Unlocking the Future: Women and the Diaconate (Monsignor W. Onclin Chair 2020) 9789042942417, 9789042942424, 904294241X

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KATHOLIEKE UNIVERSITEIT LEUVEN Faculteit Kerkelijk Recht Faculty of Canon Law

UNLOCKING THE FUTURE WOMEN AND THE DIACONATE Hildegard WARNINK (ed.)

Monsignor W. Onclin Chair 2020

PEETERS LEUVEN 2020

UNLOCKING THE FUTURE: WOMEN AND THE DIACONATE Monsignor W. Onclin Chair 2020

KATHOLIEKE UNIVERSITEIT LEUVEN Faculteit Kerkelijk Recht Faculty of Canon Law

UNLOCKING THE FUTURE WOMEN AND THE DIACONATE Hildegard WARNINK (ed.)

Monsignor W. Onclin Chair 2020

PEETERS LEUVEN 2020

A catalogue record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, by print, photoprint, microfilm or any other means without written permission from the publisher. ISBN 978-90-429-4241-7 eISBN 978-90-429-4242-4 D/2020/0602/41 © 2020, Uitgeverij Peeters, Bondgenotenlaan 153, B-3000 Leuven (Belgium)

TABLE OF CONTENTS R. TORFS, Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

VII

H. WARNINK, Women and the Diaconate. A First Step in Unlocking the Ordination Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1

R. BIERINGER, Exegetical Perspective. Women and Women Deacons in the New Testament . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

15

L. SCARAFFIA, The Female Diaconate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

47

J. VAN DER VLOET, Women Deacons as an Opportunity for the Belgian Church? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

57

P. ZAGANO, Women and the Diaconate: Ordaining Catholic Women for Ministry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

65

B. POTTIER sj, Experiences as a Member of the Pontifical Commission. The Work Executed by the Commission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

79

A. BORRAS, The Diaconate after Omnium in Mentem within the Context of the Shortage of Priests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

91

R. TORFS, Some Remarks on Women and Diaconate . . . . . . . . . . .

107

PREFACE RIK TORFS The Monsignor Willy Onclin Chair enjoys a long tradition. As part of it, year after year, professors, scholars and students describe and discuss a burning issue of canon law. They do so with scientific competency, love for the Church and also with pleasure, as canon law is a science that both pleases and strengthens the mind. Ordination of women, including the unsettled question whether or not women can be ordained to the diaconate, continues to fascinate. In his recently published Apostolic Exhortation Querida Amazonia (12 February 2020) pope Francis seems anything but inclined to open the door for women. The Roman Pontiff fears a clericalization of the latter, as well as a lack of appreciation for the work women are already doing. However, he does not close the debate. No divine law whatsoever is at stake. The discussion continues for those who have not lost their interest in the topic. But that is another issue altogether. In this booklet, we bring together contributions by theologians and canon lawyers, historians and Church officials. Do they offer the ultimate solution? Not at all. They just reflect on the issue and stimulate others to develop further arguments in any possible direction, as nothing is worse than complete silence when issues truly matter.

WOMEN AND THE DIACONATE A FIRST STEP IN UNLOCKING THE ORDINATION DISCUSSION HILDEGARD WARNINK 1. THE

PREVAILING ECCLESIASTICAL LAW CONCERNING THE ORDINATION OF

WOMEN

Episcopate – Priesthood – Diaconate The Code of Canon Law describes and recognizes three Holy Orders in Canon 1009 §1: “The orders are the episcopate, the priesthood and the Diaconate.”

Concerning the latter – “diaconate” – changes were made by Pope Benedict XVI in 2009 in the Motu Proprio Omnium in mentem, considerably reforming canons 1008 and 1009: The text of canon 1008 of the Code of Canon Law is modified so that hereafter it will read: “By divine institution, some of the Christian faithful are marked with an indelible character and constituted as sacred ministers by the sacrament of holy orders. They are thus consecrated and deputed so that, each according to his own grade, they may serve the People of God by a new and specific title”; Henceforth canon 1009 of the Code of Canon Law will have three paragraphs. In the first and the second of these, the text of the canon presently in force are to be retained, whereas the new text of the third paragraph is to be worded so that can. 1009 §3 will read: “Those who are constituted in the order of the episcopate or the presbyterate receive the mission and capacity to act in the person of Christ the Head, whereas deacons are empowered to serve the People of God in the ministries of the liturgy, the word and charity”1.

1 BENEDICT XVI, “Litterae Apostolicae Motu Proprio datae. Quaedam in Codice iuris canonici immutantur. Omnium in mentem”, 26 October 2009, AAS, 102/1(2010), 8-10. See: http://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/apost_letters/documents/hf_ben-xvi_ apl_20091026_codex-iuris-canonici.html.

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Some authors deplored the fact that deacons from now onwards are expected “to serve the people of God in the diaconate of the liturgy, the word and charity”, while priests and bishops “receive the mission and faculty to act in the person of Christ the head2”. Other more optimistic researchers view this description as offering new opportunities for the female permanent diaconate3. Only for baptized men Up to now, canon law remained clear as to the question of who can and may be ordained. Without distinguishing between the different orders, the current Code states in canon 1024: “Only a baptized man can validly receive sacred ordination.”

Clearly, the Code of Canon law of 1983 doesn’t tell us anything new, as a comparison with the CIC 17 illustrates: Canon 968 §1 CIC 17: “Only a baptized male validly receives sacred ordination…”.

A similar position is present in several doctrinal and disciplinary texts by popes or by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith before and after the Code of 19834. The theological reasons for reserving ordination to men has already been explained in detail by many popes and by Pope John-Paul II in particular. 2. OFFICIAL DOCTRINE AND CHURCH DOCUMENTS Without thoroughly analysing all documents on the position of women in de Church it remains important to take into consideration the underlying 2 See : https://www.ncronline.org/news/vatican/canon-law-changes-deacons-somemarriages. 3 M. ECKHOLT, “Neue Bewegung in der Frage nach dem Frauendiakonat”, Theologisch-Praktische Quartalschrift, 165(2017), 266-275. 4 See for example: CONGREGATION FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH, “Inter Insigniores. Declaratio circa quaestionem admissionis mulierum ad sacerdotium ministeriale”, AAS, 69(1977), 98-116. JOHN PAUL II, “Encyclical letter Redemptoris Mater”, AAS, 79(1987), 424-425; JOHN PAUL II, “Apsotolic Letter Mulieris Dignitatem”, AAS, 80(1988), 1653-1729; JOHN PAUL II, “Apostolic Exhortation Chistifideles laici”, AAS, 81 (1989), 393-521; JOHN PAUL II, “Catechism of the Catholic Church”, (1992): http://www.vatican.va/ archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM.

WOMEN AND THE DIACONATE

3

theological reasoning and doctrinal argumentation. The Declaration of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) Inter Insigniores, gives an adequate summary of the doctrinal concerns with regard to the ordination of woman5. Inter Insigniores (1976)6 In 1976 the Congregation for the Doctrine acknowledged that changing times and sensitivities give rise to increased demands: “Since in our time women have an ever more active share in the whole life of society, it is very important that they participate more widely also in the various sectors of the Church’s apostolate”.

The congregation recalled 6 reasons why priestly ordination of women is impossible: 1) The Church’s Enduring Tradition: – the Catholic Church has never felt that priestly or episcopal ordination can be validly conferred on women, except for a few heretical sects (Gnostic) in the first centuries, immediately noted and condemned by the Fathers; – by calling only men to the priestly Order and ministry in its true sense, the Church intends to remain faithful to the type of ordained ministry willed by the Lord Jesus Christ and carefully maintained by the Apostles. 2) The Attitude of Christ: – in the case of women, Jesus Christ did not conform to the customs of his time, since his attitude towards women was quite different from that of his entourage, with which he deliberately and courageously broke (e.g. the Samaritan woman, Jn 4:27); – women were the first to have the privilege of seeing the risen Lord, and the incomparable role of his Mother is emphasized by the Gospels of Luke and John – Nevertheless Jesus Christ did not call any women to become part of the Twelve. 5 “Inter Insigniores. Declaratio circa quaestionem admissionis mulierum ad sacerdotium ministeriale”, AAS, 69(1977), 98-116. 6 “Inter Insigniores. Declaratio circa quaestionem admissionis mulierum ad sacerdotium ministeriale”, AAS, 69(1977), 98-116; See Rik TORFS, “De vrouw en het kerkelijk ambt, analyse in functie van de mensenrechten in Kerk & Staat”, Leuven, Acco, 1985, 271p., Hildegard WARNINK, “Women in Canon Law and Catholic Theology”, Daimon. Annuario di diritto comparato delle religioni, Daimon, Il Mulino, 9(2009), 41-64.

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3) The Practice of the Apostles: – in spite of the paramount role played by women on the day of the Resurrection, their collaboration was not extended by St. Paul to the official and public proclamation of the message, since this proclamation belongs exclusively to the apostolic mission. – St. Paul writes “My fellow workers” (Rom. 16:3; Phil 4:2-3) when referring to men and women helping him in his apostolate in one way or another; but he reserves the title of ‘God’s fellow workers’ (1 Cor. 3-9; 1 Thess 3:2) to those who are directly set apart for the apostolic ministry and the preaching of the Word of God (Apollos, Timothy and himself). 4) Permanent Value of the Attitude of Jesus and the Apostles: – in the final analysis it is the Church through the voice of the Magisterium, that decides what can change and what must remain immutable. Her attitude is not one of archaism but of fidelity. – the fact of conferring priestly ordination on men only is a question of unbroken tradition throughout history. It is considered to be in conformity with God’s plan for his Church. 5) The Ministerial Priesthood in the Light of the Mystery of Christ: – a priest does not act in his own name (in persona propria) but represents Christ (he acts in persona Christi). A “natural resemblance” must exist between Christ and his minister. If the role of Christ were not taken by a man, it would be difficult to see in the minister the image of Christ. For Christ himself was and remains a man. 6) The Ministerial Priesthood Illustrated by the Mystery of the Church: – the fact that some women feel that they have a vocation for the priesthood is noble and understandable, but this does not suffice for a genuine vocation. In fact, a vocation cannot be reduced to a mere personal attraction… – The real equality of the baptized is reaffirmed, but according to Inter Insignores equality is in no way identity, the roles are distinct, and must not be confused; In this Declaration the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith emphasizes that the Church desires Christian women to become more fully aware of the greatness of their mission; today their role is of capital importance, both for the renewal and humanization of society and for the rediscovery of believers of the true face of the Church.

WOMEN AND THE DIACONATE

5

Conciliar documents During the Second Vatican Council the Council Fathers insisted on equality between men and women7: LG 32: “There is, therefore, in Christ and in the Church no inequality on the basis of race or nationality, social condition or sex, because “there is neither Jew nor Greek: there is neither bond nor free: there is neither male nor female. For you are all ‘one’ in Christ Jesus” GS 29: “Since all men possess a rational soul and are created in God’s likeness, since they have the same nature and origin, have been redeemed by Christ and enjoy the same divine calling and destiny, the basic equality of all must receive increasingly greater recognition.”

However, the conciliar texts reserve enough space for some forms of inequal treatment. A distinction is made between priesthood and the diaconate, the latter being open to both married and unmarried individuals, albeit only men: LG 29: “Since these duties, so very necessary to the life of the Church, can be fulfilled only with difficulty in many regions in accordance with the discipline of the Latin Church as it exists today, the diaconate can in the future be restored as a proper and permanent rank of the hierarchy. It pertains to the competent territorial bodies of bishops, of one kind or another, with the approval of the Supreme Pontiff, to decide whether and where it is opportune for such deacons to be established for the care of souls. With the consent of the Roman Pontiff, this diaconate can, in the future, be conferred upon men of more mature age, even upon those living in the married state. It may also be conferred upon suitable young men, for whom the law of celibacy must remain intact.”

The equality principle ordination of women to the diaconate, however, is never at stake. Catechism (1992) In 1992 the Catechism of the Catholic Church confirmed the existing doctrine. Answering the question “Who can receive the Sacrament of Holy Orders?” the Catechism proclaimed in 19928: “Only a baptized man (vir) validly receives sacred ordination.” The Lord Jesus chose men (viri) to form the college of the twelve apostles, and the 7 Dogmatic Constitution Lumen Gentium, 32: http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19641121_lumen-gentium_en.html. 8 Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1577: http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_ INDEX.HTM.

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apostles did the same when they chose collaborators to succeed them in their ministry. The college of bishops, with whom the priests are united in the priesthood, makes the college of the twelve an ever-present and everactive reality until Christ’s return. The Church recognizes herself to be bound by this choice made by the Lord himself. For this reason, the ordination of women is not possible.

Although the question envisages all “holy Orders” the answer seems to focus on priests and bishops only. Both categories are explicitly mentioned. Yet, the final sentence excludes women from all ordinations, including the ordination to the diaconate. Ordinatio Sacerdotalis (1994) And last but not least, the Apostolic Letter Ordinatio Sacerdotalis9 of 22nd of May 1994 definitively tried to solve all present and future questions concerning the ambitions and possibilities of women regarding priesthood. It stated, more strongly than ever before: – that it is impossible for the Church to allow women to priestly ordination (the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination upon women); – that the zzexclusive privilege of men belongs to the divine ordination itself (a matter which pertains to the Church’s divine constitution itself); and that this point of view must definitively be believed by all the faithful. The text of the vital fourth point of the Ordinatio Sacerdotalis reads as follows: “Wherefore, in order that all doubt may be removed regarding a matter of great importance, a matter which pertains to the Church’s divine constitution itself, in virtue of my ministry of confirming the brethren (cf. Lk 22:32) I declare that the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women and that this judgment is to be definitively held by all the Church’s faithful10.”

9

John Paul II, “Apsotolic Letter “Ordinatio Sacerdotalis”, AAS, 86(1994), 545-548. Original text: “Ut igitur omne dubium auferatur circa rem magni momenti, quae ad ipsam Ecclesiae divinam constitutionem pertinet, virtute ministerii Nostri confirmandi fratres (cf. Lc 22, 32), declaramus Ecclesiam facultatem nullatenus habere ordinationem sacerdotalem mulieribus conferendi, hancque sententiam ab omnibus Ecclesiae fidelibus esse definitive tenendam”, see “Ordinatio Sacerdotalis”, AAS, 86(1994), 545-548. English translation of Ordinatio Sacerdotalis see: http://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/ apost_letters/1994/documents/hf_jp-ii_apl_19940522_ordinatio-sacerdotalis.html. 10

WOMEN AND THE DIACONATE

7

This Apostolic Letter, signed by Pope John Paul II, clarified, that ordination to the priesthood is not open to women, “in order that all doubt may be removed regarding a matter of great importance”. The ordained priesthood, as distinct from the “priesthood of all believers”, was intentionally established by Christ himself and transcends time and cultures. Hence the Church “is not free” to change it. Response of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (1995) On the 28th of October 1995, in response to a dubium concerning Ordinatio sacerdotalis, Cardinal Ratzinger, as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, reconfirmed the impossibility to confer priestly ordination upon women11: “Dubium:

Whether the teaching that the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women, which is presented in the Apostolic Letter Ordinatio sacerdotalis to be held definitively, is to be understood as belonging to the deposit faith.

Responsum: Affirmative. This teaching requires definitive assent, since, founded on the written Word of God, and from the beginning constantly preserved and applied in the Tradition of the Church, it has been set forth infallibly by the ordinary and universal Magisterium (cf. Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium 25, 2). Thus, in the present circumstances, the Roman Pontiff, exercising his proper office of confirming the brethren (cf. Lk 22:32), has handed on this same teaching by a formal declaration, explicitly stating what is to be held always, everywhere, and by all, as belonging to the deposit of the faith.”

Canonical penalties The answer given by Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith entails serious canonical consequences12. 11 CONGREGATION FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH, Response to questioning concerning the Teaching Contained in Ordinatio Sacerdotalis, October 28, 1995: J. RATZINGER and T. BERTONE, Acta Congregationum, Congregatio pro Doctrina Fidei, Responsio ad propositum dubium, Responsum ad dubium circa doctrinam in Epist. Ap. “Ordinatio Sacerdotalis traditam”, AAS, 87(1995), 1114. 12 See: B. Ferme, “The Response (28 October 1995) of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to the dubium concerning the Apostolic Letter Ordinatio Sacerdotalis 22 May1994: Authority and Significance”, Periodica, 85(1996), 689-727.

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1) Obstinate denial or obstinate doubt A stronger imposed doctrinal truth is hardly conceivable. Since Ordinatio Sacerdotalis, prohibition to ordain women, belonging to the deposit of the faith, falls under the scope of what canon 750 describes as: “what one must believe with divine and Catholic faith”. The problem however remains that the “final closing of the discussion” means that those who obstinately continue to discuss, make a fatal mistake and run the risk of becoming heretics. We must be brave enough to recognise the consequences of the discussion conducted today. Is it not so that, with an open debate and intellectual honesty, we could be opting for heresy? Canon 751 says: “Heresy is the obstinate denial or obstinate doubt after the reception of baptism of some truth which is to be believed by divine and Catholic faith; apostasy is the total repudiation of the Christian faith; schism is the refusal of submission to the Supreme Pontiff or of communion with the members of the Church subject to him.

And canon 1364 §1 stipulates: “A heretic, incurs a latae sententiae excommunication…”.

2) Sanctioning the Holy Ordination of a Woman 13 Despite the existing punishment for the “obstinate denial or obstinate doubt of some truth which is to be believed by divine and Catholic faith”, a completely new crime saw the light of day in 2007, namely the attempt to ordain a woman. For the first time this attempt became a crime and thus punishable. Previously it did not even figure on the list of more serious delicts reserved to the CDF as promulgated on 30 April 2001 by pope John Paul II in his Motu Proprio “Sacramentorum Sanctitatis Tutela”14. The CDF promulgated a new administrative General Decree making any attempt at ordaining women punishable. This decree was published in L’Osservatore Romano on 30 May 2008, and was applicable from that day onwards15. 13 I. MALLEMS, De sanctionering van de poging tot wijding van een vrouw in het kerkelijk recht, Leuven, Masterproof, 2019, 3-9. 14 JOHN PAUL II, Motu proprio Sacramentorum Sanctitatis Tutela, 30 april 2001, AAS, 93(2001), 737-739. 15 CONGREGATION FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH, “Decretum generale: “De delicto attentatae sacrae ordinationis mulieris”, 19 december 2007, AAS 100(2008), 403: “Congregatio pro Doctrina Fidei, ad naturam et validitatem sacramenti sacri ordinis tuendam, vigore specialis facultatis sibi a suprema Ecclesiae auctoritate in casu tributae (cfr. can. 30 Codicis Iuris Canonici), in Congregatione Ordinaria diei 19 Decembris 2007, decrevit: Firmo praescripto

WOMEN AND THE DIACONATE

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GENERAL DECREE regarding the delict of attempted sacred ordination of a woman In order to protect the nature and validity of the sacrament of order, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, in virtue of the special faculty given by the supreme authority of the Church (cf. can. 30, Code of Canon Law), in the Ordinary Session of 19 December 2007, has decreed: Without prejudice to the prescript of can. 1378 of the Code of Canon Law, both the one who attempts to confer a sacred order on a woman, and the woman who attempts to receive a sacred order, incur an excommunication latae sententiae reserved to the Apostolic See. If, in fact, the one who attempts to confer a sacred order on a woman, or the woman who attempts to receive a sacred order, is one of Christ’s faithful subjects to the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, that person, without prejudice to the prescript of can. 1443 of the same Code, is to be punished with a major excommunication, the remission of which is also reserved to the Apostolic See (cf. can. 1423, Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches)16.

