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[Catholic Caucus] Bishop Eleganti: Vatican trying to play both sides of the women deacons question It is all too obvious that, despite the historical findings regarding female ordination, the aim is to keep the issue alive and the question open.The study commission on the question of women’s ordination concludes, on the one hand, that the possibility of admitting women to the diaconate (as part of the sacrament of ordination) must be ruled out, but at the same time that it is not possible to “make a definitive judgment, as in the case of priestly ordination.”[1]This makes little sense. It is...

[Catholic Caucus] Francis-instituted Vatican Commission says NO to Female Diaconate - English Translation of Full ReportAnnounced today -- report by Vatican News (followed by our translation of the full text of letter and report submitted to Pope Leo XIV):Petrocchi Commission says no to female diaconate, though judgment not definitiveA report presenting the results of the Commission’s work has been released. It rules out admitting women to the diaconate understood as a degree of the sacrament of Holy Orders, but says that it is not currently possible “to formulate a definitive judgment, as in the case of priestly ordination.” [Vatican News]***Summary...

Leo XIV Appoints Bishop Monteiro: Favours Female Ordination, Refers to Protestants as Role Model Today, Pope Leo XIV has appointed Rev Yohanes Hans Monteiro, 54, as Bishop of Larantuka, Indonesia.He was ordained a priest on July 14, 1999. The article's picture shows him in 2024 celebrating 25 years as priest.Rev Monteiro completed a doctorate in 2018 in liturgy at the anti-Catholic University of Vienna, Austria."No Harm If Women Are Ordained"In 2024, Monsignor Monteiro wrote together with a certain Fransiska Widyawati a 16 page study entitled “Paus Fransiskus dan Kepemimpinan Perempuan dalam Gereja Katolik” (Pope Francis and women’s leadership in the...

[Catholic Caucus] Fitting for Chaos-Tucho: Allowing Women an Acolyte-Like "Deaconess"The Synod's general secretary has prepared a document on a 'female diaconate', for which the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith will be responsible for drafting the final report.ElWanderer.com wrote on 19 November that this is an "imminent danger" because of Tucho’s track record of never missing an opportunity to cause serious problems for the Church.In Catholicism, Holy Orders in the three forms deacon, priest and bishop are reserved for men for ontological reasons.ElWanderer speculates that Tucho will resort to the tactic he applied in Fiducia Supplicans, which he likely...

[Catholic Caucus] Synod document suggests women’s leadership, female deacons will be addressed in final reportCardinal Mario Grech, a top Synod on Synodality official, has already expressed support for women deacons, as have other Synod participants.The Synod on Synodality released a teaser interim report on women’s role in Church leadership, anticipating that the “question” of the women’s diaconate will be addressed in the final report.The Synod on Monday published the interim report, in which it announced the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF), headed by the heterodox Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández, is currently drafting the final report on “the...

[Catholic Caucus] Bishop Strickland: Statement on the appointment of Bp. Shane Mackinlay as Archbishop of BrisbaneWhile we owe filial respect and obedience to the Holy Father in matters properly within his authority, this appointment raises serious pastoral and doctrinal questions.Editor’s note: The following was originally published on Bishop Joseph Strickland’s X account on June 18, 2025.(LifeSiteNews) — With deep concern for the faithful of the Church, I feel compelled to address the recent appointment of Bishop Shane Mackinlay as Archbishop of Brisbane by His Holiness Pope Leo XIV.While we owe filial respect and obedience to the Holy Father in matters...

Anglican Priestess "concelebrates" Catholic Mass? A Case Study in SynodalityIt seems that one of Mackinlay's priests has allowed an Anglican priestess to feign the concelebration of a Catholic Mass during which she also received Holy Communion. The woman, a known lesbian and LGBT-rights advocate, was one of two Anglican women who were dressed in vestments and remained near the altar throughout the Mass. Although the 'Canon' did not speak, she attempted to read the Gospel and helped herself to a chalice containing the Precious Blood.It is fairly common to hear that the definition of Synodality remains a mystery, even years...

Female Anglican bishop ‘concelebrates’ Mass with Catholic priestsThe incident in El Salvador has been condemned by the Apostolic Nuncio as a violation of liturgical and canon law.Anglican clergywoman (2nd from left) joining Catholic priests on the altar in El SalvadorThe Apostolic Nuncio to El Salvador has issued a correction after a female Anglican prelate joined Catholic clergy on the altar to concelebrate a recent Mass.On March 24, a Mass was held to mark the 45th anniversary of the assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero. Held in the chapel of the Hospitalito La Divina Providencia, where Romero was assassinated, the Mass was...

[Catholic Caucus] The End of the Male Clergy? Here's What's Happening Behind the ScenesAre we reaching the end of an all male clergy in the Catholic Church? Pope Francis disguised phase 1 of this change, breaking with 2000 years of Church precedent. Pope Francis, at the end of the recent Synod on Synodality, stated that “times are not yet ripe” for the female diaconate. This statement, far from being a definitive closure, seems rather to indicate a path to be developed gradually: shifting public debate towards initially unthinkable positions until they become acceptable.Pope Francis' motu proprio Spiritus Domini, promulgated about...

[Catholic Caucus] Catholic women urged to 'strike' over inequality in the churchWhat would the Catholic Church do without women? If some activists have their way, we're about to find out.A new project is urging women to strike by withholding time, labor and financial resources from the church during Lent, which begins March 5. The planned action is in response to the Vatican's synod on synodality, which concluded in October without action on women's leadership, including the opening of ordination to the diaconate or priesthood."The strike is for Catholics who are looking for a way to express their disappointment, frustration or...

