Ireland’s Catholic bishops have been criticised by priests for remaining silent on the Vatican’s continued ban on women deacons announced last week.
The bishops did not address the issue during their winter meeting at Maynooth this week.
A deacon can perform all the functions of a priest except hearing Confession or celebrating the Eucharist.
Expressing its “deep disappointment”, the Association of Catholic Priests (ACP), which represents up to a half of Catholic clergy in Ireland, said it was “especially disappointed that no Irish bishop has publicly addressed this development”.
On December 4th a report by a Vatican Commission ruled out “the possibility of moving in the direction of admitting women to the diaconate understood as a degree of the sacrament of Holy Orders”.
The Vatican report noted how there was deadlock at the commission over an argument opposing women deacons as Jesus was a man.
“The masculinity of Christ, and therefore the masculinity of those who receive Holy Orders, is not accidental but is an integral part of sacramental identity,” the commission said.
The ACP said the ban on women deacons would “cause significant harm” to the synodal process and to “the credibility of the Church” itself.
It called on Ireland’s Catholic bishops to “listen attentively to the People of God and to show the courage and openness this moment requires”.
“Lay Catholics overwhelmingly support the restoration of women to the diaconate, and many also favour broader opportunities for women in ordained ministry. Yet the Church’s stated commitment to equality for women continues to be sidelined,” it said.
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The We Are Church Ireland group has described as “shocking” that members of the commission “believe that the masculinity of Christ is an integral part of sacramental identity.”
It pointed out that women around the world are already performing the work of ordained priests without ordination even as deacons.
“They are baptising, conducting funerals, blessing marriages, and conducting Eucharistic liturgies,” the group said.
Calling on Pope Leo “to promote the ordination of women”, it said it was “a scandal for our Church to treat women as inferior and subordinate to men”.
A 2022 survey of Irish Catholics, conducted in Ireland’s 26 Catholic dioceses by the bishops, found that 96 per cent of people consulted favoured the ordination of women, whether as deacons or priests.