On 21 May 2010 the same decree, yet with tougher penalties, was included as article 5 among the norms concerning the graver delicts reserved to the CDF 17. More severe penalties are currently foreseen, both for the minister of the sacrament and for the woman, which means latae sententiae excommunication reserved to the Apostolic See. Moreover, in case the minister is a cleric, he can be removed from the clerical state. Art 5: “The graver delict of the attempted sacred ordination of a woman is also reserved to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith: can. 1378 Codicis Iuris Canonici, tum quicumque sacrum ordinem mulieri conferre, tum mulier quae sacrum ordinem recipere attentaverit, in excommunicationem latae sententiae Sedi Apostolicae reservatam incurrit. Si vero qui mulieri sacrum ordinem conferre vel mulier quae sacrum ordinem recipere attentaverit, christifidelis fuerit Codici Canonum Ecclesiarum Orientalium subiectus, firmo praescripto can. 1443 eiusdem Codicis, excommunicatione maiore puniatur,cuius remissio etiam reservatur Sedi Apostolicae (cfr. can. 1423 Codicis Canonum Ecclesiarum Orientalium). Hoc decretum cum in L’Osservatore Romano evulgabitur, statim vigere incipiet.” 16 http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/doc_dis_index.htm. 17 CONGREGATION FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH, “Normae de delictis contra fidem necnon de gravioribus delictis, 21 mei 2010, AAS, 102(2010), 419-434: “Congregationi pro Doctrina Fidei reservatur quoque delictum gravius attentatae sacrae ordinationis mulieris: 1º firmo praescripto can. 1378 Codicis Iuris Canonici, tum qui sacrum ordinem conferre attentaverit tum mulier quae sacrum ordinem recipere attentaverit, in excommunicationem latae sententiae Sedi Apostolicae reservatam incurrit; 2º si vero qui mulieri sacrum ordinem conferre vel mulier quae sacrum ordinem recipere attentaverit, christifidelis fuerit Codici Canonum Ecclesiarum Orientalium subiectus, firmo praescripto can. 1443 eiusdem Codicis, excommunicatione maiore puniatur, cuius remissio etiam reservatur Sedi Apostolicae; 3º si vero reus sit clericus dimissione vel depositione puniri poterit.

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1° With due regard for can. 1378 of the Code of Canon Law, both the one who attempts to confer sacred ordination on a woman, and she who attempts to receive sacred ordination, incurs a latae sententiae excommunication reserved to the Apostolic See. 2° If the one attempting to confer sacred ordination, or the woman who attempts to receive sacred ordination, is a member of the Christian faithful subject to the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, with due regard for can. 1443 of that Code, he or she is to be punished by major excommunication reserved to the Apostolic See. 3° If the guilty party is a cleric he may be punished by dismissal or deposition.18”

Canon 1024 CIC 1983 does not make a distinction between the various forms of ordination. The current penalties are the same for the ordination to both the priesthood and the diaconate. 3. RECENT EVOLUTION DIACONATE

IN THE

DEBATE

CONCERNING

WOMAN

AND THE

Notwithstanding the firmness of Ordinatio sacerdotalis with regard to forbidding the ordination to the priesthood of women, voices argue worldwide in favour of accepting women to the permanent diaconate. Also, within the walls of the Vatican, both research and dialogue continue. International Theological Commission (CTI) The International Theological Commission, created 50 years ago in 1969 by pope Paul VI, advises the Magisterium of the Church, particularly the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. They have explored topics like: “the Priestly Ministry” (1970), “religious pluralism (1972), “liberation theology” (1976). At the request of the CDF, the CTI also examined the possibility that women could be ordained to the diaconate. After a study of 5 years the following declaration was issued in 2002: …the Commission’s study has not concluded that the possibility that women could be ordained to the diaconate remains open, as asserted by La Croix, but rather tends to support the exclusion of this possibility. 18

http://www.vatican.va/resources/resources_norme_en.html.

WOMEN AND THE DIACONATE

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…the Commission’s study reaffirmed the unity of the sacrament of Holy Orders. The distinction between the ministry of bishops and priests, on the one hand, and that of deacons, on the other hand, is nonetheless embraced within the unity of the sacrament of Holy Orders. The commission’s reaffirmation of this teaching arose from a careful study of the ecclesial tradition, of the documents of the Second Vatican Council, and of the postconciliar Magisterium of the Church19.”

The ad hoc commission on the female deaconate with CTI and the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (2016) During their May audience in 2016, the worldwide leaders of women’s religious congregations (UISG) suggested the pope establish a Commission to study the role of women deacons in the early church’s life and ministry, in an effort to see if this role might be fruitfully re-established in today’s context20. On the 2nd of Augustus of the same year Pope Francis appointed a new International Theological ad hoc Commission focussing on the historical facts concerning women deacons in the Church during the first millennium. Contrary to the previous commission, the current one maintains full parity between men and women. In their contributions to this book, my colleagues Pottier and Zagano will report on the work and progress of this committee, which they themselves are members of. The aim of this commission was not to investigate a possible acceptance of female deacons, but to examine the question whether historically there was an ordination to the diaconate in the sense we understand the sacrament of ordination today. To put it in yet in another way: was there a true ordination (ordinatio), or just a blessing (benedictio)21? In order for an ordination to be valid, the laying on of hands is required as well as a prayer of ordination prescribed by liturgical books. The commission finalised its findings and submitted its report to the pope in June 201822. On 10 May 2019 the pope was present in the final plenary assembly of the UISG in Rome. However, no agreement has been reached on the question whether female deacons did indeed receive the same ordination as their male colleagues. Another issue of debate is the general character 19 Georges COTTIER o.p., http://www.vatican.va/cgi-bin/w3-msql/news_services/ bulletin/news/12074.html?index=12074&po_date=17.10.2002&lang=sp. 20 https://www.ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/global-sisters-group-thanks-franciscreating-commission-women-deacons. 21 www.kerknet.be, 2 August 2016. 22 www.kerknet.be, 18 December 2018.

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of the practice. The pope has allowed further research. It is our wish to contribute to that research with this symposium and publication. Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation on the Amazon Region Querida Amazonia (2020) Sadly, at the last minute in the preparation of our symposium, and against all odds, the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation on the Amazon Region Querida Amazonia23 on 12 February 2020 did not bring the hoped-for breakthrough. The pope recognizes the indispensable commitment of women for the future of the church: Nr. 101: “Women make their contribution to the Church in a way that is properly theirs, by making present the tender strength of Mary, the Mother. As a result, we do not limit ourselves to a functional approach, but enter instead into the inmost structure of the Church. In this way, we will fundamentally realize why, without women, the Church breaks down…”

Women have a central part to play, should have access to positions in the Church but outside Holy Orders: Nr. 100: “…it would lead us to clericalize women, diminish the great value of what they have already accomplished, and subtly make their indispensable contribution less effective.” Nr. 103: “In a synodal Church, those women who in fact have a central part to play in Amazonian communities should have access to positions, including ecclesial services, that do not entail Holy Orders and that can better signify the role that is theirs.”

CONCLUDING REMARKS The Second Vatican Council restored the diaconate as a permanent vocation, noting men already functioned as deacons and arguing: “it is only right to strengthen them by the imposition of hands that they may carry out their ministry more effectively because of the sacramental grace of the diaconate.” We can only conclude that today many women function in the way deacons do. Maybe it is time to lay hands on them to ordain them formally and officially24. 23

https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2020/02/12/200212c.

html. 24

See also: http://catholicwomendeacons.org/commissionwatch.

WOMEN AND THE DIACONATE

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Openness within the church to female deacons could have been a first step in unlocking the ordination discussion, which in turn could have opened up a new future for the church. We will, however, not give up studying and discussing the topic. Neither will we give up hope. Let us start this debate with the words of St. Pauls’s letter to the Romans 16:125: “I commend to you Phoebe, our sister, being [also] a diakonos of the church at Cenchreae, in order that you may welcome her in the Lord as is fitting for the saints, and help her in whatever she may require from you; for she has been a benefactor of many and of myself as well.” Συνίστημι δὲ ὑμῖν Φοίβην τὴν ἀδελφὴν ἡμῶν, οὖσαν [καὶ] διάκονον τῆς ἐκκλησίας τῆς ἐν Κεγχρεαῖς, ἵνα αὐτὴν προσδέξησθε ἐν κυρίῳ ἀξίως τῶν ἁγίων καὶ παραστῆτε αὐτῇ ἐν ᾧ ἂν ὑμῶν χρῄζῃ πράγματι· καὶ γὰρ αὐτὴ προστάτις πολλῶν ἐγενήθη καὶ ἐμοῦ αὐτοῦ.

25

Translation from Greek by Reimund Bieringer.

EXEGETICAL PERSPECTIVE WOMEN AND WOMEN DEACONS IN THE NEW TESTAMENT REIMUND BIERINGER INTRODUCTION The Second Vatican Council states in 1964 in the words of Lumen Gentium 29: “At a lower level of the hierarchy are deacons, upon whom hands are imposed ‘not unto the priesthood, but unto a ministry of service.’ For strengthened by sacramental grace, in communion with the bishop and his group of priests they serve in the diaconate of the liturgy, of the word, and of charity to the people of God.”1 In his 2009 “Motu Proprio” Omnium in mentem, Pope Benedict XVI adapted the Codex Iuris Canonici of his predecessor in can. 1008 and 1009 concerning the deacons: “Art. 1. The text of can. 1008 of the Code of Canon Law is modified so that hereafter it will read: ‘By divine institution, some of the Christian faithful are marked with an indelible character and constituted as sacred ministers by the sacrament of holy orders. They are thus consecrated and deputed so that, each according to his own grade, they may serve the People of God by a new and specific title’; Art 2. Henceforth can. 1009 of the Code of Canon Law will have three paragraphs. In the first and the second of these, the text of the canon presently in force are to be retained, whereas the new text of the third paragraph is to be worded so that can. 1009 §3 will read: ‘Those who are constituted in the order of the episcopate or the presbyterate receive the mission and capacity to act in the person of Christ the Head, whereas deacons are empowered to serve the People of God in the ministries of the liturgy, the word and charity’.”2

1 Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium, https://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_ const_19641121_lumen-gentium_en.html (access: 5 February 2020). 2 Benedict XVI, Apostolic Letter “Motu Proprio” Omnium in mentem on several amendments to the Code of Canon Law, http://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/ apost_letters/documents/hf_ben-xvi_apl_20091026_codex-iuris-canonici.html

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To illustrate the change, we give both texts in a synopsis: CIC 1008-1009 (1983)

CIC 1008-1009 (2010)

Can. 1008 – Sacramento ordinis ex divina institutione inter christifideles quidam, charactere indelebili quo signantur, constituuntur sacri ministri, qui nempe consecrantur et deputantur ut, pro suo quisque gradu, in persona Christi munera docendi, sanctificandi et regendi adimplentes, Dei populum pascant.

Can. 1008 – Sacramento ordinis ex divina institutione inter christifideles quidam, charactere indelebili quo signantur, constituuntur sacri ministri, qui nempe consecrantur et deputantur ut, pro suo quisque gradu, novo et peculiari titulo Dei populo inserviant.

Can. 1009 – § 1. Ordines sunt episcopatus, presbyteratus et diaconatus.

Can. 1009 – § 1. Ordines sunt episcopatus, presbyteratus et diaconatus.

§ 2. Conferuntur manuum impositione et precatione consecratoria, quam pro singulis gradibus libri liturgici praescribunt.

§ 2. Conferuntur manuum impositione et precatione consecratoria, quam pro singulis gradibus libri liturgici praescribunt. Qui constituti sunt in ordine episcopatus aut presbyteratus missionem et facultatem agendi in persona Christi Capitis accipiunt, diaconi vero vim populo Dei serviendi in diaconia liturgiae, verbi et caritatis.

These quotes summarize the current official teaching of the RomanCatholic Church on deacons. The mixed reactions with which Omnium in mentem met from the side of many theologians3, also reflect that fragile status which still characterizes the theology of the diaconate in magisterial teaching.

3 Cf. Manfred Hauke, Der Diakonat und das Handeln in persona Christi capitis. Randbemerkungen zum Motuproprio Omnium in mentem, in Forum Katholische Theologie 26 (2010) 191-205 and Peter Hünermann, Anmerkungen zum Motu proprio  »Omnium in mentem«, in Theologische Quartalschrift 190 (2010) 116-129. See also the literature in the extended note in Stephan Haering, Wilhelm Rees & Heribert Schmitz (eds.), Handbuch des katholischen Kirchenrechts, 3., vollständig neu bearbeitete Auflage, Regensburg: Pustet, 2015, 394, n. 25. See also Manfred Hauke & Helmut Hoping (eds.), Der Diakonat. Geschichte und Theologie, Regensburg: Pustet, 2019, 235-236, esp. 235, n. 28.

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We realize on the basis of these official texts that today the diaconate in the Roman-Catholic Church is part of the sacrament of holy orders “at a lower level of the hierarchy”. Being a deacon consists of “the ministries of the liturgy, the word and charity” and for the past 10 years deacons are no longer considered to act “the person of Christ the Head”, but rather “to serve the People of God”. This change of the Vatican II theology as expressed in the CIC of 1983, while deplored in some ways, has also been seen as a door that was opened for the admission of women to the diaconate.4 In this study we shall focus on what the New Testament can contribute to the question whether women may be ordained deacons or not. We shall proceed in three steps, looking first at the New Testament grammatical evidence of women διάκονοι, second analysing the semantics of the διακον-terminology in order to have a better idea of what διάκονοι are in the New Testament texts, and third discussing the hermeneutical question what women διάκονοι of the New Testament can tell us about women deacons today. In everyone of the three steps we need to keep in mind that consciously and even more so unconsciously our understanding will be influenced or coloured by our own experience of what it is to be a deacon. 1. EVIDENCE OF WOMEN ΔΙΑΚΟΝΟΙ IN THE NEW TESTAMENT: AN EXERCISE IN GRAMMAR In this first subsection we shall look at the linguistic evidence with a special focus on the grammar. In the three parts of this subsection, we shall focus on the three texts which are most relevant to our discussion, Phil 1:1; Rom 16:1-2 and 1 Tim 3:11. We shall begin with two texts from the undisputed Pauline letters, namely Phil 1:1 and Rom 16:1-2. The we shall discuss more potential evidence in the disputed Paulines letters, more specifically in 1 Tim 3:11. 1.1. The (Women?) διάκονοι in Phil 1:1 The Letter to the Philippians begins with a small surprise: Παῦλος καὶ Τιμόθεος δοῦλοι Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ πᾶσιν τοῖς ἁγίοις ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ 4 Cf. Margit Eckholt, Neue Bewegung in der Frage nach dem Frauendiakonat, in Theologisch-Praktische Quartalschrift 165 (2017) 266-275, 268, esp. n 6 and the literature mentioned there.

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τοῖς οὖσιν ἐν Φιλίπποις σὺν ἐπισκόποις καὶ διακόνοις. Paul and Timothy, who are qualified as “slaves of Christ Jesus” address their letter to “all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi”; and then comes the surprise: σὺν ἐπισκόποις καὶ διακόνοις.5 ἐπίσκοποι and διάκονοι are mentioned here without any further comment or qualification, and they are clearly distinguished from the others within the “saints” in Philippi.6 For this reason most interpreters understand the terms in Phil 1:1 as referring to an office.7 This is the only undisputed Pauline letter in which ἐπίσκοποι and διάκονοι are mentioned among the addresses. In fact, this is the only place in the undisputed Paulines where ἐπίσκοπος occurs; and it is used in the plural. In the disputed Pauline letters, it is found in 1 Tim 3:2 (cf. 3:1-7) and in Tit 1:7, but each time in the singular. 1 Timothy 3:2-7 contains a list of qualifications of the ἐπίσκοπος, but nothing is said about his competences or tasks. We have no way of knowing whether ἐπίσκοποι in Philippians and ἐπίσκοπος in 1 Timothy and Titus refer to the same function or office. The noun διάκονος is more frequent than ἐπίσκοπος both in the undisputed and in the disputed Pauline letters. But it occurs in a variety of meanings. The absolute use of διάκονος without any further qualifications only occurs in Phil 1:1 and in 1 Tim 3:8.12. But again we are not certain whether in both letters it has the same meaning. The reason why we bring up Phil 1:1 in a study on women διάκονοι is that there is evidence of the feminine use of the noun διάκονος to begin with Paul himself. In Rom 13:3-4 Paul uses διάκονος in reference to ἐξουσία on which BDAG comments “here understood as a fem. noun”8. BDAG then lists Heraclitus Stoicus, Homeric Problems 298 and “of abstractions Epict. 2, 23,8; 3, 7, 28”. The lemma in LSJ refers to 5

E. Best, Bishops and Deacons: Philippians 1,1, in F.L. Cross (ed.), Studia Evangelica 4 (TU 102), vol. 102, Berlin: Akademie, 1968, 371-376; Raymond E. Brown, Episkopê and Episkopos: The New Testament Evidence, in Theological Studies 41 (1980) 322-338, 334. 6 With Best, Bishops and Deacons, 372-373 we opt for the inclusive sense of σύν: “‘to all the saints, including the bishops and deacons’” (372). 7 Most modern versions that we consulted use “deacon” or the equivalent as the translation. See also Lohfink, Weibliche Diakone, 326: “In Phil 1,1 … handelt es sich klar und eindeutig um schon verfestigte Amtsbezeichnungen.” However, Lohfink does not make any attempt to give reasons for this position. 8 BDAG s.v. διάκονος, p. 230. Also Bauer-Aland, s.v. διάκονος. 9 Donald A. Russell & David Konstan (eds.), Heraclitus: Homeric Problems (Society of Biblical Literature: Writings from the Greco-Roman World, 14), Atlanta, GA: Society of Biblical Literature, 2005, 54: … ἀφροσύνην, ἣ μεσίτης ἐστὶ καὶ διἀκονος ἀεὶ μειρακιώδους ἐπιθυμίας.

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Aristophanes’ Ecclesiazusae 1116 (ἡ διάκονος) and Demosthenes’ Against Timocrates 24.197 (διάκονον ... ταύτην) 10 The noun διάκονος belongs to the second declension. The majority of the nouns that belong to this paradigm are masculine. There is, however, a small group of feminine nouns that follow the same paradigm, ὁδός perhaps being the most famous. In addition, there are a few words that have both masculine and feminine forms, as, for instance, συνεργός and ἁμαρτωλός. If Paul knew that διάκονος could also be used as a feminine noun which Rom 13:3-4 seems to suggest, then the occurrence of διάκονος to characterise Phoebe in Rom 16:1 is nothing special, as Paul would only be following the linguistic conventions of his time. In that case, the use of the noun διάκονος for women would not have to be something derived; for it would be possible that women were called διάκονοι before men in earliest Christianity. Another importance consequence of this grammatical point is that when the noun διάκονος occurs in our texts, we cannot, as has mostly been done, automatically assume that it is used with masculine gender. When Paul addresses the ἐπίσκοποι and διάκονοι in Phil 1:1, the διάκονοι could also be or at least include women.11 We need to read Phil 1:1 in light of 4:2-3: “I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. Yes, and I ask you also, my loyal companion, help these women, for they have struggled beside me12 in the work of the gospel, together with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are in the book of life” (Phil 4:2-3).

The importance of women such as Euodia and Syntyche with regard to the gospel suggests that it is not impossible that there might also have been women διάκονοι in Philippi.13

10

See LSJ ad loc. See also Michael Wolter, Der Brief an die Römer (EKK, VI/2), vol. 2: Röm 9-16, Neukirchen/Vluyn – Düsseldorf: Neukirchener Theologie – Patmos, 2018, ad loc. 11 Cf. the translation of Annette Merz, Phöbe, Diakon(in) der Gemeinde von Kenchreä – Eine wichtige Mitstreiterin des Paulus neu entdeckt, in Adelheid M. von Hauff (ed.), Frauen gestalten Diakonie, vol. 1: Von der biblischen Zeit bis zum Pietismus, Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, 2007, 125-140, 125. Already in 1983 Gerhard Lohfink admitted: “Deshalb ist nicht einmal auszuschließen, dass schon unter den διάκονοι von Philippi (vgl. 1,1) Frauen gewesen sein können.” 12 See Dominika Kurek-Chomycz, Fellow Athletes or Fellow Soldiers? συναθλέω in Philippians 1.27 and 4.3, in JSNT 39 (2017) 279-303 who argues that “to strive (together/ side by side)” is the best translation. 13 Cf. Richard G. Fellows & Alistair C. Stewart, Euodia, Syntyche and the Role of Syzygos: Phil 4:2-3, in ZNW 109 (2018) 222-234 who propose that Euodia and Syntyche were among the ἐπίσκοποι in Philippi.

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1.2. The διάκονος Phoebe in Rom 16:1-2 Romans 16 contains the longest list of greetings of any Pauline letter. Paul sends greeting to a long list of women and men. Phoebe is the first the list. Here is what Paul has to say: Rom 16:1-2 N28

NRSV with our adaptations

Συνίστημι δὲ ὑμῖν Φοίβην τὴν ἀδελφὴν ἡμῶν, οὖσαν [καὶ] διάκονον τῆς ἐκκλησίας τῆς ἐν Κεγχρεαῖς,

I commend to you Phoebe, our sister, being [also] a/the diakonos of the church at Cenchreae,

ἵνα αὐτὴν προσδέξησθε ἐν κυρίῳ ἀξίως τῶν ἁγίων καὶ παραστῆτε αὐτῇ ἐν ᾧ ἂν ὑμῶν χρῄζῃ πράγματι· καὶ γὰρ αὐτὴ προστάτις πολλῶν ἐγενήθη καὶ ἐμοῦ αὐτοῦ.

in order that you may welcome her in the Lord as is fitting for the saints, and help her in whatever she may require from you; for she has been a benefactor of many

2

and of myself as well.

