn’t pretend to have an ecumenical scope. The desire is to give the Holy Father some elements of judgment and nothing more. The Pope has said that “this aspect should be studied, especially in the early times of the Church.” It must be a serene reflection without pressures and without the urgency to come to a decision in a short time.
Soon…. they are going to, you know, take some time and turn all the rocks over and looooook underneeeeeeeeath them, and then study the results and write about their observations. Then they will send their papers in to be collated. That’ll take a while. Then they will need time to read and to reflect on what everyone else is saying. In turn that will drive them back to studying the question again, with new points of consideration. They will reeeeeeeead and thiiiiiiiink…. and refleeeeeeeeecct….
Yep. Nope. This is going nowhere, folks. Nowhere verrrrrry sloooooowly.