The Spanish Church’s proposal that women take on more positions of responsibility in the pastoral and ministerial sphere contained in the working document Towards October 2024 of the last Synodal Assembly of the Spanish Episcopal Conference (CEE) is seen as ” a step forward”, but “insufficient” on the part of women’s groups linked to the Church. They positively value the opening of the door to the female diaconate, but recognize that there is still a long way to go to achieve full equality.
The document, which collects the contributions made by the Spanish dioceses and twenty ecclesial institutions, recognizes the low visibility of women, despite their “overwhelming majority in the life of the Church”, and considers their “priority” active presence in all areas, whether in participation, training and decision-making bodies, as well as assuming tasks of pastoral and ministerial responsibility.
Although the EEC does not specify in this document what the positions would be, the worksheet proposes to “reflect on the possible access of women to the diaconate”. A figure, that of the permanent male diaconate, made up of lay people, widely spread. Male deacons, after their ordination, can nowadays bless, marry, baptize or give communion. What they cannot do is preside over the mass, consecrate or confess, functions that the chaplains do perform.
“Any step forward that the Church takes in this regard, such as the female diaconate, is positive, but we cannot stand still; this does not end here, the touchstone is the ordained ministry, which is the issue that remains to be resolved”, explains Neus Forcano, a member of Alcem la Veu, a coordinator of women believers from different Catalan dioceses who advocate for have the same access opportunities to all functions and ministries. “Charisms do not distinguish sexes”, says Forcano.
Regarding the possibility of women being able to officiate Mass, Forcano assumes that it will not be resolved in the next Synod of Bishops, convened by Pope Francis, and the final phase of which will take place in Rome in October 2024. Forcano regrets that the Church catholic has not yet accepted this scenario. “That it hasn’t been resolved is painful, there’s still a long way to go”, he explains, and believes that changes in importance – equality between men and women in the Catholic Church – will come “rather from the ground up” that from the ecclesiastical hierarchy.
The theologian Adelaide Baracco has also received the Spanish Church’s proposal to give more prominence to women as “a small step forward”, although she regrets the “ambiguity” of the speech. “What the Vatican will probably do will be to grant the diaconate to women, but without ordination, it will be a reduced form of the male diaconate,” explains the progressive theologian, co-author, with fellow theologian María José Arana, of the book Mujeres sacerdotes when? , in which the need to open the door to female priesthood is addressed.
Baracco explains that already in the early church there were ordained deaconesses, something that was lost in the fourth century, and highlights the recent ordination of a deaconess in the Republic of Zimbabwe by the Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria. “Even the Orthodox Church, which was even more reluctant, has gone ahead of us,” says Baracco.
Discalced Carmelite Anna Seguí is very critical, seeing the gesture of the Spanish Church as “totally insufficient”. “I appeal to women’s full rights, and as long as this is not the case, the rest are concessions to keep her happy, conformed and to keep her quiet”, he underlines. He understands that without priestly consecration, women continue to be “excluded”, and indicates that “exclusion is a violation of the kingdom of God”. “They have stolen this right from us”, he postulates.
Also Silvia Martínez Cano, member of the Association of Spanish Theologians, acknowledges the “good intentions” of the Church by relaunching the reflection on the female diaconate, although it must be defined what type of diaconate will end up being applied, if is that this possibility is finally granted. He explains that the female diaconate of the first centuries, which was oriented towards providing service only to women, does not adapt to today’s times. The other two possibilities are for a permanent diaconate, in which women and men serve equally, or for women to access the ministry of order.
He believes that the Church should open the possibility for women to officiate mass. “If we talk about equality and equal dignity, it assumes that we value ourselves for our talent and not for our sex,” he says. Martínez indicates that “the signs of the times call for continued progress and more quickly” than has been done so far.