Romans 16:1-2 is the only Biblical text that refers to Phoebe.14 In these two verses Paul unmistakably and unambiguously speaks about a woman 14 In recent years there has been a large amount of scholarly literature on Phoebe and her role in earliest Christianity. We give a non-exhaustive list since 1983: Gerhard Lohfink, Weibliche Diakone im Neuen Testament, in Gerhard Dautzenberg, Helmut Merklein & Karlheinz Müller (eds.), Die Frau im Urchristentum (QD, 95, Freiburg i. Br.: Herder, 1983, 320-338, here 327-332; Robert Jewett, Paul, Phoebe and the Spanish Mission, in Jacob Neusner & et al. (eds.), The Social World of Formative Christianity and Judaism: FS Howard Clark Kee, Philadelphia, PA: Fortress, 1988, 142-161; J.N. Collins, Diakonia. Re-interpreting the Ancient Sources, New York – Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1990, here 224-225; Kazimierz Romaniuk, Was Phoebe in Romans 16.1 a Deaconess?, in ZNW 81 (1990) 132-134; Caroline F. Whelan, Amica Pauli: The Role of Phoebe in the Early Church, in JSNT 49 (1993) 67-85; Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza, Women in the Pauline Churches, in Janet Martin Soskice & Diana Lipton (eds.), Feminism and Theology, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003, pp. 203-226; Reimund Bieringer, Febe, Prisca en Junia. Vrouwen en leiderschap in de brieven van Paulus, in Frans Van Segbroeck (ed.), Paulus (Verslagboek Vliebergh-Sencie-leergang. Bijbel 2003), Leuven – Voorburg: Vlaamse Bijbelstichting – Acco, 2004, pp. 157-202; Sojung Yoon, Phoebe, A Minister in the Early Christian Church, in Holly E. Hearon (ed.), Distant Voices Drawing Near: Essays in Honor of Antoinette Clark Wire (Michael Glazier Books), Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2004, 19-32; Annette Merz, Im Auftrag der Gemeinde von Kenchreä: Phoebe als Wegbereiterin der Spanienmission, in Bob Becking, Jan A. Wagenaar & Marjo C.A. Korpel (eds.), Tussen Caïro en Jeruzalem. Studies over de Bijbel en haar Context (Utrechtse Theologische Reeks, 53), Utrecht: Faculteit der Godgeleerdheid, Universiteit Utrecht, 2006, 83-97; Reimund Bieringer, Women and Leadership in Romans 16: The Leading Roles of Phoebe, Prisca and Junia in Early Christianity, in EAPR 44 (2007) 221-237 and 316-336; Anni Hentschel,

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διάκονος. This is exactly the same term that Paul uses for himself in 2 Corinthians and for some people against whom he polemicises in 2 Corinthians 10-13 (cf. 11:15 [bis] and 23). διάκονος is one of three terms which Paul uses in these two verses to characterize Phoebe. First she is referred to as our ἀδελφή, most likely a reference to her being a member of the community of those who believe in Jesus Christ. The description of Phoebe as διάκονος is second, and as προστάτις is third. Thus with ἀδελφή and προστάτις Paul uses feminine nouns to refer to this woman. As we have seen above, Rom 13:3-4 seems to be evidence that Paul knew that feminine form of διάκονος. The use of the term διάκονος for women continued for several centuries.15 In the late the second/beginning of the third century, Clement of Alexandria uses the expression γυναῖκες διάκονοι with reference to the women in 1 Tim 3:11.16 Almost a century later the feminine noun διακόνισσα started to be used.17 We also note in Paul’s use of διάκονος in Rom 16:1 that he links the διάκονος with an ἐκκλησία in a particular place, namely Cenchreae, one of the two port cities of Corinth. There is no other διάκονος in the New Testament who is explicitly linked with an ἐκκλησία. The διάκονοι whom Paul addresses in Phil 1:1 are implicitly linked with a group that Paul addresses as “all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi” (Phil 1:1). For a better understanding we need to discuss the Diakonia im Neuen Testament. Studien zur Semantik unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Rolle von Frauen (WUNT, II/226), Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2007, 167-172; Merz, Phöbe, Diakon(in) der Gemeinde von Kenchreä (see n. 9), 2007, 125-140; Robert Jewett, Romans: A Commentary (Hermeneia, Minneapolis MN: Fortress, 2007, 941-948; Marlies Gielen, Frauen als Diakone in paulinischen Gemeinden, in Dietmar W. Winkler (ed.), Diakonat der Frau. Befunde aus biblischer, patristischer, ostkirchlicher, liturgischer und systematischtheologischer Perspektive, Wien: Lit Verlag, 2011, 11-40; Tobias Nicklas, Offices? Roles, Functions, Authorities and Their Ethos in Earliest Christianity: A Look into the World of Pauline Communities, in Walter Homolka & Heinz-Günther Schöttler (eds.), Rabbi – Pastor – Priest: Their Roles and Profiles Through the Ages (Studia Judaica, 64), Berlin – Boston MA: De Gruyter, 2013, 23-40, here 32-34; Corrado Marucci, The “Diaconate” of Phoebe (Rom 16:1-2) According to Modern Exegesis, in Phyllis Zagano (ed.), Women Deacons? Essays with Answers, Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press (A Michael Glazier Book), 2016 (1997), 1-12; Margaret Mowczko, What Did Phoebe’s Position and Ministry as Διάκονος of the Church at Cenchrea Involve?, in Bart J. Koet, Edwina Murphy & Esko Ryökäs (eds.), Deacons and Diakonia in Early Christianity (WUNT, II/479), Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2018, pp. 91-102. 15 Cf. Ute E. Eisen, Women Officeholders in Early Christianity: Epigraphical and Literary Studies, trans. by Linda M. Maloney, Collegeville MN: Liturgical Press, 2000, 158-198 who has an inventory of numerous women who were called διάκονος, in some regions up to the sixth century. 16 Clement of Alexandria, Stromata, 3.6.53. 17 Cf. Whelan, Amica Pauli, 68.

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meaning of the genitive τῆς ἐκκλησίας. The spontaneously assumed meaning in most of the interpretations and translations is an objective genitive. As a διάκονος, Phoebe serves the community at Cenchraea. This understanding works with interpretations of διάκονος as helper, servant and as minister.18 However, the genitive τῆς ἐκκλησίας could also be a subjective genitive or a genitives auctoris. In this case the genitive might express the community that authorises Phoebe to represent it in Rome. This will be discussed below.19 Here we need to pay attention to one other grammatical issue, namely the fact that in Rom 16:1 διάκονος is used anarthrous, i.e., without the definite article. Does this mean that Phoebe is a διάκονος, i.e., one of several or many διάκονοι, in Cenchreae as most translations into modern languages20 suggest? In this case the situation would be the same as in Philippi, where Paul, as we saw above21, mentions διάκονοι in the plural among the addressees. But despite the absence of the definite article, διάκονος might still be correctly translated as “the διάκονος” implying that there was only one διάκονος in that ἐκκλησία. The reason for this is that in Greek the absence of the article does not always correspond to no article or the indefinite article in English, but can also correspond to the definite article. We only mention one parallel instance in the immediate context in Rom 16,5 where ἀπαρχὴ τῆς Ἀσίας εἰς Χριστόν, a phrase where an anarthrous noun is qualified by a noun in the genitive with the definite article, but where the meaning is clearly “the firstfruits” as is also reflected in the modern versions.22 We need to admit, however, that, with the above reasoning, we can only suggest that the translation of anarthrous διάκονος in Rom 16:1 with the definite article is possible, but this does not prove that this is also the most adequate translation. We can only say that we do not know of any other διάκονος of Cenchreae. Phoebe’s qualification as διάκονος is preceded by the “our sister” and followed by “a προστάτις of many”. Here we encounter a text-critical problem. Three textual witnesses, P46, ‫א‬c and B, read καί in front of διάκονος saying that in addition to being “our sister”, i.e., our fellow

18

See below, 38-40. See below, 40-41. 20 See KJV “a servant”, RSV “a deaconess” and NRSV “a deacon”. 21 See above, 17-19. 22 BDF § 252 refers to “the Semitizing omission of the article with nouns followed by a genitive”. See § 259. 19

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believer, Phoebe is also a διάκονος.23 Being “our sister” and being a διάκονος are thus not the same, but are explicitly differentiated from one another in these manuscripts. Here is not the place to discuss the meaning of προστάτις, but recent research has led to a revision of the idea that it refers to a “succourer” (KJV) or “helper” (RSV) in favour of an understanding as a leadership position (cf. the translation “benefactor” in NRSV). This is significant because it implies that Paul admits that he was a recipient of her benefaction, and thus places himself lower than Phoebe in the hierarchy, if a hierarchy is intended. Finally we need to ask how the roles of Phoebe as προστάτις and as διάκονος are related to each other. Are both terms about the same sphere or about different spheres, e.g., διάκονος about the religious and προστάτις about the financial or organizational sphere? Do both terms mean “helper” or are both about strong leadership roles, as much of recent scholarship is proposing? Another grammatical question that we need to discuss is the use of the participle “being” (οὖσαν) with διάκονος. In 16:1 Paul uses the indirect object “to you” and the direct object “Phoebe” with the verb “I commend”. “Phoebe” is qualified by the apposition “our sister”. Instead of adding διάκονον as a second apposition which would have been perfectly possible for Paul and which is how some modern versions24 wrongly represent the text, Paul uses a participial construction with “being”. This grammatical construction puts more emphasis on her being a διάκονος, which is in the same line as the presence of καί in the text in some witnesses. More importantly, it seems that by the addition of the participle, Paul is suggesting that he commends “Phoebe our sister” precisely as a/the διάκονος of the ἐκκλησία that is in Cenchreae. We shall see below why this could be significant. In the immediate context of Romans 16, we need to see Phoebe vis-àvis other prominent women like Prisca who is a colleague/co-worker of Paul in Christ Jesus (16:3) and Junia (16:7) who is prominent among the apostles.25 We also should not forget Tryphaena and Tryphosa26 as well as Persis (all in 16:12) and Mary (16:6) who are all characterized with 23 The latest revision of the Einheitsübersetzung in 2016 reflects this: “die auch Dienerin … ist”. 24 For instance, RSV, NRSV, TOB. 25 See Bieringer, Women and Leadership in Romans 16, 316-321 (Prisca) and 321-328 (Junia). 26 See Dominika Kurek-Chomycz, Tryphaena and Tryphosa: Not too dainty to work hard in the Lord, in L’Osservatore Romano 2018, http://www.osservatoreromano.va/en/ news/tryphena-and-tryphosa (access: 6 February 2020).

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the verb “to labour” (κοπιάω). However, we also need to remember that the fact that Paul mentions other prominent women in the context does not prove anything with regard to Phoebe. Last but not least we need to focus on the first word of Rom 16:1, συνίστημι, “I commend”. This only makes sense, if Phoebe is scheduled to travel to Rome to meet the addressees of the letter to the Romans personally. Epistolary commendations were well known at the time of Paul. In 2 Cor 3:1 Paul claims that he himself does not need “letters of recommendation”. In several places in the letter he commends himself to the Corinthians (4:2; 6:4) or he claims that he does not commend himself (3:1; 5:12). The closest parallel to Rom 16:1 is 2 Cor 6:4 where we read: “but as servants (διάκονοι) of God we have commended ourselves in every way”. Paul commends himself to the Corinthians as διάκονος of God and he commends Phoebe to the saints in Rome as διάκονος of the ἐκκλησία in Cenchreae. Paul is above Phoebe when he commends her, but she is above Paul when she is his benefactor. The result of our second investigation into New Testament evidence of women διάκονοι is as follows: In the person of Phoebe the New Testament witnesses to a woman διάκονος who in the mid-50s of the first century lived in the Corinthian port city of Cenchreae and who was about to travel to Rome ahead of Paul. Phoebe is presented as a fellow believer of Paul and his Roman addressees (cf. “our sister”, thus yours and mine). Here already Paul is trying to establish common ground with the Romans. Phoebe is presented as closely linked to the local ἐκκλησία in Cenchreae. The meaning of the genitive that links them remains unclear and will be further discussed below when we enter into the semantics. Phoebe’s past is presented as her being a προστάτις of many including Paul. Her present is her being a/the διάκονος of the ἐκκλησία in Cenchreae. Her future is that she will travel to Rome and that she has some “business” to accomplish there. With his commendation Paul hopes to influence the future experience of Phoebe in Rome positively. Throughout this discussion we have left the word διάκονος untranslated. We shall only focus on the semantics of this word later. But before that we need to discuss one more potential instance of women διάκονοι. 1.3. Women διάκονοι in 1 Tim 3:11? Another place in the New Testament where διάκονος is used without any specifications and where it might refer to women διάκονοι is found in 1 Timothy 3.

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1 Tim 3:2-7 ἐπίσκοποι

1 Tim 3:8-10.12-13 διάκονοι

1 Tim 3:11 women

δεῖ οὖν τὸν ἐπίσκοπον ἀνεπίλημπτον εἶναι,

8 Διακόνους ὡσαύτως σεμνούς,

11 Γυναῖκας ὡσαύτως σεμνάς,

μιᾶς γυναικὸς ἄνδρα, νηφάλιον σώφρονα κόσμιον φιλόξενον διδακτικόν,

μὴ διλόγους,

μὴ διαβόλους, νηφαλίους, πιστὰς ἐν πᾶσιν.

μὴ πάροινον μὴ πλήκτην, ἀλλ᾽ ἐπιεικῆ ἄμαχον ἀφιλάργυρον,

μὴ οἴνῳ πολλῷ προσέχοντας, μὴ αἰσχροκερδεῖς, 9 ἔχοντας τὸ μυστήριον τῆς πίστεως ἐν καθαρᾷ συνειδήσει. 10 καὶ οὗτοι δὲ δοκιμαζέσθωσαν πρῶτον, εἶτα διακονείτωσαν ἀνέγκλητοι ὄντες.

3

διάκονοι ἔστωσαν μιᾶς γυναικὸς ἄνδρες,

12

τοῦ ἰδίου οἴκου καλῶς προϊστάμενον, τέκνα ἔχοντα ἐν ὑποταγῇ, μετὰ πάσης σεμνότητος

4

τέκνων καλῶς προϊστάμενοι καὶ τῶν ἰδίων οἴκων.

εἰ δέ τις τοῦ ἰδίου οἴκου προστῆναι οὐκ οἶδεν, πῶς ἐκκλησίας θεοῦ ἐπιμελήσεται;,

5

μὴ νεόφυτον, ἵνα μὴ τυφωθεὶς εἰς κρίμα ἐμπέσῃ τοῦ διαβόλου.

6

δεῖ δὲ καὶ μαρτυρίαν καλὴν ἔχειν ἀπὸ τῶν ἔξωθεν, ἵνα μὴ εἰς ὀνειδισμὸν ἐμπέσῃ καὶ παγίδα τοῦ διαβόλου.

7

οἱ γὰρ καλῶς διακονήσαντες βαθμὸν ἑαυτοῖς καλὸν περιποιοῦνται καὶ πολλὴν παρρησίαν ἐν πίστει τῇ ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ.

13

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We also present the English text from NRSV: 1 Tim 3:2-7 ἐπίσκοποι

1 Tim 3:8-10.12-13 διάκονοι

1 Tim 3:11 γυναῖκες

2 Now a bishop (an episkopos) must be above reproach,

8

Deacons (Diakonoi) likewise must be serious,

11 Women (Wives) likewise must be serious,

married only once, temperate, sensible, respectable, hospitable, an apt teacher,

not double-tongued,

not slanderers, but temperate, faithful in all things.

3 not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, and not a lover of money.

not indulging in much wine, not greedy for money; 9 they must hold fast to the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience. 10 And let them first be tested; then, if they prove themselves blameless, let them serve as deacons. 12

Let deacons be married only once, 4

He must manage his own household well, keeping his children submissive and respectful in every way--

and let them manage their children and their households well;

5 for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how can he take care of God’s church? 6

He must not be a recent convert, or he may be puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. 7 Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace and the snare of the devil.

13 for those who serve well as deacons gain a good standing for themselves and great boldness in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.

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1 Timothy 3:1-13 consists of two major consecutive “lists of qualifications”27, the first concerning ἐπίσκοποι (3:2-7), the second concerning διάκονοι (3:8-10.12-13). The two lists of “qualities desirable for” ἐπίσκοποι and διάκονοι have several elements in common: a prohibition of polygamy (“husband of one wife” in 3:2.12), a reference to undesirability of drinking too much alcohol (3:3.8) and a warning against being too focused on money (3:3.8). Both lists also contain a mention of the need for seriousness (3:4 [σεμνότητος].8 [σεμνούς])28 and of managing one’s own household (including one’s children) well (3:4.12). They also have a series of qualities which are specific for each. All mentioned qualities are, however, quite “unspecific”29. Jennifer H. Stiefel concludes: “they in themselves describe a generally virtuous person, not even one of a distinctively Christian stamp.”30 There is one particularly surprising element in the list of qualities of the διάκονοι, namely that in 3:11 there is a verse that refers to women and contains a third, though shorter list. The introduction in 3:11 “γυναῖκας likewise” is parallel to 3:8: “διακόνους likewise”. Both constructions are elliptic and presuppose the verb form δεῖ from 3:2. We demonstrate this in the following table: 1 Tim 3:2

1 Tim 3:8

1 Tim 3:11

δεῖ οὖν

[δεῖ]

[δεῖ]

τὸν ἐπίσκοπον

Διακόνους ὡσαύτως

Γυναῖκας ὡσαύτως

ἀνεπίλημπτον

σεμνούς,

σεμνάς,

εἶναι

[εἶναι]

[εἶναι]

Since the time of the ancient Christian writers, interpreters disagree as to the referent of “women” in 3:11.31 There are essentially three positions. 27 Jennifer H. Stiefel, Women Deacons in 1 Timothy: A Linguistic and Literary Look at ‘Women Likewise ...’ (1 Tim 3.11), in NTS 41 (1995) 442-457, 442; repr in Phyllis Zagano (ed.), Women Deacons? Essays with Answers, Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press (A Michael Glazier Book), 2016 (1995), pp. 13-29. We quote here from the NTS version of 1995. 28 The parallel gets lost in NRSV since it renders μετὰ πάσης σεμνότητος as “respectful in every way”. 29 Stiefel, Women Deacons, 443. 30 Ibid. 31 See, for instance, Lohfink, Weibliche Diakone, 332-334; Barry L. Blackburn, The Identity of the ‘Women’ in 1 Timothy 3.11, in Carroll D. Osburn (ed.), Essays on Women in Earliest Christianity, vol. 1, Joplin, MO: College Press, 1993, pp. 303-319; Lorenz

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γυναῖκας is either interpreted as all the women in the congregation, as wives, or as women deacons (the latter being subdivided into those who consider them helpers of the male deacons and those who are convinced that they have the same office as the male deacons). These positions are also reflected in modern versions of which we present a limited selection in the following table: women (in general?)

wives

women deacons

RSV: “the women”

Luther: “ihre Weiber”

REB: “women in this office”

NAB: “Women”

NBG: “(hun) vrouwen”

TNIV: “women who are deacons”

W95: “de vrouwen”

W78: “hun vrouwen”

NJB: “Women” see note: “probably … deaconesses”

NIV: “their wives” NRSV: “Women”

NRSV: “Or Their wives”

NRSV: “or Women deacons”

The least popular interpretation is that these women are all the women of the congregation. Those who uphold this position need to consider 3:11 out of place in the midst of 3:8-10.12-13, verses that are explicitly about διάκονοι (see διακονείτωσαν in 3:10 and διάκονοι in 3:12).32 The most widespread interpretation is that the “women” are the wives of the διάκονοι.33 The following reasons are put forward for this position as summarized by Stiefel34: The absence of the article with γυναῖκας which is supposedly assuming an implicit antithesis between husbands (implied in διάκονοι) and wives, the place of 3:11 between verses that are about male διάκονοι/deacons, the shortness of the list of qualifications of the γυναῖκες in comparison to what is said about the διάκονοι. In 1976 C.E. Cerling summarized the arguments against identify the γυναῖκας as deacons’ wives in four points which were taken up in many later studies with some variations: (1) 1 Tim 2:9 and 3:8 are understood as demonstrating that ὡσαύτως in 3:11 introduces “a new subject”, Oberlinner, Die Pastoralbriefe. I. Kommentar zum ersten Timotheusbrief (HThK, XI/2), Freiburg – Basel – Wien: Herder, 1994, 139-142; Hentschel, Diakonia im Neuen Testament, 397-404. 32 See J.G. Davies, Deacons, Deaconesses and the Minor Orders in the Patristic Period, in Journal of Ecclesiastical History 14 (1963) 1-15, 2. 33 See, for instance, George W. Knight III, The Pastoral Epistles: A Commentary on the Greek Text, Grand Rapids, MI – Carlisle: Eerdmans – Paternoster, 1992, 170-172; Daniel B. Wallace, May Women be Deacons? A Prelude to Dialogue, in https://bible.org/ article/may-women-be-deacons-prelude-dialogue (access: 5 February 2020). 34 See Stiefel, Women Deacons, 451-452.

