Women have mixed reactions to the pope's new law on readers, acolytes

The views of women across the Catholic world have been divided in the wake of Pope Francis' new law allowing them to have a greater role at mass, with some hailing it as an important step forward, and others saying it doesn't change the status quo.

On Tuesday, Francis issued an amendment to canon law that formalizes the possibility for women and girls to be installed as readers and acolytes.

Although it has long been common practice in Western countries such as the United States for women to serve as readers and serve at the altar, formal ministries - once considered "minor orders" for those preparing for the priesthood - have been reserved to men .

Called motu proprio, or a legislative act issued under the authority of the pope, the new law revises canon 230 of canon law, which previously stated that "lay people who possess the age and requirements established by decree of the conference of bishops can be permanently admitted to the ministries of lector and acolyte through the prescribed liturgical rite ".

Now begins the revised text, "lay people who have the age and qualifications", placing the only condition for admission to the ministries is one's baptism, rather than one's sex.

In the text, Pope Francis affirmed that the move is part of an effort to better recognize the "precious contribution" that women make in the Catholic Church, underlining the role of all the baptized in the mission of the Church.

However, in the document he also makes a clear distinction between “ordained” ministries such as the priesthood and the diaconate, and ministries open to qualified laity thanks to their so-called “baptismal priesthood”, which is different from that of sacred Orders.

In a column published January 13 in the Italian newspaper La Nazione, veteran Catholic journalist Lucetta Scaraffia noted that the pope's law was greeted with praise by many women in the Church, but was questioned, “it really is progress to grant to women functions that have performed for decades, even during masses in St. Peter's, a recognition that no women's organization has ever asked for? "

Noting that the new law unites the diaconate with the priesthood, describing both as "ordained ministries", which are open only to men, Scaraffia said the diaconate is the only ministry that the International Union of Superiors General (UISG) has requested. to Pope Francis during an audience in 2016.

After that audience, the pope set up a commission for the study of the female diaconate, however the group was divided and could not reach a consensus.

In April 2020 Francesco set up a new commission to study the matter, however, Scaraffia noted in his column that this new commission has yet to meet, and it is unknown when their first meeting might be organized.

Regardless of concerns about the current coronavirus pandemic, Scaraffia said that for some "there is a strong fear that it will end like the previous one, that is with a stalemate, also thanks to this more recent document".

He then alluded to part of the text that says that the ministries of the reader and the acolyte require "stability, public recognition and a mandate from the bishop", saying that the bishop's mandate increases "the hierarchy's control over the laity. "

"If, until now, some faithful could happen to be approached before Mass by the priest who asks him to do one of the readings, making him feel an active part of the community, from today the recognition of the bishops is necessary", he said, defining the move as "a last step towards the clericalization of the life of the faithful and an increase in the selection and control of women".

Scaraffia said the decision during the Second Vatican Council to restore the permanent diaconate, allowing married men to be ordained deacons, was meant to distinguish the diaconate from the priesthood.

Admission to the diaconate "is the only real alternative to seeking the female priesthood," she said, lamenting that, in her opinion, the involvement of women in the life of the Church "is so strong that every step forward - usually late and inconsistent - it is limited to a few tasks and, above all, requires strict control by the hierarchy “.

UISG itself issued a statement on January 12 thanking Pope Francis for making the change and not mentioning the designation of the diaconate as an ordained ministry closed to women.

The decision to admit women and men to the ministry of reader and acolyte is "a sign and a response to the dynamism that characterizes the nature of the Church, a dynamism that belongs to the Holy Spirit who constantly challenges the Church in obedience to Revelation and reality" , they said.

From the moment of baptism "we, all baptized men and women, become participants in the life and mission of Christ and capable of serving the community", they said, adding that in order to contribute to the mission of the Church through these ministries, "he will help us to understand, as the Holy Father says in his letter, that in this mission "we are ordained to one another", ordained and non-ordained ministers, men and women, in a reciprocal relationship ".

"This strengthens the evangelical witness of communion", they said, noting that women in many places in the world, especially consecrated women, already carry out important pastoral tasks "following the guidelines of the bishops" to respond to the needs of evangelization.

“Therefore, the Motu Proprio, with its universal character, is a confirmation of the Church's path in recognizing the service of so many women who have cared for and continue to take care of the service of the Word and of the Altar,” they said.

Others, such as Mary McAleese, who served as President of Ireland from 1997 to 2011 and who openly criticized the Catholic Church's stance on LGBT issues and the role played by women, took a harsher tone.

Calling the new law "the polar opposite of upsetting," McAleese in a comment after its publication said "It is minimal but still welcome because it is finally a recognition" that it was wrong to forbid women from being installed as readers and acolytes by the 'Start.

"These two roles were opened only to the laity simply and solely because of the misogyny embedded in the heart of the Holy See that continues to this day," she said, insisting that the previous ban on women was "unsustainable, unfair and ridiculous."

McAleese stressed Pope Francis' repeated insistence that the doors to the priestly ordination of women be firmly closed, expressing his belief that "women should be ordained", saying that the theological arguments against it are "pure codology" .

"I won't even bother discussing it," he said, adding, "Sooner or later it will fall apart, fall apart under its own dead weight."

However, other groups like Catholic Women Speak (CWS) seemed to be taking the middle ground.

While expressing discontent that the new law appears to ban women from the diaconate and the priesthood, CWS founder Tina Beattie also praised the open language of the document, saying there is potential for progress.

In a statement following the publication of the document, Beattie said she was in favor of the document because while women have served in the ministries of lector and acolyte since the early 90s, "their ability to do so depended on the permission of the their local priests and bishops “.

"In parishes and communities where the Catholic hierarchy opposes the increased participation of women, they have been denied access to these liturgical roles," she said, saying the change in canon law ensures that "women are no longer subject to such clerical whims. "

Beattie said she is also in favor of the law because in the text Pope Francis refers to change as "a doctrinal development that responds to the charisms of lay ministries and to the needs of the times regarding evangelization".

The language she uses is significant, said Beattie, stressing that while several women have been appointed to authoritative positions in the Vatican in recent years, "these concern the management of the institution and not the life of doctrinal and liturgical faith."

"To affirm that doctrine can develop with regard to the liturgical roles of women is to take a significant step forward, despite the continued exclusion of women from Holy Orders," she said.

Beattie also said that the fact that the law was enacted shows that "it is a small task to amend canon law when this is the only obstacle to women's participation."

Noting that women are currently prohibited from holding the role of cardinal because canon law reserves the position to bishops and priests, she stated that "there is no doctrinal requirement for the ordination of cardinals" and that if the disposition it requires of cardinals to be bishops or priests were removed, "women could be appointed cardinals and would therefore have played a crucial role in papal elections."

"This latter development may fail to affirm the full sacramental dignity of women made in the image of God, but it can be embraced with integrity and affirmed as a truly welcome doctrinal development," she said.