[Catholic Caucus] A Response to the Feminist Demand for Priestly Ordination: Contemplate MaryA Response to the Feminist Demand for Priestly Ordination: Contemplate the Maternal Priesthood of Mary.By Karen Darantière “It’s so insulting to keep on saying that the only valid role that will get the approval of this pope is to be nurturing, is to be a mother, while you can be nurturing and mothering and be a priest.” (1) So says Miriam Duignan, an advocate of female ordination and of abortion, in response to comments against the female diaconate made by Pope Francis, recently reiterated by Cardinal Fernandez. One...

[Catholic Caucus] Cardinal Fernández Says Female Diaconate Will be Studied ‘More Intensively’Cardinal Victor Fernández, the prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, announced that the female diaconate will be the subject of a more in-depth study under the impetus of the proposals sent to the commission assigned to this task. He also stated that this question, although Pope Francis considers it not “mature,” is not a “closed issue.”To delve deeper into the differences between holy orders and authority in order to be able to entrust laywomen with leadership functions in the Church is, according to Fernández, the...

[Catholic Caucus] Liberal nun tells Synod reporters some women ‘feel the call’ to the priesthoodSpeaking to Synod reports Monday, Sister Mary Theresa Barron claimed, 'Is the spirit calling women? Because some women do sense a call to priesthood or diaconate.'Sister Mary Theresa Barron, OLA, president of the International Union of Superiors General (UISG), told journalists at a Synod on Synodality press conference Monday that some women “feel the call” to the male-only priesthood and thus, the Church ought to listen to them. During a press conference Monday, Barron took a question from a journalist who asked her to describe ways...

[Catholic Caucus] Priesthood about a person's gifts, 'not their genitalia,' says woman priestThe U.S. representative of a women's ordination movement said she is encouraged by people praying that the Catholic Church will open the priesthood to all who feel called to the ministry — particularly women. "What I feel right now is excitement and solidarity because I feel like there is a lot of good energy and movement in the greater body of the church that really wants to see equality come in so many different ways," said Rev. Angela Nevitt Meyer of Roman Catholic Womenpriests-USA. She is in Rome...

[Catholic Caucus] Excommunicated woman ‘priest’ lauded in heterodox Catholic newspaperThe National Catholic Reporter has written sympathetically about ‘Father Anne’s' willingness 'to pay the price’ of excommunication to follow her call’ to the ‘priesthood.’Anne TropeanoThe heterodox National Catholic Reporter (NCR) has described an excommunicated woman who goes by the name “Father Anne” as a “priest” while shining a sympathetic light on her claims to sacramental priesthood.On Friday NCR published a news piece about the hopes of “Father Anne” (Anne Tropeano) — whom the newpaper describes without qualification (or even scare quotes) as a “priest” — that the Catholic Church will allow...

[Catholic Caucus] Pope hopes for ‘faithful’ and ‘creative’ interpretation of Lord’s intentions for women and ministryJuly 12, 2024» Continue to this story on L'Osservatore Romano (Italian) CWN Editor's Note: Pope Francis has written the preface to Donne e ministeri nella Chiesa sinodale [Women and Ministries in the Synodal Church], an anthology written by Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich of Luxembourg, Cardinal Seán O’Malley of Boston, and the three women who addressed the Pope’s advisory Council of Cardinals on the topic in February. “Christian thought, in its theological, juridical, magisterial and cultural dimension, in its legitimate effort to transcend the contingency of the...

[Catholic Caucus] Francis, “Deaconettes,” and the St. Gallen Mafia“No,” Pope Francis said.He was answering Norah O’Donnell’s question about whether “a little girl growing up Catholic today” could “ever have the opportunity to be a deacon and participate as a clergy member in the Church.” Directly and tersely, the pope said, “No.”It was a seemingly definitive response—and across the social media site X, a myriad of Catholics celebrated it as such.And yet Francis—to borrow a term from vaticanista Sandro Magister—has a history of pulling “u-turns.” That is, the pope has a habit of contradicting himself, especially by reversing a verbal “no”...

[Catholic Caucus] Cardinal Hollerich again falsely claims Catholic teaching on male-only priesthood ‘can be changed’Pope St. John Paul II declared in his 1994 apostolic letter Ordinatio Sacerdotalis that it is ontologically impossible for women to be ordained to the priesthood.Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich has falsely claimed that the Church could change its teaching on a solely male priesthood and open the door to female ordinations.In an interview with the Swiss outlet kath.ch, Hollerich, who is the relator general of the Vatican’s Synod on Synodality, said that the Church’s rejection of female ordinations “is not an infallible doctrinal decision.”When asked by the...

[Catholic Caucus] Dissident priest tells pro-LGBT parishioners he hopes 2024 Synod will approve ‘women deacons’Fr. James Cassidy, a priest in the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, expressed support for homosexuality, social justice and women's leadership roles in the church during a recent homily.A dissident priest at a pro-LGBT Catholic church in Minneapolis told laity this past weekend that he hopes a liberal parishioner attending the Synod on Synodality in October will vote to support women deacons.Father James Cassidy serves as the parochial vicar at St. Joan of Arc Catholic Community. The church falls under the jurisdiction of Archbishop Bernard...

[Catholic Caucus] Towards a Female Pontiff of an Emasculated ChurchOf course, women priests and popes are part of a bigger package containing all sorts of theological surprises...To make the Church less masculine: this is the task that Pope Francis has given the International Theological Commission. Or at least, that is the official translation of the Italian word Francis used, smaschilizzare, which the English-language media rightly translated as "demasculinize", i.e. "emasculate, castrate". "Rendere meno maschile," which Francis did not say, would translate literally as "to make less masculine."But how can anyone, much less a pope, contemplate demasculinizing a Church that was...