EXEGETICAL PERSPECTIVE

29

namely “deaconesses”. (2) The absence of the article with γυναῖκας coupled with the fact that γυναῖκας is not further qualified by a noun in the genitive or by a possessive pronoun makes it unlikely if not impossible that the wives of the διάκονοι are referred to. (3) Since διακόνους ὡσαύτως in 3:8 introduces a parallel but different group to the ἐπίσκοποι in 3:1-7, some scholars consider it significant that no wives of the ἐπίσκοποι are mentioned in the parallel list which supposedly makes it less likely that 3:8-13 mentions wives of the διάκονοι anywhere. (4) The last argument tries to explain why the author used a form of the noun γυνή and not a noun from the διακον-stem. The reasoning is that there was no feminine equivalent of διάκονος yet and that in 3:8-10 the author had just used διάκονος to refer to male deacons. That is why he uses a form of γυνή to speak about women deacons. An increasing number of scholars has thus turned away from the interpretation of the γυναῖκες in 1 Tim 3:11 as women in general and as wives of the deacons. They either consider them as women assisting the male deacons35, mainly in ministering to women, or as women deacons whose ministry is equal to that of the male deacons.36 We return to our analysis of the text before we try to determine our own position on the referent of the γυναῖκες. The list of qualities of the women in 1 Tim 3:11 is significantly shorter and only consists of four qualities. The first one is the adjective σεμνός, ή, όν, on which is also the first mentioned quality of the (presumably male) διάκονοι in 3:8. The word is translated as “serious” or “highly respectable”. The second quality of the women is described with the expression μὴ διαβόλους (“not slanderers”). The same Greek expression is used in Tit 2:3 with regard to older women. In 1 Tim 3:2-3 the noun διάβολος was used in the meaning “slanderer” with regard to people “in the last days”. The second expression mentioned in the list of the διάκονοι in 3:8 is “not double-tongued” which, while not being the same still, is similar in meaning. The third quality mentioned for the women is the adjective νηφάλιος, α, ον which also occurs in the list of the ἐπίσκοποι in the third place in 3:2. The parallel expression in the list of the διάκονοι is “not indulging in much wine”. In the list of the ἐπίσκοποι the same idea 35 See, for instance, Robert M. Lewis, The “Women”of 1 Timothy 3:11, in BibSac 136 (1979) 167-175, here 171-175. 36 See, for instance, C.E. Jr. Cerling, Women Ministers in the New Testament Church?, in JETS 19 (1976) 209-215, 211; Philip H. Towner, The Letters to Timothy and Titus (NICNT, Grand Rapids MI – Cambridge: Eerdmans, 2006, 265-266, n. 28; Jamin Hübner, A Case for Female Deacons, Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2015, esp. 43.

30

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recurs in 3:3 “not a drunkard”. The adjective νηφάλιος, α, ον also occurs in the list of qualities of “elders” in Tit 2:2. The adjective νηφάλιος, α, ον refers to being sober, alcohol-free. The fourth quality for the women is “faithful in all things” which Stiefel suggests can be seen as parallel to “they must hold fast to the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience”.37 We agree with Stiefel’s conclusion: “On the basis only of desirable qualities it would be difficult to distinguish any of the individuals described, whether ἐπίσκοποι, διάκονοι, older women, older men, or the women of 3.11. Thus, while these characteristics do not differentiate the women from the διάκονοι, they are not sufficient, taken alone, to provide a solid ground to argue for the identification of these women as διάκονοι.”38

Stiefel provides in-depth reasoning in favour of understanding the γυναῖκες as women deacons which attempts to dispel the counterarguments raised against the understanding of the women as women διάκονοι. She bases her argument mainly on the “syntactic features of the verse”, such as the absence of the definite article with γυναῖκας, the elliptic construction with the accusative γυναῖκας in parallel to 3:8 and 3:2 as well as the place of 3:11 in the syntactic structure of 3:8-13. Based on the parallel between διακόνους ὡσαύτως in 3:8 and γυναῖκας ὡσαύτως in 3:11, Stiefel suggests that the anarthrous use of the γυναῖκας (cf. also the absence of the article with διακόνους in 3:8) suggests an implied γυναῖκας διακόνους. This would mean that in 3:810 male and female διάκονοι are intended and in 3:11 the focus is exclusively on the female ones. In 3:12 the text continues with a reference to the male deacons who are to be married only to one wife.39 The expression γυναῖκας ὡσαύτως in 3:11 signals a separate group parallel to the διακόνους in 3:8 and to τὸν ἐπίσκοπον in 3:2. The reference to the women in 3:11 is framed by explicit references to the verb διακονέω in 3:10 and the noun διάκονοι in 3:12.40 Admitting that 1 Tim 3:8-13 gives contradictory signals to its readers, Stiefel discusses the possible groups that γυναῖκας might refer to: all the women in the congregation, 37

Stiefel, Women Deacons, 444. Ibid., 445. 39 Ibid., 446-447. 40 See ibid., 454: “… the inclusion of the women in the topic of διάκονοι and their syntactic integration into the passage speak strongly for their status as ministers a spart of the group of διάκονοι. The suggestion that γυναῖκας may function in apposition with an understood διακόνους to specify the female counterparts to the males gives an explanation for the anarthrous noun.” 38

EXEGETICAL PERSPECTIVE

31

the wives of the διάκονοι, “a separate group of women ministering to women”41 and finally “women deacons ministering jointly with men deacons”. Stiefel entertains the idea that the convoluted and implicit way of speaking is a sign that the author of this text is not in agreement with women διάκονοι and therefore refuses to call them that, i.e., resorting to only calling them “women”. Stiefel specifically states: “I would speculate that the author can come to no reason to ban the women deacons, but cannot forbear addressing them, yet will not entitle them forthrightly as deacons.”42 A similar position had already been defended by Lorenz Oberlinner43 who suggests that in 3:11 the author hides the women deacons between the description of the qualifications of the male deacons in 3:8-10 and 12-13.44 From my perspective, this interpretation is, however, not convincing. If the term διακόνους in 3:8 already includes the female διάκονοι which, as we saw above45, is possible grammatically, there is no need to repeat in 3:11 the qualifications mentioned in 3:8-10. If it was not yet clear that διακόνους in 3:8 refers to men only, this conclusion becomes inescapable in 3:11 with the use of the word γυναῖκας and the presentation of a parallel list. Moreover, if 3:11 refers to the women διάκονοι, the sudden and unannounced switch back to the male διάκονοι who are to be “husbands of one wife” (3:12) would be strange.46 The switch in 3:12 back to the male διάκονοι seems more natural when 3:11 already speaks about the wives of deacons who are then addressed in the way the relate to the male deacons (3:12). In that case there is a real continuity. This would also square better with the fact that the list of qualities of the women is just parallel in the first four points. Its reduced nature, i.e., the fact that it does not include any parallels to such important injunctions as not to be “greedy for money” and to “manage their children and their households well” causes us to doubt that this list of qualifications can be for someone who has an equal office to the male διάκονοι.47

41

Ibid., 452. Ibid., 456, n. 42. 43 Oberlinner, Die Pastoralbriefe, 141-142. 44 Hentschel, Diakonia im Neuen Testament, 403-404 follows Oberlinner and Stiefel. 45 See above, 18-19. 46 The NRSV text “Let deacons be married only once” is here misleading, as it could be applicable to male and female διάκονοι. But this is not the case in the original Greek wording which was rendered more correctly in the RSV: “Let deacons be the husband of one wife” (1 Tim 3:12). 47 Cf. ibid., 451: “lack of detail”. 42

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In the interpretations of 1 Tim 3:11 six issues keep coming back. We shall discuss each issue separately: 1) As we have already seen the meaning of γυναῖκας is a central aspect. Taking it literally as all women (generally or in the community) does not work in the comparison with διακόνους in 3:8 and τὸν ἐπίσκοπον in 3:2. For this reason, interpreters have taken refuge in elliptic interpretations. Since γυνή can also mean wife, some scholars understand γυναῖκας as γυναῖκας [αὐτῶν], [their] wives. A frequently heard counterargument says that due to the absences of the possessive pronoun γυναῖκας cannot mean wives. This argument is not convincing as there are other instances where γυνή clearly means “wife” or ἀνήρ husband and where there is no possessive pronoun (cf. 1 Cor 7:3) and sometimes not even an article (7:10.11). Another elliptic interpretation of γυναῖκας focuses, as we have seen48, on the fact that at that time there was no separate terminology for women deacons yet. So γυναῖκας is read as an elliptic expression for γυναῖκας [διάκονοι] or as an attempt to deny or downplay the fact that these women were deacons so that only the place in the middle of the text that speaks about διάκονοι would give away that they also are deacons. 2) In 1 Tim 3:11 γυναῖκας is used without the article. This has been used in favour of the meaning “wives” and of “women deacons”. The former is based on the observation that in Greek “words in pairs” the article may be absent.49 But the application of this rule to 3:11 will only work if one assumes that διακόνους in 3:8 implies ἄνδρας and thus forms a pair with γυναῖκας. Others claimed that the meaning “wives” in 3:11 would have required the definite article.50 Stiefel claims the absence of the article as an argument for the interpretation of γυναῖκας as women deacons. “The suggestion that γυναῖκας may function in apposition with an understood διακόνους to specify the female counterparts to the males gives an explanation for the anarthrous noun.”51 We should, however, not be too quick in theologizing the absence of the article. In the phrase διακόνους ὡσαύτως in 1 Tim 3:8 the article is also absent. In the Letter to Titus the same construction is found, once without the article (πρεσβύτιδας ὡσαύτως in 2:3 and with the article (τοὺς νεωτέρους ὡσαύτως in 2:6). In the instances where ὡσαύτως precedes the noun 1 Timothy once uses the article (ὡσαύτως καὶ τὰ ἔργα τὰ καλὰ in 5:2552) and once 48

Se above, 18-19. A.T. Robertson, A Grammar of the Greek New Testament in the Light of Historical Research, Nashville TN: Broadman, repr. 1934, 793. 50 Towner, The Letters to Timothy and Titus, 266, n. 28. 51 Stiefel, Women Deacons, 454. 52 Cf. ὡσαύτως δὲ καὶ τὸ πνεῦμα (Rom 8:26) and ὡσαύτως καὶ τὸ ποτήριον (1 Cor 11:25). 49

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does not (ὡσαύτως [καὶ] γυναῖκας in 2:9). The grammar of Blass-Debrunner gives us the following rule: “the article is not used with the introduction of a hitherto unknown individual if the whole class is not subsumed under this individual (generic use)”53. Applied to 1 Tim 3:11, this would rule out the understanding of γυναῖκας as all the women generically. But it would not be any more specific. However, if applied to 3:8, it would imply that not all the deacons are included in the statement which in the context seems unlikely. The question also remains why ἐπίσκοπον is used with the article in 3:2. In Tit 2:2.3 and 6 we find the sequence πρεσβύτας followed by πρεσβύτιδας ὡσαύτως and τοὺς νεωτέρους ὡσαύτως. Here we need to be reminded that the presence and absence of the article in Greek is rather different from English or other modern languages. In Robertson’s grammar we are warned: “The word may be either definite or indefinite when the article is absent.”54 All these findings are a warning not to overemphasize the meaning that can be derived from the absence of the article. 3) The precise meaning of ὡσαύτως may help us determine the meaning of γυναῖκας in 3:11. This word was discovered as a potential help by those who defend that γυναῖκας means women deacons. Philip H. Towner says that ὡσαύτως “serves to introduce a new but related case”55 and claims that this speaks against the interpretation as wives and favours women deacons. But “wives of the διάκονοι” would also be “a new but related case” since ὡσαύτως leaves open in which way the new case is “related”. In Tit 2:2.3.6 we have a parallel chain construction A – B ὡσαύτως – C ὡσαύτως. A

B

C

1 Tim 3:2.8.11

τὸν ἐπίσκοπον office male gender

διακόνους ὡσαύτως office male gender

γυναῖκας ὡσαύτως office/wives of B? female

Tit 2:2.3.6

πρεσβύτας old age male gender

πρεσβύτιδας ὡσαύτως old age female gender

τοὺς νεωτέρους ὡσαύτως young age male (and female) gender

53

BDF §252 (1). A.T. Robertson, A Grammar of the Greek New Testament in the Light of Historical Research, Nashville TN: Broadman, repr. 1934, 790. He further points out that “the article is not the only means of showing that a word is definite”. 55 Towner, The Letters to Timothy and Titus, 266 n 28. 54

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The parallel construction with ὡσαύτως in Tit 2:2.3.6 illustrates that when there are two parameters (in this case age and gender), it is possible that one or both change. One can ask what γυναῖκας has to mean if it is to be “new but related” in the same way that διακόνους is “new and related” in comparison to τὸν ἐπίσκοπον. In fact it would need to refer to a different type of office. The position that comes closest to that is an interpretation of γυναῖκας as assistants of the διάκονοι.56 But as we saw in Tit 2:2.3.6 “new but related” can also mean that only one parameter changes, which would imply that γυναῖκας could refer to women διάκονοι or to wives. That is why it seems to us that the meaning of ὡσαύτως cannot definitively clarify whether γυναῖκας ὡσαύτως like τὸν ἐπίσκοπον and διακόνους ὡσαύτως has to refer to an office or whether it could also refer to people related to the previously mentioned office holders. 4) A fourth reason why γυναῖκας ὡσαύτως supposedly cannot refer to wives of the διάκονοι is the fact that in the text concerning the ἐπίσκοπος nothing is said about their wives. But with the same logic one could claim that γυναῖκας ὡσαύτως cannot refer to women διάκονοι since nothing is said in 3:1-7 about a female ἐπίσκοπος. We know from 3:2 that they were married while there is no evidence anywhere that there were women ἐπίσκοποι. But since the text only talks about one (monogamous) ἐπίσκοπος, there would only be the need to give qualifications of one wife. It is clear that the need to give qualifications or a behavioural code for a group of women like the deacons’ wives would me more pressing than to do that for one wife. 5) Scholars also mention the fact that in Rom 16:1-2 Paul refers to a woman διάκονος and to the fact that Pliny the Younger mentions “ministrae” (understood as the Latin translation of διάκονοι) as arguments that can help decide about the meaning of γυναῖκας in 1 Tim 3:11. These parallels can be evidence that the same terminology was used for women. This can be used as evidence that it is possible that 1 Tim 3:11 refers to women διάκονοι, but it cannot prove by itself that they actually were. 6) Realizing that the grammatical and macro-contextual arguments do not permit us to decide between the interpretation of γυναῖκας in 1 Tim 3:11 as wives or as women διάκονοι, we return to our 56 See, e.g., Gordon D. Fee, 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus (A Good News Commentary), San Francisco, CA: Harper & Row, 1984, 50-51 who considers the understanding “women helpers” to be “more likely”.

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micro-contextual arguments which we mentioned before. Since the Greek language uses γυνή both in the meaning women and wife, the reader cannot know for sure in 3:11 what is intended. But the use of γυνή in 3:12 as “wife” might help the readers who had understood γυναῖκας in 3:11 as “women” to correct their understanding to “wives”, and it will confirm those who in 3:11 had understood γυναῖκας as wives. The text in 3:8-13 is more coherent and logical if γυναῖκας refers to wives. By way of conclusion we synthesize the arguments by pointing to the three main reasons why we opt for the interpretation of 1 Tim 3:11 as a reference to the wives of the διάκονοι. First, the word γυναῖκας in 3:11 can be translated as “women” and as “wives”. Second, the reference to “one wife” in 3:12 where γυνή again occurs clarifies, if needed, the meaning of γυναῖκας in 3:11. Third, the fact that the list of qualities of γυναῖκας in 3:11 is less detailed than the one of the διάκονοι in 3:810.12-13 and that at the same time it is closely parallel to the list of qualities of the διάκονοι for those qualities that are mentioned, makes it less likely that 3:11 speaks about women deacons who share the same ministry as the men. In this first section we concentrated on three texts in the corpus Paulinum which potentially speak about women διάκονοι. While we found that it is possible that there were women διάκονοι in Philippi, in Corinth/Cenchreae and in the community of 1 Timothy, it is only certain for Phoebe in Cenchreae. Phoebe is the only person, women or man, in the New Testament who is called a διάκονος in relation to an ἐκκλησία. But it remained open so far what the precise meaning of διάκονος was in the middle of the first century in Cenchreae. This is reflected in the fact that we consistently avoided to translate διάκονος. In the next section we shall focus on the semantics of διακονterminology. 2. THE MEANING OF ΔΙΑΚΟΝΟΣ IN PHIL 1:1, ROM 16:1-2 AND 1 TIM 3:813: AN EXERCISE IN SEMANTICS In this second section of the study we shall focus on the meaning of διάκονος in light of the uses of διακον-terminology in the New Testament and its implications for the role and function (office) of women διάκονοι. We shall begin with an inventory followed by a presentation of the new consensus on the meaning of διακον-terminology.

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2.1. Inventory of διακον-Terminology in the New Testament There are only a few occurrences of διακον-terminology in the LXX (διάκονος 6×57, διακονία 1×, διακονέω 0×), but 100 in the New Testament (διάκονος 29×, διακονία 34×, διακονέω 37×). Within the limited scope of this study, it is impossible to undertake a complete inventory of these 100 occurrences. We shall therefore limit ourselves to the closest parallels of διάκονος as a role or function within a community. Only eight of the 29 New Testament occurrences of διάκονος are found in the gospels and Acts with the noun being completely absent from Luke/ Acts. In Mt 22:13 the διάκονοι are the attendants of the king, in John 2:5.9 they are people who pour the wine at a wedding. In the remaining occurrences διάκονος does not express a role or a function. Twelve of the 29 instances of διάκονος occur in the Pauline homologoumena. There are no occurrences in 1 Thessalonians and in Philemon58. Chronologically the first occurrence is found in 1 Cor 3:5 where Paul and Apollos are called διάκονοι. Here the emphasis does not seem to be on the function or office, but on the action that led to the faith of the addressees. In Phil 1:1 we encounter for the first time in Paul and in earliest Christian sources the use of διάκονος as a function or office in the expression σὺν ἐπισκόποις καὶ διακόνοις, referring to people who are distinguished from the saints in Philippi. This use is different from 1 Cor 3:5 since here διάκονοι are mentioned without referring to their activities. The same seems to be true in 2 Cor 11:15 and 23. In 11:23 Paul does not contradict the claim of some people to be διάκονοι Χριστοῦ, after in 11:15 he had referred to them as διάκονοι of Satan, but he emphasises that he is a διάκονος Χριστοῦ to a higher degree. In 3:6 Paul described himself as “a διάκονος of a new covenant” for which he was qualified by God. In 6:3 he calls himself “a διάκονος of God”. While the διάκονοι Χριστοῦ mentioned in 2 Corinthians 11 may have claimed the office of a διάκονος, this is not the focus of Paul in the context. In fact in all the references in 2 Corinthians Paul develops a theology of his apostleship with the help of the term διάκονος. In Gal 2:17 Paul rhetorically asks whether Christ has become a διάκονος of sin; and in Rom 15:8 Paul claims that Christ has become a διάκονος of circumcision. In Rom 13:4 Paul refers to what is usually understood as the state authorities as διάκονοι of God. The only other 57 See Prov 10:4; four uses of διάκονος of the king in Est 1:10; 2:2; 6:3 and 5; and 4 Macc 9:17. 58 With the exception of a few minuscules which mention a διάκονος Archippus in the subscription.

