[marshmallow]

Female deacons in the early Church were not ordained and their ministry was non-sacramental. That is to say, it was not derived from the male presbyterate as is the case for the ordained diaconate. This is an important distinction and the Pope must know this.

The role of female deacons included discharging charitable functions often associated with the temporal well-being of poorer Christians and assisiting at baptisms where the practice of whole-body immersion and the anointing of the whole body meant that modesty and propriety were best serve by the assistance of women in the case of female catechumens.

[SleepySimon]

Ok. Whatevs. That really doesn’t say much about my points. There is historical precedent. The practice fell away. It’s appropriate to establish a commission to see if maybe the practice shouldn’t have been left to whither.