[Verginius Rufus]

The word diakonos is used of both men and women in the New Testament--see Romans 16.1 (Phoebe). Whether deaconesses of the early church had a role similar to that of modern deacons, I don't know.

There's certainly no precedent in the Catholic Church for a woman being ordained priest or bishop, but the cardinal may not have intended to challenge that tradition.

St. Peter was married.

[BlackElk]

Unless Mrs. St. Peter was an early buttoned down executive globe hopping for high level business purposes, don't you find it strange that she was not home when Jesus came to visit and that her elderly mother had to get off her sickbed to act as the lady of the house??? Is there any other reference to Peter being married? Is it not likely that his wife was dead before his priesthood began? Or that she had divorced him and moved away?

This also smacks of an initiative of the oooooh soooooo sophisticated elite. By reputation, Schoenborn is quite conservative and he is very unlikely to support this nonsense personally.

[trad_anglican]

Whether deaconesses of the early church had a role similar to that of modern deacons, I don't know.

Deaconess was never a clerical office. Deacon was from the very beginning.

The primary duty of the Deacon was to serve the congregation's needs and to assist at the Eucharist - especially with the preparation of the gifts and, later, the reading of the gospel.

The lay office of Deaconess was intended to serve the congregation's needs - primarily to tend to the needs of women (particularly during the initiation rites) in cases where the presence of a man would be a cause for immodesty. A Deaconess had no special liturgy (other than the ordinary liturgy of the laity) at the Eucharist.

[SeekAndFind]

St. Peter was married.

Yes he was. In fact the Bible mentions his mother-in-law.

For more than half of the church's existence, priests, bishops, and popes were married men with families. This partial list of names and dates will provide you with an insight into the family origins of our Roman Catholic faith. These family values are being reborn in today's married priest couples.

MARRIED POPES

St. Peter, Apostle, (D.C. - 64 A.D.) First married pope.

St. Felix III, (483 - 492) Two children.

St. Hormidas, (514 - 523) Married before ordination.

St. Silverus, (536 - 537) Wife's name: Antonia.

Hadrian II, (867 - 872) One daughter.

Clement IV, (1265 - 1268) Two daughters.

Felix V, (1439 - 1449) One son.

POPES WHO WERE SONS OF POPES AND OTHER CLERGY

St. Damasus I, (366 - 384) Son of St. Lorenzo, son of priest

St. Innocent I, (401 - 417) Son of Pope Anastasius I

Boniface, (418 - 422) Son of a priest

St. Felix, (483 - 492) Son of a priest

Anastasius II, (496 - 498) Son of a priest

St. Agapitus I, (535 - 536) Son of Gordianus, priest

St. Silverius, (536 - 537) Son of Pope St. Hormidas

Deusdedit, (615 - 618) Son of Stephen, sub-deacon

Theodore I, (642 - 649) Son of a bishop

Marinus I, (882 - 884) Son of a priest

Boniface VI, (896) Son of Bishop Hadrian

John XI, (931 - 93)5 Son of Pope Sergius III

John XV, (989 - 996) Son of Leo, priest

POPES WHO FATHERED CHILDREN AFTER THE CELIBACY LAW OF 1139

Innocent III, (1484 - 1492) Several children.

Alexander VI, (1492 - 1503) 2 grandchildren were Cardinals.

Julius, (1503 - 1513) Three daughters.

Paul III, (1534 - 1549) One daughter, three sons.

Pius IV, (1559 - 1565) Three sons.

Gregory, XIII (1572 - 1585) One son.

Sources:

Kelly, J. N. D. The Oxford Dictionary of Popes. Oxford Press. 1986.

H.C. Lea. History of Sacerdotal Celibacy in the Christian Church. 1957.

E. Schillebeeckx. The Church with a Human Face. Crossroad, 1985.

U. Ranke-Heinemann. Eunuchs for the Kingdom of Heaven. Doubleday, 1990.

A. L. Barstow. Married Priests and the Reforming Papacy. The Edward Mellen Press, 1982.

[SeekAndFind]

I’d also like to add that the great St. Patrick ( contemporary of St. Augustine ), who evangelized Ireland, was the grandson of a priest.