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use in Romans is in 16:1 with reference to Phoebe. In Eph 3:7 and Col 1:23.25 “Paul” refers to himself as a διάκονος of the gospel and the church respectively. In Col 1:7 Epaphras and in Col 4:7 and Eph 6.21 Tychicus are each called a διάκονος. In 1 Tim 4:6, Timothy is instructed in what he has to do to be a good a διάκονος of Christ Jesus. In 1 Tim 3:8-13 lists of qualifications are given for διάκονοι which are rather parallel to that of the ἐπίσκοπος that precedes. We illustrate the use of διάκονος in the Pauline corpus in the following table: undisputed Paulines

disputed Paulines

θεοῦ γὰρ διάκονος (Rom 13:4) 2× θεοῦ διάκονοι (2 Cor 6:4) διάκονοι Χριστοῦ (2 Cor 11:23)

διάκονος τοῦ Χριστοῦ (Col 1:7) καλὸς … διάκονος Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ (1 Tim 4:6) πιστὸς διάκονος ἐν κυρίῳ (Eph 6:21) πιστὸς διάκονος καὶ σύνδουλος ἐν κυρίῳ (Col 4:7)

οἱ διάκονοι αὐτοῦ (= of Satan) (2 Cor 11:15) [τοῦ εὐαγγελίου] οὗ ἐγενήθην διάκονος (Eph 3:7) [διὰ τοῦ εὐαγγελίου] οὗ ἐγενόμην ἐγὼ Παῦλος διάκονος. (Col 1:23) ἁμαρτίας διάκονος (Gal 2:17) διάκονον … περιτομῆς (Rom 15:8) διακόνους καινῆς διαθήκης, (2 Cor 3:6) διάκονοι δικαιοσύνης· (2 Cor 11:15) διάκονοι δι᾽ ὧν ἐπιστεύσατε, (1 Cor 3:5) διάκονον τῆς ἐκκλησίας τῆς ἐν Κεγχρεαῖς (Rom 16:1)

[ἐκκλησία] ἧς ἐγενόμην ἐγὼ διάκονος (Col 1:25)

διακόνοις (Phil 1:1)

διακόνους (1 Tim 3:8) διάκονοι (1 Tim 3:12)

As the table illustrates, there are no occurrences of διάκονος which are directly parallel to Rom 16:1-2 and there are only three absolute uses (Phil 1:1; 1 Tim 3:8.12) which due to the lack of interpretation and/or due to the context point to an office. The abstract noun διακονία only occurs in Luke (1×) and Acts (8×), but nowhere else in the gospels. In the Pauline homologoumena we meet 18/34 occurrences (12/34 in 2 Cor alone). The chronologically first use

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by Paul is in 1 Cor 12:5: “and there are varieties of services (διακονιῶν), but the same Lord”. “Services” does not seem to be the most helpful translation here. It seems that Paul is thinking of different ministries here which he mentions in 12:28 as apostles, prophets and teachers. This is confirmed in Rom 11:13 where he describes his being “apostle of the Gentiles” as “my διακονία” (cf. 1 Tim 1:12; see also 2 Tim 4:5 with regard to Timothy and Acts 1:25 διακονία and ἀποστολή with regard to the twelve). Here διακονία is used as an umbrella term for different roles or offices in the early church (apostle and evangelist). In 2 Cor 3:7-9; 5:18 διακονία is used in an even more fundamental sense referring to God’s covenants with humanity and the roles of Moses and Paul within that (cf. the translation “dispensation”). διακονία can, however, also refer to one ministry next to another (e.g., Rom 12:7 where διακονία is mentioned next to teaching). Finally Paul also uses διακονία to refer to the collection for the saints in Jerusalem (cf. Rom 15:31; 2 Cor 8:4). The verb διακονέω is most frequent in the gospels (22/37 occurrences) where in most case ‘Jesus’ is either the subject or the direct object of the διακονεῖν. διακονέω is sometimes used to describe the activities of a διάκονος, but it is mostly difficult to determine where that is the case. It is undisputed the case in 1 Tim 3:10 and 13 where the verb refers back to the noun διάκονος in 3:8 and 12. When the participle ὁ διακονῶν is used as in Lk 22:27, one might consider this meaning, but in the context it seems less likely, esp. since here Jesus is the subject. In Lk 10:40 and John 12:2 Martha is the subject of a form of διακονέω. Here some scholars have suggested that this is an echo of women διάκονοι in the community to which the respective gospel is addressed. A similar case was made for the women who are with Jesus and who are also presented as subjects of the verb διακονέω in Mk 15:41 par Mt 27:55, vgl. Lk 8:3. But such a position remains rather speculative. 2.2. The Meaning of διακον-Terminology in the New Testament: The New Consensus With regard to the meaning of διακον-terminology in the New Testament scholars speak of a paradigm shift which happened in the past 30-50 years. The old consensus which was essentially based on the work of Wilhelm Brandt59 and Hermann Wolfgang Beyer60 was based on a 59 60

Wilhelm Brandt, Dienst und Dienen im Neuen Testament, Gütersloh: Bertelsmann, 1931. Hermann Wolfgang Beyer, art. διακονέω κτλ, in ThWNT 2 (1935) 81-93.

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series of convictions: 1) διακονέω belongs to the semantic domain of serving. 2) The basic meaning of διακονέω is ‘to wait on someone at table’. 3) In the Greek culture, serving is something unworthy of the free man. διακονέω is part of belongs to people with low social status. 4) The Bible and Judaism have deep appreciation of what it means to serve, esp. to serve God. 5) Jesus’ understanding of service has its roots in the Old Testament commandment to love one’s neighbour and is at the root of the new meaning that διακον-terminology takes on in the New Testament. 6) διακον-terminology was interpreted as describing “lowly, usually charitable service”61. This leads to a transformation of values because what was despised before becomes the most valued activity. True discipleship is realized in lowly, charitable service. It seems that this understanding of the old consensus was typical for German scholarship of the 19th and beginning 20th century. In the new consensus every basic conviction of the old consensus changes: 1) The semantic domain of διακονέω is not to serve62, but to mediate. 2) The basic meaning is to act as an intermediary or go-between. 3) In the Greek culture διακονέω is not about social status. It is an activity that can be exercised by people of high or low social status. 4) διακον-terminology does not have an equivalent in the Hebrew Bible and is (therefore) infrequent in the LXX. 5) The meaning of διακον-terminology in the New Testament does not differ from its meaning in the Greek world outside the Bible. 6) διακον-terminology is not about humble or self-humiliating, submissive charitable service63, but about being an authorized emissary who represents someone else.64 Collins’ position has been very successful in bringing about a new consensus which is even reflected in the famous Greek-English lexicon of Bauer. While in the earlier German and English editions, the lemma 61 Peter-Ben Smit, Exegetical Notes on Mark 10.42-45: Who Serves Whom?, in Bart J. Koet, Edwina Murphy & Esko Ryökäs (eds.), Deacons and Diakonia in Early Christianity (WUNT, II/479), Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2018, pp. 17-29, 17. 62 Hentschel, Diakonia im Neuen Testament, 23: “Ein Verständnis von διακονέω κτλ im Sinne eines allgemeinen Dienens sei zu ungenau und deshalb ungeeignet.” Cf. Collins, Diakonia, 194. 63 Hentschel, Diakonia im Neuen Testament, 23. 64 Cf. Dieter. Georgi, The Opponents of Paul in Second Corinthians, Philadelphia PA: Fortress, 1986 (German original 1964), 29: “The meaning of ‘envoy’ for διάκονος (in the sense of responsible) fateful representation and manifestation) will do justice to most NT passages in which διάκονος appears, rather than the meaning of ‚servant,‘ for which the function of ‘waiter’ at the table stands in the background. The NT term almost never involves an act of charity. Instead, nearly all instances are meant to refer to acts of proclamation.”

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διάκονος contained the English equivalents servant, helper, deacon, in his most recent revision in 2000, Frederick William Danker completely changed the lemma giving as English circumlocution for the noun διάκονος: 1. “one who serves as an intermediary in a transaction”, 2. “one who gets something done at the behest of a superior”. For the verb διακονέω Danker lists five meaning equivalents which also reflect the paradigm shift: 1. “to function as an intermediary, act as go-between/ agent”; 2. “to perform obligations: “serve”; “wait on someone at table”; 3. “to meet an immediate need, help”; 4. “to carry out official duties, minister”; 5. “care for, take care of”. 2.3. The New Consensus and the διάκονος Phoebe In this subsection we shall briefly discuss the implications of the new consensus for the women διάκονοι in the New Testament, limiting our explicit discussion to Phoebe, because, as we have seen, this is the clearest case of a woman διάκονος. In the old consensus concerning the meaning of διακον-terminology, Phoebe could be a helper, a servant, a deaconess or a deacon. Whichever of these four translation is opted for from the perspective of the old consensus, the role of Phoebe is seen as one of humble service, mainly focused on charitable action for the poor. Some have portrayed Phoebe as a submissive helper or servant65 in Cenchreae.66 The charitable nature of Phoebe’s role is most emphasized, when διάκονος is translated as deaconess.67 But also when Phoebe is seen as a deacon in line with the later ordained ministry, the care for the poor takes a prominent place. In all these interpretations the genitive τῆς ἐκκλησίας is an objective genitive, indicating whom she serves. In the new consensus it is less likely to translate διάκονος in Rom 16:1 as helper or servant. Her role is not seen as humble service and is no longer connected with charitable action for the poor. She is rather seen as an intermediary or an authorized representative. The genitive τῆς ἐκκλησίας is more likely to be understood as a subjective genitive telling us who sends or authorizes her, namely the community of believers in 65 See, for instance, the 2016 revision of the German Einheitsübersetzung still uses “Dienerin” to translate διάκονος in Rom 16:1. Similar Wolter, Römer, vol. 2, 459: „keine Amtsbezeichnung“. 66 For a list of supporters of such a view, see Jewett, Romans, 944, n. 24. 67 In the following words Annette Merz summarizes the position of those who see Phoebe as a community nurse or social worker for the poor: “Vorläuferin einer sich der Armenfürsorge widmenden ‘Gemeindeschwester’” (Merz, Phöbe, 125).

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Cenchreae. The point of discussion is whether this means that Phoebe is authorized by the ἐκκλησία in Cenchreae in a leadership position in her own community (often connected with providing housing for travelers or for the ἐκκλησία) or as a missionary sent to other communities. Others combine the tradition that Phoebe was the carrier of the Letter to the Romans who had the difficult theological task of explaining that letter and answering the questions of the addressees.68 But in this case she would rather be the envoy of Paul rather than the ἐκκλησία in Cenchreae. Finally there is the position that Phoebe is sent to Rome as “the vanguard of a larger delegation of community representatives who were to finance and organize the Spanish mission as a project of a community of communities”69. It is understandable that interpreters try to understand Phoebe’s role as a διάκονος-emissary by connecting it to things they (seem to) know with regard to Paul, namely that he sends the letter to the Romans with her and that he is planning to preach the gospel in Spain. But the text does not say that she is a διάκονος of Paul. Those aspects might rather be connected with her being a προστάτις. In this case the new consensus seems to be more helpful in clarifying what Phoebe as a διάκονος is not (e.g., a lowly servant who helps the poor) than what her role actually consisted in. It can only assure us that it must have been a leading role. 3. NEW TESTAMENT CONTRIBUTION TO THE QUESTION OF WOMEN DEACONS TODAY: AN EXERCISE IN HERMENEUTICS 3.1. The Problem of Anachronism: διάκονοι and Deacons We have evidence that throughout Christian history when the question of women deacons was discussed, there were usually references to Phoebe, “the διάκονος of the church at Cenchreae” (Rom 16:1-2). But from a historical point of view, we are faced with a problem here. Throughout the centuries, those who referred to Phoebe were assuming rather uncritically that Phoebe was a deacon in the sense that this the word had at their particular time. But what churches understood by the word deacon has changed depending on the places and the times. We 68

See Nicklas, Offices? 33. Cf. Merz, Phöbe, 139. Merz, Phöbe, 140: “Vorhut einer größeren Delegation von Gemeindevertretern, die als Unternehmung eines Gemeindeverbunds die Spanienmission hätten finanzieren und durchführen sollen”. 69

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may not assume that a διάκονος in the New Testament is the same as a deacon today. From an exegetical perspective we must therefore introduce the distinction between the questions: “Do New Testament texts contain references to women deacons?” from the question “Do New Testament texts contain references to women διάκονοι?” If we ask: “What does the New Testament say explicitly about women deacons?” The answer is: “Nothing”. But it would be the same for the question: “What does the New Testament say explicitly about male deacons (and priests and bishops for that matter)?” The theological understanding and the task description have changed so much that the continuity that the linguistic link between διάκονος and deacon suggests cannot simply be upheld. Things, of course, change, if we ask: What can the New Testament contribute to the question whether we should have ordained deacons, male or female, today? But then finding the answer will be much more complex than just trying to find our present day reality 1:1 in the New Testament text. We shall discuss this in this part of this study. 3.2. The New Testament Framework of the Question of Women Deacons Today In this section we shall focus on things that the New Testament does not say about women in general and women in relation to holy orders. The New Testament does say that women should be silent (whatever σιγάω may mean in 1 Cor 14:34, cf. 1 Tim 2:11). The New Testament does say that women should not teach and not “have authority over a man” (1 Tim 2:12). None of these are still observed in most parts of the Roman-Catholic Church. The New Testament does not say that women are less valuable, less capable or less reliable than men in any respect.70 The New Testament does not speak negatively about women. The New Testament does not say that women cannot on principle be among the twelve (even though in the lists there are only names of men), that women cannot be apostles, that women cannot be bishops, priests or deacons. The New Testament does not say that women cannot sacramentally represent Christ nor that women cannot “act in the person of Christ the Head”. The New Testament does not say anything like “Sacram 70 It is open to discussion what 1 Pet 3:7 might mean by “weaker vessel” (cf. NRSV: “weaker sex”). But in any case the text commands to “paying honor to the woman” and states that they are “heirs of the gracious gift of life”.

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ordinationem valide recipit solus vir baptizatus”71 (can. 1024 CIC). In fact in the entire New Testament there is not a single statement that says that women are excluded as women from any ministry, role or function in the church. In fact, there are New Testament exegetes who are convinced that women were not excluded from any position or function in earliest Christianity.72 Even though in Phil 1:1 and in 1 Tim 3:1-13 the διάκονοι are mentioned after the ἐπίσκοποι, it is not likely that this sequence expresses a hierarchy.73 In 1 Cor 12:28, Paul speaks about different roles in the community: “And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers; then deeds of power, then gifts of healing, forms of assistance, forms of leadership, various kinds of tongues.” Despite the counting (first … second … third), it is not likely that Paul expresses a hierarchy here, since this would be opposed to the point he tries to make in the preceding context with the body and members metaphor. There Paul rather emphasizes the unity in diversity of the community members. Here it is also striking that neither ἐπίσκοποι nor διάκονοι are found in this list. This is and will most likely remain one of the unanswerable questions. 3.3. Hermeneutical Challenges of the Exegetical Study of Women διάκονοι Faced with the results of our exegetical study, we are faced with lots of uncertainties and ambiguities. Many aspects cannot be reconstructed historically, as we saw above. On the basis of the information we can gain from our texts, it is not certain what Phoebe’s role as a διάκονος entailed and how her role compared that of Paul. We are not certain whether the women in 1 Tim 3:11 were women διάκονοι. The more we study these questions and the more open we are to submitting our results to critical review, the more we become aware of the uncertainties of our research results. This realization is important to avoid a type of academically 71

“A baptized male alone receives sacred ordination validly.” Cf. Hans-Josef Klauck, Gemeinde, Amt, Sakrament. Neutestamentliche Perspektiven, Würzburg: Echter, 1989, 235: “Aber bestimmte Strukturen sind im Entstehen begriffen, und es sieht ganz danach aus, daß Frauen innerhalb dieses ekklesialen Sozialgefüges grundsätzlich alle Positionen besetzen konnten.” See also Cerling, Women Ministers, 211: “the New Testament minsterial offices are not hierarchical. Thus, if women were deacons, they could hold any office.” 73 Cf. Hentschel, Diakonia im Neuen Testament, 402: “Es gibt in 1 Tim 3,1-13 keinerlei Hinweise auf eine Unterordnung der Diakonoi unter den Episkopos.” 72

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informed fundamentalism. Moreover we need to remain aware of the problem that we only have access to the world of the New Testament via written texts and to some degree via material culture. Therefore we need to face the question how these mediations of reality relate to the realities they mediate. Here also we may not assume a simple 1:1 relationship, as is often done. However, it is a real problem that the uncertainty that characterizes our access to earliest Christian realities via our earliest sources is not only the case for questions relating to women, but for every aspect of reality, including men. The fact that at later stages in history certain later developments of ministry, for instance, were projected back into the New Testament, as, for instance, the three-level, hierarchical structure of holy orders. If in all honesty we have to admit that there were no sacramentally ordained women deacons in the New Testament, we need to add immediately: there were no sacramentally ordained male deacons, priests and bishops either in the New Testament. Even with regard to women and men διάκονοι we need to exercise our critical judgement and realize that even our distinction between “deacons” and διάκονοι is not sufficient to adequately describe the meaning of our sources. Even within the διάκονοι we need to distinguish. In exegetical works we sometimes find lists of men διάκονοι to compare to the woman διάκονος. The named men in the corpus Paulinum for whom the noun διάκονος is used are: Paul, Apollos (1 Cor 3:5), Tychicus (Eph 6:21; Col 4:7), Epaphras (Col 1:7) and Timothy (1 Tim 4:6). But when we analyse these texts we realize that in none of them the noun διάκονος is used in the same office-related way as for Phoebe in Rom 16:1.74 In a very real sense, the earliest and the only named διάκονος as an office holder we know in the New Testament, is a woman, namely Phoebe. So if anything, the New Testament evidence could be used to argue that only women can be ordained deacons. The later development of men διάκονοι reflected in 1 Tim 3:8-13 could from that perspective be seen as an erroneous development. Because of the way the history of the Church developed, it is assumed that we can take for granted that from the beginning there were male deacons and that, if at all, we need to try to find out whether there might have been legitimate women deacons. But one could also interpret the New Testament evidence in a way that there have been women deacons from the beginning and that we need to study the New Testament texts to see whether men can legitimately be deacons.

74

Cf. Merz, Phöbe, 127-128.

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Biblical hermeneutics also includes the question what kind of authority New Testament texts have and should have according to the Christian faith. Could it theoretically be that we conclude that in the New Testament there were women in leadership roles analogous to our deacons, but that we conclude that nevertheless it would be illegitimate today to permit women to become deacons? We provocatively present this question to break through the simplistic, but very widespread assumption that whatever we find in the New Testament should be practiced today and whatever we do not find or whatever is prohibited in the New Testament should be prohibited today. In fact, in the Roman-Catholic Church’s history until today we have examples of four different relations between past and present: – there are things that are present/allowed in the New Testament and present/allowed today; – there are things that are present/allowed in the New Testament and are not present/allowed today; – there are things that are not present/allowed in the New Testament and still present/allowed today; – there are things that are not present/allowed in the New Testament and not present/allowed today. The important hermeneutical question is what the theological reasons are for these differences. CONCLUSION It is time to conclude this long and complex analysis of women διάκονοι in the New Testament. We started this study by looking at recent developments in the understanding of men deacons in the Roman-Catholic Church. One of the important results of our study is that διάκονοι in the New Testament do not belong to the lowest level of a hierarchy of ordained ministers. Their primary role is not to serve the people of God, but they are authorized representatives or envoys of the believing community. Finally we saw that there was a woman in this leadership position of διάκονος and probably there were also men. We conclude with a statement by Tobias Nicklas: “even in Corinth Phoebe’s role seems to have been much weightier than that of a deacon in modern times”75. 75

Nicklas, Offices? 34.

THE FEMALE DIACONATE LUCETTA SCARAFFIA “Now about virgins: I have no command from the Lord” (Paul, First Letter to the Corinthians, 7, 25) “If the elder [i.e. the superior of the male monastery] gives an order to a sister without the knowledge of the head sister [the superior of the female monastery], does she have reason to be indignant? Certainly” (Basil of Caesarea, Longer rules, 33)

I would like to begin my historical reflections on the female diaconate starting from today. As we know, the justified desire of the religious community, or rather of the representatives of their main organization, the International Union of Superiors General (UISG), that female deacons should play a more authoritative and significant role in the life of the church, has taken shape and become a specific request: to see the recognition of a female diaconate. The response of the ecclesiastical institution – in which the opposition to such an open attitude undoubtedly prevails, as it seems to be getting too close to the priesthood – was the one that it has used to oppose any requests that it does not intend to accept: to search back into the past, in the tradition of the church, for the evidence of the existence of deaconesses, to justify a possible future recognition. Then, just when you cannot deny that deaconesses existed – and on this there is no doubt – they tried to diminish the value of this fact, that was initially invoked as a solution, by saying that these deaconesses held tasks different from those of today’s deacons. A justification that can only irritate a historian – generally the experts invoked are mainly theologians – because it is obvious that in the Christian communities of the first centuries, organized in a very different way from the current church, the deaconesses carried out various different tasks. But the same thing can also be said for deacons, for priests, for bishops. Therefore, it makes no sense to isolate the problem of deaconesses. But it does not seem to me to be very productive, either from the theoretical point of view or from that of the concrete results, to insist so much on the question of deaconesses. I think we would be better analyzing what

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we should understand by the term “deaconesses”, that is, the recognition of a managerial role for women in the Christian community. A role that approximates the power of women to that of men, so that a form of equal collaboration between the sexes replaces the current condition of total subordination of women to the men, and to the clergy in particular. So we ought to ask a few questions. Is the goal of recognizing deaconesses the right one? Is this the most urgent and necessary demand that women must make of the church? And is it only the theological sector – the area challenged by the question of deaconesses – that needs to be investigated to respond to these demands from the women? In fact, I would say No, and to this there is added another reflection: is it acceptable that the methods of discussion relating to the possible recognition of the female role are decided by male hierarchies, that are in general ill-disposed towards women? I think women can offer different bases for discussion, other arguments to raise in the debate. For example, I think it possible to turn to history, and not to theology, to justify the request for equal recognition within the tradition of the church, and to obtain a greater degree of satisfaction. A story that starts from the completely equal – and therefore decidedly revolutionary – treatment that Jesus reserved for women, testified with an abundance of episodes in the gospels, that even decidedly patriarchal societies, such as both Jewish and Greco-Roman, were unable to eliminate. In fact, Christianity in the early centuries was predominantly a female religion. In addition – although the inclusion in patriarchal societies has brought a halt to the feminist revolution that was initiated in the Gospels – many important female figures are present in the history of the Church, and not just those distinguished for special merits as saints, but also women who have simply held institutional roles with prestige and authority. Above all, for these figures, I think it is right to look for the red line that unites the deaconesses of the Church of the first centuries with the religious women of today. I say “religious”, even if the problem of deaconesses concerns all women, because it is precisely from the way in which religious women are treated that we clearly see what is the role that the Church attributes to women. I do not want to return here to the thorny problem of the presence of deaconesses in the books of the New Testament, beginning with the letters of Paul, and of their membership of the clergy as a result of their ordination by the bishop, but I would keep our attention on the continuity of their presence in the subsequent centuries as the leaders of monastic communities. The best known example is that of Olympia, ordained as a deaconess at the

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age of thirty years by Nettarius, bishop of Constantinople in the second half of the fourth century, who becomes the leader of a community of women while keeping alive a network of relationships not only with Nettarius, but also with Johannes Chrisostomus who entrusts her with delicate tasks. Lisa Cremaschi, in her book Detti e fatti delle donne del deserto [Sayings and facts about the women of the desert], questions whether her experience can be considered as being a model of a female diaconate1. It is not easy to understand this case, although it is certainly not the only one: Egeria, the famous Spanish pilgrim, who tells of her voyage to the Holy Land toward the end of the fourth century, speaks of a visit to deaconess Martana, of whom she says that “She ran monasteries for women who had renounced the world.” Also there is Palladius, at the beginning of the fifth century, who spoke about a deaconess in a monastery near Caesarea2. Hence, the female diaconate is always associated with the management of one or more monastic communities that, as the sources reveal, might even be double monasteries – that is, composed of two buildings, one occupied by women and one by men, but governed by the same regulations and by a single abbot who, until the early Middle Ages, could also be an abbess. The abbesses were important figures. As Cremaschi writes, “Although they lived in solitude, many of these women intervened in the ecclesial questions that tore apart the church of their time”3; moreover, some of them supported monks in their struggle against temptation as true spiritual mothers, and were recognized as such. The tangled plot of the early Christian traditions and the cultures of the barbarians was not favourable to women: on one hand this encounter served to cushion the hardness of the female condition by abolishing customs such as polygamy, but on the other hand, it worsened the ability of women to be recognized and listened to. Despite the central role of women in carrying out conversions and in practical health care, the Frankish bishops eliminated the female diaconate and excluded the wives of priests from pastoral activities4. However, the scholars of this period in history consider the possibility that the 1 L. Cremaschi, Sayings and facts of women in the desert, Qiqajon, Bose Community Bose, 2018, p. 43. 2 See. Palladium, Storia lausiaca, 70, 3. 3 Cremaschi, Sayings and facts of women in the desert, op. cit., p. 37. 4 CF. C. Ciriello, Donne e cristianizzazione dell’Europa da Gregorio Magno a Bonifacio di Fulda [Women and the Christianization of Europe from Gregorius Magnus to Boniface of Fulda], Urban University Press, Rome, 2018.

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female diaconate was in some sense replaced by the role held by the canoness or abbess of the nascent women’s monasteries, or even of double monasteries. And this is one of the many cases in which we must speak of historical reality rather than of an institutional role: even if women had lost the diaconate, in Europe from the fifth to the eighth century their role in the evangelization of peoples occupies an absolutely central position. Clovis, king of the Franks, the first Christian sovereign of Europe, was converted by the efforts and example of Queen Clotilde, and the conversion of the Frankish kingdom constitutes a bridge for the conversion of the AngloSaxons. Gregory of Tours describes Clotilde as “a true servant of God”, devoted to alms, fasting, and to monastic life after the death of her spouse. [Do not] forget her role as evangelizer and founder of numerous monasteries, not only for women. Radegund, wife of the Clothar, son of Clovis, is the second queen to become a saint. A cultured woman – who wrote religious poems – and when forced to live in a cruel court where she was humiliated for her exemplary faith, she decided in around 552 or 553 to retire to the monastery in Poitiers and asked to be consecrated as a deaconess by Bishop Medard, while refusing to be nominated as abbess5]. The Franks can boast of a third sainted queen, Bathilda, of AngloSaxon origin and probably originally a slave, wife of Clovis II. Despite her exemplary conduct, she was accused by Bede of negative involvement in ecclesiastical affairs, but, in addition to the usual protection of monastic life, she is known to have distinguished herself in the fight against slavery, firmly prohibited by the synod of Chalon sur Saône (647 -654). Undoubtedly her interventions with respect to monasteries, which she tried to make independent from the power of the bishops, reveal the intention of restructuring monastic life, supporting the creation not only of new female monasteries, but also of double monasteries. In fact, in general the aristocratic women who engaged in the foundation of monasteries – such as the Merovingian Gertrude, daughter of Pippin the Elder, who founded the monastery of Nivelle around 650, the first in the region corresponding to the present Belgium, a double monastery with Irish monks led by an abbess – instituted monasteries composed of a male community and a female community, under the same rule and the same authority, often female; monasteries which were sometimes also 5 Cf. Venanzio Fortunato, Vite dei santi Ilario e Radegonda di Poitiers, XXI, 50, 116 (Ciardiello, Donne e cristianizzazione dell’Europa, cit.).

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family monasteries, where the male side was governed by the brother or the husband, the female side by the sister or the wife, all of aristocratic lineage. Early medieval hagiography is dominated by the figures of these founding aristocrats. But even in Ireland, from the 6th to the 8th century, which was the nerve centre of a new monastic Christianity, a woman, Brigid of Kildare, when still a girl, followed the inspiration of the legendary evangelizer Patrick, who according to tradition died in 461. Brigid, founder of double monasteries, was also accompanied by other Irish women, precious collaborators of the missionaries, generally brides of sovereigns, crucial figures in the evangelization of the Anglo-Saxon peoples, as Bede does not fail to tell. In the 7th century, holy English abbesses, urged by St. Boniface, left the cloister to help him in the enterprise of evangelizing Germany. Cultured, well prepared in Greek and Latin, these women also move out on their own, courageously, and establish double monasteries, obtaining good results in spreading the Christian religion, as is confirmed by the few letters of Saint Boniface that have still survived and were addressed to them. This first wave of double monasteries – which carry on a wellattested tradition in the East – lasts from the fifth to the ninth century in Europe, but then the crisis caused by Viking invasions hits hard against monasticism, which is reborn only in the middle of the eleventh century due to the Gregorian reform. At this point the monasteries choose to be reborn either for women only, or for men only, except for some unusual event that causes a stir, like that of Robert d’ Arbrissel, founder of the abbey of Fontevraud, a double monastery6. A strong supporter of women, Robert left his position to a woman, the abbess Pétronille de Chemillé, one of the many aristocrats who had left a comfortable life in a castle to follow him in poverty and peregrinations. Obeying women is an act of humility required by Robert from his brothers in order to achieve salvation. The monks agree to serve them – and for this, their social origin is important, because they are aristocrats superior to them in rank – but they refuse to agree to obey these women as mere servants. However, it is a little-known but interesting fact, that the order would remain double until it was disbanded by the revolution at the end of the eighteenth century. 6 Cf. J. Dalarun, L’impossible sainteté. La vie retrouvée de Robert d’Arbrissel [The Impossible Sanctity. The rediscovered life of Robert d’Arbrissel] (v. 1045-1 116) founder of Fontevraud, Les Éditions du Cerf, Paris, 1985.

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In this case, as in the numerous cases of the double monasteries that arose in Gaul and in Germany, the female authority is recognized also – if not above all – thanks to the aristocratic origins of the abbesses. The importance of belonging to the aristocracy is confirmed also by the last double monastery, founded in Valdstena in the second half of the fourteenth century by St. Brigid, who belongs to the royal lineage of Sweden. Here 60 nuns lived with the abbess, and under her authority there were 13 priests, 2 deacons, 2 sub-deacons and 8 lay brothers: it looks more like a feudal residence with servitude (in this case spiritual) than an actual monastery. Since the twelfth century, however, various councils and papal documents try to eliminate this concrete possibility of exercising authority over men by the abbesses of the double monasteries, which consequently began to disappear. Female authority is not recognized even if supported by membership of the aristocracy and more and more frequently ends up under episcopal control. Some exceptions remain: in 1266 Pope Clement IV allowed a group of Cistercian nuns fleeing from Byzantium, led by the abbess Dameta Paleologa – then related to the imperial dynasty – to settle in Puglia in the monastery of San Benedetto in Conversano, that had been abandoned by the monks, and to inherit all its prerogatives. Until the early nineteenth century, the abbess, mitered as a sign of her power even over the local clergy, who were forced to kiss her hand, enjoyed episcopal jurisdiction over her fiefdom. But, apart from such exceptions, women lost power, they were left with only that power which was recognized and limited to nuns in their own monastery. People forget that Augustin called the superior of the female monastery that he founded in Hippo the praeposita (a term corresponding to that which in the letters of Paul is assigned to priests), and that together with the hierarchical ministry she was also given the doctrinal ministry7. The authority of the female superior of monasteries was considered sacred, always expressed by definitions that indicated her spiritual motherhood. But it was not solely a matter of a spiritual prerogative: the female authority in late antiquity and especially during the medieval centuries was able to depend solely on membership of their social group, which even allowed women to enjoy some authority over men of a class less elevated than theirs. 7 See M. Carpinello, Le prime monache cristiane [The first Christian nuns], in M. Carpinello, Il monachesimo femminile [Female monasticism], Mondadori, Milan, 2002.

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Of course, there could be exceptions: Catherine of Siena was the daughter of a dyer, and she had to find support at the highest level, that is, God in person, who dictated what she was to say, in order to be heard by the ecclesiastical hierarchies. But remember that Catherine, who gave the pope excellent advice, even of a political nature, was never taken seriously as a counsellor, and that her rapid canonization was based solely on her rigid ascetic practice and on her miracles rather than this role of authority. Belonging to the aristocratic class – alongside her friend and spiritual sister Agnes of Bohemia – also helped Clare of Assisi in the long struggle with the pope for the approval of the rule that she herself had compiled for the sisters of San Damiano, an original proposal for the Christian life. But her struggle was long and difficult in order to gain acceptance of the “privilege of poverty”, that is, the refusal to possess goods whether individually or collectively, in a church that believed that female spirituality could only be expressed in the cloister, in the fundamental values of asceticism and virginity, for the preservation of which separation from the world was necessary. This battle condemned her to a harsh solitude, when she was abandoned even by the heirs of St. Francis, who did not follow the path outlined by their founder. Hers was an exceptional personality: popes and cardinals tried to change her mind, proposing rules to her which had already proved successful and were written by a male hand, but Clare did not yield, while still trying to keep alive her connections with the Franciscan order. In the text of the rule approved the day before she died – and though later restricted solely to the convent of San Damiano – Clare writes that only supreme poverty permits us to serve God with a free mind. She considers this freedom decisive, because according to her, women are entrusted with an important ecclesial mission in the renewal of faith, in reviving the message of Christ. In essence, as Chiara Frugoni writes in her beautiful book about Clare, “Clare does not care about the structures of ecclesiastical power and assigns to women, close to the Virgin, the grandiose and almost reckless task of sharing the divine mission, a sharing of the message of Christ who does not need earthly mediators, nor depend on the weight of their authority”8. If Clare had sought to open a way of freedom for women through poverty – and this meant the possibility of going out to perform a job, or 8 C. Frugoni, Una solitudine abitata. Chiara d’Assisi [An inhabited solitude. Clare of Assisi], Laterza, Rome-Bari, 2006, p. 57.

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to ask for alms – a similar path of freedom and authority was open to women through the use of money after the French revolution, at a time when state legislation in many countries prevented the survival of religious life based on seclusion and prayer, that is the only type of vocation which, from the Council of Trent onwards, had been allowed to women. The new women’s institutions, no longer able to count on any start-up capital, had to learn to live off their work, employment in healthcare that might be free for the poor but paid for by the wealthy. Without any doubt, the importance of these founding women in the history of the contemporary church has been underestimated: to a large degree their activity and their organizational skills helped contain secularization, at least in the nineteenth century, among the lower middle classes of Catholic countries like Italy and France. To these female founders we also owe a profound innovation in the relationship between religious persons and ecclesiastical power: with increasing independence, and reassured by their organizational and economic success, the sisters in the congregations of active life began to establish with their superiors a relationship based less on subjection, and more on autonomy. [They were] well aware that their entrepreneurial abilities put them in the role of those who can give money, and not of those who ask for it, as had always been the case in the past9. The success of these congregations in their initial phase was due to the fact that they offered women an autonomous space not only for religious life, but also for the affirmation of their individual capabilities. In fact the sisters had the opportunity of learning a profession (such as that of a teacher or a nurse), of travelling and “getting ahead” within the institution, possibilities that – it should be remembered – were not yet open to women in secular society. The economic structure of these new foundations was a true innovation: in fact, whereas the previous women’s institutions had arisen and survived over time only if they were guaranteed by economic security at their origin – that is, by the basic founding capital – and could increase the number of professed sisters only if the latter entered with a dowry that would guarantee their maintenance in the future, the congregations of active life broke the mould. They were founded with a minimum of 9 See in this regard L. Scaraffia, Fondatrici e imprenditrici [Founders and entrepreneurs], in Santi, culti, simboli nell’età della secolarizzazione [Saints, cults, symbols in the age of secularization] (1815-1915), edited by E. Fattorini, Turin, Rosenberg & Sellier, 1997 (sacro / santo, 11), pp. 479-493.

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initial capital and sometimes even zero capital, while their sustenance was guaranteed by the work of the nuns: hence it was capital arising out of the formation of the organization. The women founding the new congregations were in fact forced to acquire funds for their subsistence, and to manage them dynamically and productively. They therefore saw themselves compelled to engage in real and proper business activities. In this new phase we see the religious sisters obtaining two conditions that had always been denied them: the possibility of electing a female superior general who was to travel between the different institutions – the abbesses were resident: women did not travel – and, secondly, the autonomous administration of their property. This substantial change was permitted once again through the courage and tenacity of a woman, Teresa Eustochio Verzeri (1801-1852)10, the aristocratic Bergamese founder of the Daughters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in 1820, who within a few decades built a veritable chain of primary and senior schools for girls11. Teresa, of a noble family, was one of the most ardent supporters of the economic and organizational autonomy of the new congregations. She was in fact the first founder to ask explicitly for centralization of the assets of the congregation and their direct administration. “To the extent possible”, she writes, women “manage by themselves” – through the superior general, who was a new and still very controversial figure within the church. Anyway, Verzeri just went on in the same manner, sure of her plan – “this freedom is not only useful, it is necessary” she wrote to the pope – also thanks to the support of her family of origin. This noble from Bergamo thus made the request directly to Pius IX in 1847, saying that it was actually a domestic power, internal to the community, and managed to obtain consent, but only for her specific case. However, realizing that the decree approving the constitutions of her institution made no mention of the abolition of Quamvis justo, the declaration of Benedict XIV which prevented having a female superior general, Verzeri did not hesitate to intervene again at the Congregation of bishops and regulars, ensuring that the papal breve contained what was explicitly approved, so that the possibility of being governed by a female superior general was extended to all female congregations. 10

The cause for the canonization of Teresa Eustochio Verzeri was introduced in 1865; declared venerable in 1883, Verzeri was beatified in 1946, and was proclaimed a saint in 2001. 11 Cf. G. Arcangeli, Vita della serva di Dio Teresa Eustochio nob. Verzieri [The life of the servant of God Teresa Eustochio of the noble family of Verzieri], Brescia 1881.

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However, this ability of imposing herself against ecclesiastical power, cost her a major delay in the cause of her canonization, which came to a successful conclusion after almost a century and a half, unlike the speed with which similar proceedings for women founders had advanced, while it appears as a significant fact that, in the short biography dedicated to her, the Dictionary of Institutions of Perfection still does not mention her battle for the recognition of the female Superior General. As we can see from these examples, belonging to a high social class constituted for women, even if religious, the main way to be recognized for certain rights and degrees of authority, which then could also be exercised for the benefit of others. As a result, the expansion of democracy and the loss of weight of the upper classes in society that came about during the twentieth century even deprived women of this possibility. The dependency relationship between women and men in the church now appears unveiled in all its brutality. It is paradoxical, but while in society women were gaining a free and respected role, in the life of the church they also lost what little authority they had enjoyed in the past. The evangelical revolution – doubtless a feminist revolution – triumphs instead outside the church within society with its cultural matrix at once Christian and secularized. Undoubtedly, therefore, we need to trace through the past for the testimonies of a female authority that was recognized in Christian society, but in a wider interpretation than that on which the diaconate had been based. We have centuries of history to put forward as evidence in our favour, examples of female authority that was recognized and exercised wisely. This certainly does not mean regretting with nostalgia a time now lost, in which membership of a social class triumphed, but recognizing that this historically undeniable privilege has given women the opportunity to demonstrate their worth, and to create precedents to which we can refer today to claim recognition. Precedents which are not on the inside of a clerical discourse – as is partly the case with the Diaconate – but instead refer to a real journey in common, and therefore truly involving the synod, which is not solely envisaged and limited for the bishops (and maybe the clergy), but which must also involve finally welcoming and listening to lay people, and therefore to women. The first, and up till now, only recognition of a female role of authority accorded in the past was that of Paul VI, when in 1970 he opened also to women the possibility of being declared doctors of the Church, that is, recognising that women had contributed significantly to the development of the Christian tradition. Let’s not forget this – it might be a good starting point!

WOMEN DEACONS AS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR THE BELGIAN CHURCH? JOHAN VAN DER VLOET

With regard to the title of this contribution, which was given to me by the organisers, I am in two minds. On the one hand, a sense of relief: I do not need to get involved in the debate about female deacons and the official theology. That, I leave willingly to the canonical experts, the dogmatists and the ecclesiologists. On the other hand: the question formulated here feels rather strange. It looks like a rhetorical question. Everyone who hears and is in the slightest concerned about the place of women in the Church will probably immediately answer ‘Yes’. The focus that I therefore want to address is: suppose the diaconate for women does come, will it contribute anything to the evangelizing and humanizing power of the Church in our country? Does that give the Church growth opportunities to serve the world and fulfil her mission? What does this mean for people’s view of the Church in Belgium, and by extension in other Western European countries? Will it improve perception and increase attractiveness? In other words: would this be a good thing for society and for the Church itself? The question thus opens two branches of an answer: what would it mean within the church, and what would it mean for society? I will start with the social aspect and within that context, I will then look at the issue inside the church. That choice is not accidental: society challenges the Church to fulfil its ministry and, conversely, the Church challenges society to discover the humanizing power of the gospel. 1. SOCIETY What might it mean for society if we appoint women deacons? This question immediately raises another question: does what is happening within the church still have social relevance at all? I ask that critical question in two directions. On the one hand, does the Church bring a new message that touches and appeals to the people of today in their lives? On the other hand: does what is happening in society – in this case the

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emancipation of women and equal access to all functions – have any relevance for the Church? I am myself a deacon, and a permanent one at that. I find that if I’m introducing myself in a normal straightforward way – so in non-religious circles -, most people behave like I do myself if someone I meet greets me with ‘Hey, John how’s it going?’ and I cannot for the life of me think who it is. I don’t know how you would solve that dilemma. I myself just nod in a friendly way and say, ‘It’s been a while, how long ago was it?’ Only rarely, do I have the courage to say: ‘Please help me, where do I know you from?’. To say ‘I am a deacon’ evokes the same hesitation and confusion. Either my opposite number in the conversation nods wisely as though he knows what it is without daring to ask what sort of beast it might be exactly. Or he asks cautiously: ‘A deacon, that’s some kind of priest, huh?’ A few people are so honest as to admit they actually do not know what a deacon is. That gives me the opportunity to insert an evangelizing moment into the conversation. I am also sometimes addressed as ‘Mr. Deacon’, and I consider that an honour. Usually they then ask me to explain my identity according to what I can and cannot do. Just to point out: people are not really very concerned about the Church and how it is organized. So, you could say: whether we now add a deaconess or not, people couldn’t care less. Yet the appointment of women to become deacons would undoubtedly make the world press. The media would view the event as a breakthrough in the vision of the Church regarding women. In this sense, the deacons would immediately get the Church into the headlines, and in a good sense, which rarely occurs. Then at the same time we get a chance to explain who deacons are and that their name symbolizes what the Church wants to be for the world: providing relevant service. To employ women deacons would give out a double signal. In the first place, it would indicate that the Church should dare to question and rethink its own fixed structures, in dialogue with society. Secondly it would be an opportunity for clarifying the diaconate and hence the essence and reason for existence of Church. I will continue on both points. First: to rethink the structures in dialogue with society. Tradition is often invoked as an argument not to admit women to this office. Needless to say, this is at odds with everything that has developed within society. For many, the exclusion of women from this office is discrimination. To say that men and women are equal in the Church but that the office is not accessible to women, sounds hypocritical and hollow. Hardly anyone

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understands the theological arguments that link the office to the ‘symbolically masculine’. The argument that the Church is a world church and must take into account the sensitivities in other parts of the world may seem plausible. Still, you can ask yourself whether there are other parts of the world where no connection is made between religion and the cultural subordination of women. In this case, can the Church not fulfil a prophetic function by appointing women? In short, not only have theology and tradition lost their connection with modern thinking, but they are also missing a great opportunity by not entering into a dialogue with this thinking and feeling. I suspect that there is a kind of confusion here that I have noticed before, due to my studies in psychology and sociology: this lies between a certain sociological-historical context on the one hand and theological thinking on the other. All thinking is contextual. Looking at the evolution of the office, we see that the theology of ministry is strongly influenced by – say – the hierarchical view of the Franks and during the early Middle Ages by society. Therein, the office formed a kind of position of its own. And of course, it was all down to the men. In the first centuries of Christianity things were different. The theological committee on deaconesses, established by Pope Francis, has shown that there were indeed deaconesses in early Christianity. The office was then much more diverse than the official theology that developed later. As society changes, it is up to the theology to estimate what these social changes signify for the Church as signs of the times. I believe that the official theology needs to be revised. They can at the same time remain faithful to tradition and also, or maybe just because of that, be prophetic. It is precisely this prophetic interaction with tradition that makes the Church relevant to our society. No, that does not mean simply following the trend. However, this is what Gaudium et Spes means by ‘understanding the signs of the times ‘. The position of women in our society is such a sign that the Church must and can respond to it without losing her identity. Regarding the second point: our society sees less and less the reasons for the existence of the Church. And that certainly does not only apply to unbelievers. This is due to a persistent vision of the Church as an organ of power. Although some members of the hierarchy do their best to confirm that image, this has not been the case for some time. Especially in Flanders we always struggle with our past. At that time, the Church had an important and even hierarchical social function. It is clear that since Pope Francis, the Church wants to get away from this power thinking and to become a Church of service and humility. It is difficult to make this

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vision clear within society. If the Church appears in the news, it is often a result of scandals or abuse (of power). These obscure the prophetic and indispensable commitment of church people in parishes, hospitals, prisons and NGOs. There are so many people of faith committed to their neighbours in the good and bad times of their lives. Employing female deacons in the (Belgian) Church would demonstrate that great commitment. In this way, broader society would rediscover on a more principled level what the Church essentially wants to be: a serving church that wishes to remain close to people without discrimination by religion, gender, language or nation. The vocation to the diaconate is very enlightening and programmatic. It could not be clearer. The diaconate is the making present of the service that Jesus Christ wants to render to the world. ‘For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many’ (Mk 10:45). In that sense, the diaconate literally and effectively contradicts the hierarchical vision of power in the Church. To ordain women to become deacons would therefore be a unique opportunity to portray the office of deacon as a symbol of a serving Church. 2. WITHIN

THE

CHURCH

To prepare for this contribution, I conducted a small, non-representative survey of deacons and their spouses. There you can see two trends when it comes to female deacons. Somewhat to my surprise I also heard negative and even opposing noises. Some people – both women and men – find that no women should become deacons because women in that office would lead to quarrels. I almost dare not say it in these times of such high political correctness, but I assure you that I am quoting here: ‘Women squabble among themselves and this lasts for years; men discuss things to an end straight away.’ Others refer to the ‘type’ of women who want to become deacons: fanatical feminists or women who want absolutely to stand at the altar. I was shocked by those arguments, certainly at a time when sexism has been promoted to one of the deadly sins. I listened to it all, but I must confess that I was not able to find any good arguments. They are anecdotal and are guilty of generalization. Of course, a number of women have a rather feisty profile and perhaps they are therefore less suitable for service as deacons. But you can say the same of all offices and also of the men. It would appear that there are even priests who have a bad

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character. It is theoretically quite possible – even though I am not aware of it – that there are male deacons – in our context still a pleonasm – who are less suitable for their office. Perhaps there are women who want to do something in the Church but provoke conflicts because, in this masculine castle that is the Church, it is already difficult to get a place. Just as in the boards of directors of most companies. In such cases you often need to ‘stand up and be a man’ (!). However, the appointment of female deacons can cause resentment from these people and that is therefore a point to be considered. It may also be expected that within the Church more conservative currents will oppose the coming of deaconesses. For this purpose, they will probably also put forward theological arguments. For some of them, opening up the office of deacon to women is a break with, and even a betrayal of, tradition. There are of course other voices and they are in the majority. For example, the wife of one deacon wrote: ‘Women just as well have the gifts to be deacons. Many deacons deal with the organization of the parish, financial management, service to the less able, preaching, with leading in prayer services, baptisms, and funerals. All these tasks can equally well be carried out by women. This could bring more ‘ministers’ into the parishes where a Eucharistic celebration is not always offered any more.’ The same lady puts her finger on the wound as she continues: ‘The question here is actually about the added value of female deacons. Do we ask ourselves the same question about the added value of male deacons? Is this not a form of gender discrimination? In these times it would just be illogical to exclude women from this office within the Church. Women are currently eligible for all jobs, except for an office within the Church.’ She also indicates how women from their own particular characteristics can contribute to the ministry: ‘Maybe women in the Church can contribute more sympathy with difficulties in certain family situations. Consider, for example, problems concerning forming a family, family finances, upbringing, infertility and the desire for children ... The division of tasks in families is very often still quite traditional.’ One, not insignificant argument for the appointment of women deacons to which I want to draw attention, comes from psychology: a lot of women suffer from the fact that they are not allowed to become deacons. I notice that this is certainly the case with a number of wives of deacons. That also has to do with the practice that is or was present in quite a few dioceses: you carry out the training for the office of deacon as a couple. At a certain moment the man is ordained and the woman is not. For some

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that is a painful issue. People have wanted to solve this via the discourse about the ‘deacon couple ‘, but in fact this is not a correct vision. Moreover, it is assumed that the deacon’s wife will help to realize her husband’s calling. That is not necessarily the case. Of course, it is necessary that she agrees, but not that she ‘participates’. Strictly speaking, this also applies to the training programme. Another area of tension – whether or not this goes in parallel with the husband’s diaconate – is about the hard work of women in the Church. Without exaggeration, we can say that the Church is primarily driven by the commitment of women. That commitment demands appreciation. The recently published second annual report of the Church in Belgium shows that 79 percent of the appointed parish assistants and pastoral workers are women. This is 69 percent for catechists, and 48 percent for interdiocesan services. If we go from the lower to the higher levels, things are a bit less pronounced: among the members of the bishops’ councils we count 22 percent of women and in the services for church factories and finances 36 percent. The report states: ‘The results make it clear that women play an irreplaceable role for the future of the Church and the life of faith’ (p.8). It inspired Luk Vanmaercke, the editor-in-chief of Kerk & Leven, to the following comment: ‘An editor-in-chief of Kerk & Leven must also occasionally be a little heretical. After all, sometimes society is wiser than doctrine. Don’t let anyone fool themselves, the emancipation of women is not a temporary phenomenon, but an irreversible process. Women will continue to work for equal opportunities, equal rights, equal pay, equal career possibilities. Wise men support that struggle and regard women not as a threat, but as an asset ... The world is so much more beautiful when it is in balance. The Church is aware of the challenge and is making measurable progress. Still, it can go somewhat faster and be more decisive. The debate about the ordination of women will not quietly disappear if we remain stubbornly silent about it”. (Kerk & Leven, December 4, 2019). Some say that an office is not necessary for doing all those tasks, or as Pope John Paul II put it: “The dignity of women is too great for a [mere] office (!).” This reasoning will not appeal to many people today. The office is of course a calling and a service, but it is also a recognition and a mission. Many people experience it that way – just look at the masses of people who still show up to witness an ordination. People appreciate one person’s commitment to others and that this commitment gets an official seal from the Church. I have seen and listened to a lot of sorrow from women. They feel unrecognized and bereft of a mission.

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For some wives of deacons this is a pain. They feel like an appendix, they experience the epithet ‘ deacon couple ‘ as a consolation prize. That is not always the case: some find a certain joy in supporting and joining in with their husband’s calling. Nevertheless, this subjective perception should not be the criterion for not ordaining women as deacons. CONCLUSION The appointment of women deacons – I choose to employ the inclusive language terms – would represent, both inside and outside the Church, a great opportunity for the Church in Belgium. The Church would have a positive social image. Ecclesiastically and psychologically it is a sign of appreciation and confirmation for the commitment of women in all parts of the Church. The counter-arguments are largely anecdotical or psychological. The crucial thing will now be how the implementation is managed and how the Belgian Church takes up this engagement to rethink and present herself.

WOMEN AND THE DIACONATE: ORDAINING CATHOLIC WOMEN FOR MINISTRY PHYLLIS ZAGANO “In the final analysis, the question had to be decided on the doctrinal level.” Benedict XVI, October 22, 2019

In a letter sent to the members of the International Theological Commission (ITC) who had gathered in Rome in late November 2019 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the ITC’s founding, Benedict XVI included an interesting footnote regarding the ITC’s work on women deacons. Commenting on the published 2002/2003 ITC document on the diaconate, Benedict wrote that, in his words: the “extensive study concluded with the assertion that the purely historical perspective did not allow for any definitive certainty to be reached. In the final analysis, the question [of women deacons] had to be decided on the doctrinal level.” We must make two immediate observations. First, the study was not at all “extensive” regarding the history of women ordained as deacons, thereby obviating any opportunity for “definitive certainty to be reached.” Second, the assertion that the question of women deacons had to be resolved on the doctrinal level seems to argue that the documented history of ordained women deacons is not material in the discussion. Of course, the doctrinal level is required, but not insofar as it discards history. Benedict was commenting on the 2002/2003 ITC document on the diaconate that included a short section on women deacons. However, we must recall that in 1997, the ITC prepared a much shorter, 17-page positive document on women deacons, which was voted on, printed, and numbered1. The ITC president and prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith at the time, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, refused to sign that short, positive document. 1

The ITC published the original “Le diaconat: évolution et perspectives” in 2002, and updated it in some languages in 2003. It is now on the CDF website in German, Hungarian (2002), Italian, Polish (2002), Portuguese (2002), Russian and Spanish (2002), in addition to the original French and the unofficial 2002 English translation, published by The London Truth Society.

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Instead, Cardinal Ratzinger named a new ITC subcommittee and appointed one of his former graduate students as its chair2. The 2002/2003 ITC document resulting from the ensuing five years’ work devoted less than ten percent of its 30,000 words to the history of women deacons3. In addition, the 2002/2003 ITC document included eighteen sentences or sections copied or paraphrased from a work by a member of the new sub-commission, Gerhard L. Müller, then a professor of dogmatic theology at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich4. Unlike the refereed scholarship available at the time, significant portions of this second ITC document attempt to connect the diaconate with priesthood. The second ITC document appeals in part to the “iconic argument,” first used to disqualify women priests in Inter Insigniores, a 1976 declaration of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith5. Note, however, that the iconic argument does not appear in Ordinatio Sacerdotalis, the 1994 Apostolic Letter of John Paul II, also on priesthood. Yet both Inter Insigniores, with the iconic argument and Ordinatio Sacerdotalis, without the iconic argument, appeared before the completion of either the 1997 or the 2002 ITC documents. The conundrum is apparent: if the iconic argument is so important regarding women deacons, why was it not in the first ITC document on women deacons and only added to the 2

The first ITC sub-committe was chaired by Mgr. Max Thurian and composed of the following members: H.E. Mgr. Christoph Schönborn OP, H.E. Mgr. Joseph Osei-Bonsu, Rev. Charles Acton, Mgr. Giuseppe Colombo, Mgr. Joseph Doré PSS, Prof. Gösta Hallonsten, Rev Father Stanislaw Nagy SCI, Rev. Henrique de Noronha Galvão. The second ITC subcommittee was chaired by Rev. Henrique de Noronha Galvão and composed of Rev. Santiago del Cura Elena, Rev. Pierre Gaudette, Mgr. Roland Minnerath, Mgr. Gehrard Ludwig Müller, Mgr. Luis Antonio G. Tagle and Rev. Ladislaus Vanyo. 3 Approximately 2,810 of some 29,600 words. 4 Compare, for example, From the Diakonia of Christ 3 and Priesthood and Diaconate 183, 185-186; From the Diakonia of Christ 4 and Priesthood and Diaconate 186, 184, 186, 187; From the Diakonia of Christ 5 and Priesthood and Diaconate 190-191; From the Diakonia of Christ 6 and Priesthood and Diaconate 187; From the Diakonia of Christ 19 and Priesthood and Diaconate 216; From the Diakonia of Christ 20 and Priesthood and Diaconate 216, 217, 204; From the Diakonia of Christ 22 and Priesthood and Diaconate 218; and From the Diakonia of Christ 23 and Priesthood and Diaconate 217. Some citations and footnotes are identical. See Gerhard L. Muller, Priesthood and Diaconate: The Recipient of the Sacrament of Holy Orders from the Perspective of Creation Theology and Christology, trans. Michael J. Miller (Ignatius, 2002). German original, Priestertum und Diakonat: Der Empfanger des Weihesakramentes in schopfungstheologischer und christologischer Prespecti. Johannes Verlag, 2000). See: “Ordain Catholic Women as Deacons” Harvard Divinity Bulletin (Summer/Autumn 2015) 10-12. 5 The iconic argument is rooted in dual-nature anthropology: humans have two natures and are neither equal nor the same. Single-nature anthropology posits that humans have one nature and two genders, and are therefore equal but not the same. See Mary Aquin O’Neill, “Toward a Renewed Anthropology,” Theological Studies 36 (1975): 734-36.

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second ITC document on the diaconate after the iconic argument had been discarded regarding women priests? The second ITC document on the diaconate argues against ordaining women as deacons with the discarded notion that a woman cannot image Christ. The supporting commentary in this second ITC document states the deacon both is and ministers in persona Christi servi. That is, the deacon is necessarily male because of his being and serving in the person of Christ. However, some earlier documents state that the deacon ministers in nomine ecclesiae. So, this new term describing the deacon appears to be an attempt to limit the diaconate as a permanent office to males. Hence, the following question forms the backdrop for any discussion of women in the ordained diaconate: Are women not made in the image and likeness of God; can women be icons of Christ? Despite direct and indirect efforts to connect the priesthood and the diaconate in the second 2002/2003 ITC document on the diaconate, these efforts were not enough to rule out the possibility of sacramentally ordaining women as deacons. The ITC had three conclusions: First, it found distinctions between the ministries of male and female deacons, and implied (I believe falsely) that men’s and women’s ordination ceremonies were materially different. Second, it found that the ecclesial tradition, especially in the teaching of the Second Vatican Council and the post-conciliar Magisterium, emphasizes the unity of the sacrament of order while clearly distinguishing episcopal and presbyteral ministries on the one hand and diaconal ministry on the other. And, third, it referred a decision to higher authority, to the “ministry of discernment the Lord has established in his Church to pronounce authoritatively on this question.6” 6 “Concernant l’ordination de femmes au diaconat, il faut observer deux éléments importants résultant de ce que nous avons exposé. Premièrement, les diaconesses dont il est fait mention dans la tradition de l’Église ancienne (selon ce que le rite d’institution et les fonctions exercées suggèrent) ne peuvent pas être assimilées purement et simplement aux diacres. Deuxièmement, la tradition ecclésiale, surtout dans la doctrine du concile Vatican II et dans l’enseignement du Magistère postconciliaire, souligne fortement l’unité du sacrement de l’Ordre, dans la claire distinction entre les ministères de l’évêque et des presbytres d’une part et le ministère diaconal d’autre part. À la lumière de ces éléments mis en relief par la présente recherche historico-théologique, il revient au ministère de discernement que le Seigneur a établi dans son Église de se prononcer avec autorité sur la question.” The document was composed in French. The English translation published on the Vatican website is far weaker: “2. The unity of the sacrament of Holy Orders, in the clear distinction between the ministries of the bishop and the priests on the one hand and the diaconal ministry on the other, is strongly underlined by ecclesial tradition, especially in the teaching of the Magisterium.” English: http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/cti_documents/ rc_con_cfaith_pro_05072004_diaconate_en.html; French: http://www.vatican.va/roman_ curia/congregations/cfaith/cti_documents/rc_con_cfaith_pro_05072004_diaconate_fr.html

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The end, to paraphrase T.S. Eliot, is where they started from7, and the end appears to have been to leave the question open. So, we must ask: How can the Church pronounce authoritatively on the question of women deacons? I posit two main avenues of discussion: I. History as predictor of doctrine; II. The ministry of women today. I. HISTORY AS PREDICTOR OF DOCTRINE We can understand the value Jesus placed on the ministry of women through New Testament evidence: witness Mary Magdalene, Joanna and Susanna (Luke 8:1-3). When we examine the writings of Paul, we learn that the only minister called “deacon” is Phoebe, who it is said carried Paul’s Letter to the Romans. (Rom. 16:1). In Paul’s list of the overall qualities for deacons in his First Letter to Timothy many, if not most, scholars agree that he includes the qualities of women deacons (1 Tim. 3-11)8. The existence of women deacons is an undisputed fact of the early Church, East and West and today some, like Tryphena, Macrina, Radegund, and Phoebe, are revered as saints. Even so, the meaning of the history of women in the diaconate has been debated for centuries. There are two essential questions in the historical debate. First: what liturgical rituals were used for the ordinations of women deacons? Second: what were the tasks and duties of these women deacons? 1. What is the nature of the liturgical rituals used to create women deacons? We have records of ordination prayers from the Church’s earliest days, for example, in the Apostolic Constitutions 8.19-20: 19.1. But now, concerning a deaconess, I Bartholomew make this teaching. 19.2. O bishop, you will lay your hands on her in the presence of the presbyters and of the deacons and deaconesses, and you will say:

7 T.S. Eliot, Four Quartets, Little Gidding. “What we call the beginning is often the end/And to make an end is to make a beginning./The end is where we start from. And every phrase/And sentence that is right (where every word is at home,/Taking its place to support the others,/” 8 Jennifer H. Stiefel, “Women Deacons in 1 Timothy: A Linguistic and Literary Look at ‘Women Likewise…’ (1 Tim. 3.11),” New Testament Studies 41 (1955): 442-57.

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8:20. “O Eternal God, the father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Creator of man and woman, who filled with the Spirit Miriam and Deborah and Anna and Huldah, who did not disdain that your only begotten son should be born of a woman, who also in the tabernacle of testimony and in the Temple appointed the guardians of your holy gates (Ex 38:8; 1 Sam 2:22). 20.2. now also, look upon your servant who is to be appointed to the diaconate and give to her the holy Spirit and cleanse her from all filthiness of flesh and spirit that she may worthily perform the work which is entrusted to your glory and the praise of your Christ, through whom glory and worship be to you and to the holy Spirit forever. Amen.9”

In addition to the earliest documents, there are significant manuscripts of liturgical rituals for creating women deacons deposited in various libraries, including five in the Vatican Apostolic Library: three from the East: Barberini gr. 336 (780), Vatican Manuscript gr. 1872 (1100), and the Codex Syriacus Vaticanus No. 19 (1550), and two from the West: Vatican Reginae lat. 337 (850) and the Ottobonianus lat. 313, Paris (850). Other manuscripts and sacramentaries, with the “Ordo ad diaconam faciendam,” are held in Austria, England, France, and Germany, and elsewhere in Italy10. We can assume these preserved liturgies were used to ordain women as deacons. In general, they include the following: women were ordained by their bishops within the sanctuary, in the presence of the clergy, through the imposition of hands by the invocation of the Holy Spirit; the bishop placed a stole around their necks, they took the chalice into their own hands and drank from it. Most importantly, the bishop called them deacons. Even so, the determinations of the meaning of these manuscripts and sacramentaries remain part of the discussion. When and where were these liturgies performed? Did the bishops who used them intend to “ordain” women as we understand the term today?

9 Kevin Madigan and Carolyn Osiek, Women in the Early Church, (Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005) 113-114, citing F.X. Funk, ed., Didascalia et Consitutiones Apostolorum, Paderborn : F. Schoeningh, 1905, 1.524. The rite for women deacons appears in the Apostolic Constitutions after the rite for male deacons and before the rite for sub-deacons. 10 For example, from the East, the Bessarion Manuscript (1020) at the monastery at Grotta Ferrata; the Coislin gr. 213 (1050) at the National Library in Paris. From the West, notably the Cambrai Manuscript 164 at the Cambrai Municipal Library (811); the Leofric Missal of Exeter at the Bodleian Library, Oxford (1050); and the Ordo Romanus of Hittorp, Cologne (850) and the Pontificals of St Alban Abbey, Mainz (1030), the Abbey of Monte Cassino (1035), and Vallicella D5, Rome (1050), among others.

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We have some evidence from the Church’s early centuries of the names of the bishops and the women they ordained as deacons. The Life of Olympias recounts her ordination by Nectarius, Archbishop of Constantinople during the late fourth century, while she was in her thirties and despite the canons restricting such ordination to women of sixty. Because Olympius was a monastic superior, some scholars posit that her position as such may have led to the confusion between monastic superiors and women deacons11. However, we know that three other members of Olympius’s monastery (Elisanthia, Martyria and Palladia) were subsequently ordained by John Chrysostom12. In Armenia, also in the final years of the fourth century, Bishop Otreius ordained Dionysia13. In sixthcentury Gaul, despite various prohibitions against women deacons, Médard, Bishop of Noyons and Tournai consecrated Radegunda as deacon14. Were there others? Surely the extant lists of women deacons evidence that they were ceremonially acknowledged as members of the clergy by the very fact of the surviving liturgies. And we know that Ottone, bishop of Lucca, Italy, ordained women deacons during the twelfth century15. In the seventeenth century, John Morin evaluated the then-extant liturgies for ordaining women as deacons and found they met the Council of Trent’s criteria for sacramental ordination16. Nearly one hundred years later, his opinion was countered by Jean Pien17. The disagreements have continued to this day. 11 Madigan and Osiek, Women in the Early Church, 43-43, citing Anne-Marie Malingrey, Vie anonyme d’Olympias, SC 13 (1968) : 418-20. 12 Madigan and Osiek, Women in the Early Church, 34, citing (among others) Malingrey, SC 13bis (1968) : 420 ; Josephine Mayer, Monumenta de viduis diaconissis virginibusque tractantia. Florilegium Patristicum 42. Bonn: Peter Hanstein, 1938, 28. 13 Madigan and Osiek, Women in the Early Church, 33, citing (among others) R.M. Price, Cyril of Scythopolis : The Lives of the Monks of Palestine (Kalamazoo : Cistercian Publications, 1991) 4,6. 14 Madigan and Osiek, Women in the Early Church, 142-143, citing Venanti Honori Clementiani Fortunati presbyteri italici Opera pedestria, ed. Bruno Krusch, MGH Antiquissimi (Berlin : Weidemanns, 1885), 4.2, 41. 15 “Ottone”: “Durante il suo governo, a Lucca esisteva sempre l’ufficio delle Diaconesse, cessato ormai ovunque.” Umberto Nicolai, I Vescovi di Luca (Luca: Tipografia Bicchelli, 1966), 17. See Marcia Colish, “Otto of Lucca, Author of the Summa sententiarum?” in Discovery and Distinction in the Early Middle Ages: Studies in Honor of John J. Contreni, ed. Cullen Chandler and Steven A. Sofferahn (Kalamazoo: Medieval Institute, 2013), 58–79. 16 Jean Morin, Commentarius de sacris ecclesiae ordinationibus secundum antiquos et recentiores latinos, graecos, syros et babylonios in tres partes distinctus, 1655, 1695; reprt. Farnborough: Gregg. 1969. 17 Jean Pien, Tractatus Praeliminaris De Ecclesiae Diaconissis. In Acta Sanctorum, eds. J. Bollandus et al. September, I, i-xxviii. Antwerp: Bernard Albert Vander Plassch, 1746.

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The determination that the extant liturgies document sacramental ordinations include analysis of their structure and the assumption of the ordaining bishops’ intents18. The counter arguments reduce to an assertion that women – then or now – are unable to receive the sacrament of orders combined with the assertion that the ordaining bishops did not or could not intend to perform a sacrament. Why would women be unable to receive sacramental ordination? Because they cannot image Christ. Did the ordaining bishops intend to perform a sacrament? It would be scandalous to perform a liturgy and not intend its full effect. Of course, the liturgical-historical argument becomes more convoluted as the Church’s definition of sacrament as it evolved over the centuries is considered. How else can history enlighten the question? 2. What were the tasks and duties of these women deacons? The scholarly “conversation” between Roger Gryson and Aimé George Martimort in the 1970s and 1980s repeats the liturgical disagreements and adds considerations of the tasks and duties of the Church’s women deacons. Gryson found in favor of women deacons; Martimort essentially found against, although he concludes his booklength deliberations by stating the history alone is not dispositive19. Martimort writes: …the conclusion that must impose itself at the termination of a historical study such as ours, conducted in accordance with the requirements of modern scholarship, is that theologians must strictly guard against trying to prove hypothesis dependent upon only a part of the documentation available, a part taken out of context at that. The complexity of the facts about deaconesses and the proper context of these facts prove to be quite extraordinary. There exists a significant danger of distorting both the facts and the texts whenever one is dealing with them secondhand20. 18

Cipriano Vagaggini presents an excellent review, albeit solely of Eastern women deacons and their ordination liturgies. L’ordinazione delle diaconesses nella tradizione greca e bizantina, Orientalia cristiana periodica 40 (1974): 145-89. 19 Roger Gryson, The Ministry of Women in the Early Church, trans. J. Laporte and M.L. Hall, Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 1974; Le ministère des femmes dans l’Église ancienne, Gembloux, Duculot (coll. « Recherches et synthèses – Section d’Histoire », 4), 1972; A.-G. Martimort, “A propos des ministères féminins dans l’Eglise,” Bulletin de littérature ecclésiastique 74 (1973): 103-8; Les Diaconesses: Essai historique. Rome: Edizione Liturgiche, 1982. 20 Martimort, Les Diaconesses, p. 249.

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In fact, the information available to both Gryson and Martimort in the 1970s and 1980s was, and remains, only a part of the documentation. Both sides of the discussion can and will continue to mine what can be found to each’s advantage. Even so, it is realistic to assume that all can agree that the women deacons of history met the ministerial needs – including the sacramental needs – of their times and places. There is implicit and explicit documentation that women deacons served in ways supportive of their historical sacramental ordination: they anointed baptizandae in baptism, they anointed and brought Eucharist to ill women and, at least within their monasteries, they preached. They who deny such evidence stress the non-sacramental duties of women deacons: guarding the entryways and maintaining order in the women’s portions of the assembly, catechizing and providing general ministry to women and children. The negative voices often dismiss the women deacons’ roles in baptism as anachronistic, and completely ignore their anointing and carrying Eucharist to ill women. The predominate negative voices, those of Manfred Haucke and Gerhard L. Müller21, are joined by a few others22, and Martimort’s work is the most generally cited by them as well as by more popular writers. However, in summarizing the contemporary discussion Pietro Sorci points out that Martimort, to whom the deniers most often aver, used the seventh century Ordo Romanus to establish criteria for the diaconate – male and female – of the ancient world23.

21 M. Haucke, “Die Geschichte der Diakonissen” in Diakonat und Diakonissen, Leo Scheffczyk, ed., St. Ottilien: Verlad Erzabtei (2003) 321-58; Muller, Priesthood and Diaconate. 22 For example, K.-H. Menke, “Die triadische Einheit des Ordo und die Frage nach einem Diakonat der Frau, Theologie und Philosophie 88 (2013) 340-71. 23 Pietro Sorci presents a salient footnote regarding A.G. Martimort, Les diaconesses. Essai historique, Rome 1982: “Martimort’s conclusions, especially pp. 150-155; 246-251. To prove his thesis he chooses as a criterion the figure of the male deacon that emerges from the Ordo Romanus I of the seventh century to verify the presence or absence of a female diaconate, as if throughout the centuries the deacon did not undergo deep transformations, such as indeed occurred with the bishop and the presbyter; Martimort minimizes all the similarities and maximizes all the differences found in the ordination rites and in the functions of the deacon and the deaconess, taking for granted that the [ordained] ministry of a man and of a woman must be identical.” Pietro Sorci, “The Diaconate and Other Liturgical Ministries of Women” in Phyllis Zagano, ed., Women Deacons? Essays with Answers. Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 2016, p. 58n6. Pietro Sorci, “Diaconato e altri ministeri liturgici della donna,” in La Donna nel pensiero Cristiano antico, ed. Umberto Mattioli (Genova: Marietti Editore, 1992), 331-64.

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II. THE MINISTRY OF WOMEN

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The ministries of women deacons outlined above, whether considered as necessarily ordained ministry or not, met the needs of their precise places in history, in various times and places across the centuries and around the globe. Should the tasks and duties of women deacons from ancient times determine what ordained women deacons would do today? Is the functional history of women deacons, of their historically documented tasks and duties, liable to fall into the trap of “functionality” without any recognition of the current needs of the Church and how those needs are being met and can be met? Is the problem with ordained women deacons a question of symbolism? Three areas of discussion present themselves: First, the roles of women in the Church today; Second, the question of “Functionality” and the diaconate of women; Third, the problem of symbolism: women at the altar? 1. The roles of women in the Church today Pope Francis often says the role of women should be more than pure functionality. In his closing remarks to the 2019 Synod for the Pan-Amazon, the pope implicitly criticized the section on women in the Final Document, calling it a bit short. He said, “I would like to underline this: we still have not realized what women mean in the Church…The role of women in the Church goes far beyond mere functionality.24” What, exactly, was the pope reacting to? The operative paragraph regarding women deacons in the Final Synod Document, states: 103. In the many consultations carried out in the Amazon, the fundamental role of religious and lay women in the Church of the Amazon and its communities was recognized and emphasized, given the wealth of services they provide. In a large number of these consultations, the permanent diaconate for women was requested. This made it an important theme during the Synod. The Study Commission on the Diaconate of Women which Pope Francis created in 2016 has already arrived as a Commission at partial findings regarding the reality of the diaconate of women in the early centuries of the Church and its implications for today. We would therefore like to

24 https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2019-10/pope-francis-amazon-synodclosing-speech.html

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share our experiences and reflections with the Commission and we await its results25.

The important sentence, of course, is “In a large number of these consultations, the permanent diaconate for women was requested.” The fact that the question was referred back to a Commission that may have been charged only with historical observations can force the question into an unending loop. In the broader comments in the Synod’s Final Document, those regarding the role of women in the Church, we find several mentions of what women can do. But we do not find indications of how they can image the risen Lord or how they can minister in the name of the Church. We do not find indications of how they can be and serve in persona christi servi, or in nomine ecclesiae. The missing commentary seems to demonstrate what the pope means by “functionality.” It seems that, for the most part, women appear in the Final Synod Document only insofar as they are suited for and serve a purpose, not for their intrinsic nature. Note that the prior paragraphs in the Final Synod Document to the unusual paragraph on women deacons seem hopeful. Individually, they 1) cite Francis’s intent to have a “more incisive female presence in the Church” (99); 2) point out the post-Conciliar magisterial effort to highlight “the central place that women occupy within the Church” (100); 3) state that women “should be consulted and participate in decisionmaking” (101); and 4) ask that the “Motu Proprio of St. Paul VI, Ministeria quaedam (1972) be revised, so that women who have been properly trained and prepared can receive the ministries of Lector and Acolyte, among others to be developed.” (102)

25 http://www.sinodoamazonico.va/content/sinodoamazonico/en/documents/finaldocument-of-the-amazon-synod.html. The original Spanish: “103. En las múltiples consultas realizadas en el espacio amazónico, se reconoció y se recalcó el papel fundamental de las mujeres religiosas y laicas en la Iglesia de la Amazonía y sus comunidades, dados los múltiples servicios que ellas brindan. En un alto número de dichas consultas, se solicitó el diaconado permanente para la mujer. Por esta razón el tema estuvo también muy presente en el Sínodo. Ya en 2016, el Papa Francisco había creado una Comisión de Estudio sobre el Diaconado de las Mujeres que, como comisión, llegó a un resultado parcial sobre cómo era la realidad del diaconado de las mujeres en los primeros siglos de la Iglesia y sus implicaciones hoy. Por lo tanto, nos gustaría compartir nuestras experiencias y reflexiones con la Comisión y esperamos sus resultados.” http://www.sinodoamazonico.va/content/sinodoamazonico/es/documentos/documento-final-de-la-asambleaespecial-del-sinodo-de-los-obispo.html

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2. “Functionality” and the diaconate of women However, do these Synodal suggestions point merely to “functionality” as the pope understands it? None formally requires sacramental ordination. Again, the question arises: What does the Pope mean by “functionality”? To find an answer, it is helpful to look back to the 2002/2003 ITC document on the diaconate, in which the writers concluded: With regard to the ordination of women to the diaconate, it should be noted that two important indications emerge from what has been said up to this point: 1. The deaconesses mentioned in the tradition of the ancient Church – as evidenced by the rite of institution and the functions they exercised – were not purely and simply equivalent to the deacons; 2. The unity of the sacrament of Holy Orders, in the clear distinction between the ministries of the bishop and the priests on the one hand and the diaconal ministry on the other, is strongly underlined by ecclesial tradition, especially in the teaching of [the Second Vatican Council and the post-conciliar] Magisterium. In the light of these elements which have been set out in the present historico-theological research document, it pertains to the ministry of discernment which the Lord established in his Church to pronounce authoritatively on this question26.

Please note that the French text, as corrected in 2003, is much stronger on the Magisterial teaching that the diaconate and the priesthood, part of the one holy order, are still separate and distinct offices. The French refers to “la doctrine du concile Vatican II et dans l’enseignement du Magistère postconciliaire” –the “doctrine of the Second Vatican Council” and “the post-conciliar teaching of the Magisterium.27” This finding of the International Theological Commission, that both Vatican II and post-conciliar Magisterial teaching affirm the distinction between the diaconate and the priesthood as well as the one sacrament 26 The English translation of the document on the Vatican webpages eliminates “of the Second Vatican Council and the post-conciliar Magisterium.” It was produced by the Catholic Truth Society (London), although the publication states “Please note that this [English] translation of the original French text was produced by the Catholic Truth Society at the behest of the International Theological Commission and has not been submitted to the Holy See for official recognitio.” From the Diakonia of Christ to the Diakonia of the Apostles, Chicago: Hillenbrand Books, 2004. The book’s title is that of the document’s first chapter, not of the document. http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/ cfaith/cti_documents/rc_con_cfaith_pro_05072004_diaconate_en.html 27 The complete French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish ITC documents appear on the Vatican’s website, each with the proper wording regarding Vatican Two and the Magisterium; the Hungarian, Polish and Russian are incomplete, with a 2003 note to the Russian that the complete document would be published “shortly.”

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of order, echoes the teaching contained in the 1983 Catechism of the Catholic Church. Following Ad gentes (1965)28, the 1983 Catechism clearly distinguishes the orders, stating in Nos.1562-1568 that priests are “bound together by an intimate sacramental brotherhood” that does not include the diaconate, while deacons are ordained “to serve.” Further, the Catechism states “The sacrament of Holy Orders marks them [deacons] with an imprint (“character”) which cannot be removed, and which configures them to Christ, who made himself the ‘deacon’ or servant of all.29” The teaching of the Catechism, as affirmed by the ITC, was codified by Benedict XVI with Omnium in Mentem (2009) modifying Canons 1008 and 1009. Canon 1008 now reads: “They [those ordained] are thus consecrated and deputed so that, each according to his own grade, they may serve the People of God….” With Omnium in Mentem Canon 1009 gained a new, third paragraph: “Those who are constituted in the order of the episcopate or the presbyterate receive the mission and capacity to act in the person of Christ the Head, whereas deacons are empowered to serve the People of God in the ministries of the liturgy, the word and charity.” The Magisterium is clear: the diaconate is not the priesthood. The confusion created by the medieval codification of the cursus honorum (course of honor), which stipulated that no one was to be ordained deacon unless he was to be ordained a priest, rendered the diaconate a mere stage on the way to priesthood. That is why women were no longer ordained as deacons. The diaconate had withered from a ministry of service to a purely ceremonial office and eventually, with a few exceptions, it died out in the West. Even after the cursus honorum became law, women were still ordained as deacons in the West, primarily as monastic deacons30. But something else happened: women picked up diaconal ministry outside the cloister. In successive centuries and in various locals, they ministered to the sick, they buried the dead, they catechized children, they provided for the poor.

28 Second Vatican Council, Ad gentes, On the Mission Activity of the Church, 1965 http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_ decree_19651207_ad-gentes_en.html 29 Catechism of the Catholic Church, No, 1570, citing Mk 10:45, Lk 22:27, St. Polycarp, Ad Phil. 5, 2: SCh 10:182. 30 Successive popes conferred the privilege of ordaining women deacons in 1018, 1025, 1026,1037, and 1049, and there is evidence that women deacons existed in Lucca, Italy under Ottone, bishop there from 1139 to 1146. Gary Macy, The Hidden History of Women’s Ordination, Oxford University Press, 2008, 35, 93-96; Nicolai, I Vescovi di Luca.

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We know how Catherine of Siena (1347-1380) ministered outside the cloister. We know of the efforts of Mary Ward (1585-1645) and Louise de Marillac (1591-1660) to create a non-cloistered way for women to live and minister. We know of the hundreds of thousands, even millions of women throughout the succeeding centuries who lived what we now call apostolic religious life, ministering worldwide. While in the global North the response to a shrinking cadre of ordained ministers has often been to collapse and combine parishes, the Church in the global South recognizes the necessity for and vibrancy of local communities, especially in the Pan-Amazon region. The Pan-Amazon Synod pointed out that nearly two-thirds of those local parish communities are headed by women, mainly by apostolic women religious, who provide catechetical instruction to all, who minister to the sick and dying, and who bury the dead. In some regions, bishops have given these women parish leaders permission to solemnly baptize and to witness marriages, but these permissions are mere recognitions of the functions they perform. That is why the Synod for the Pan-Amazon implicitly asked for women deacons. That is why the Second Vatican Council restored the diaconate as a permanent office. In his Motu Proprio Sacrum Diaconatus Ordinem, General Norms for Restoring the Permanent Diaconate in the Latin Church (1967), Paul VI wrote: Although some functions of the deacons, especially in missionary countries, are in fact accustomed to be entrusted to lay men it is nevertheless “beneficial that those who perform a truly diaconal ministry be strengthened by the imposition of hands, a tradition going back to the Apostles, and be more closely joined to the altar so that they may more effectively carry out their ministry through the sacramental grace of the diaconate.” Certainly, in this way the special nature of this order will be shown most clearly. It is not to be considered as a mere step towards the priesthood, but it is so adorned with its own indelible character and its own special grace so that those who are called to it “can permanently serve the mysteries of Christ and the Church.31”

Should the same logic not apply to the women who do the diaconal work of the Church? In Lumen gentium 29, the Council recognized the fact that deacons are ordained “not unto the priesthood, but unto a ministry of service. 31 http://w2.vatican.va/content/paul-vi/en/motu_proprio/documents/hf_p-vi_motuproprio_19670618_sacrum-diaconatus.html citing Second Vatican Council, Decree: Ad gentes, n. 16; A.A.S. 58 (1966) p. 967 and A.A.S. 57 (1965) p. 46.

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3. The problem of symbolism: women at the altar Women can perform all the “functions” of the deacon insofar as they are authorized by their local ordinary: they can administer baptism; they can reserve the Eucharist, distribute it, bring it as Viaticum; they can provide benediction with the Blessed Sacrament; they can witness and bless marriages; they can administer sacramentals, officiate at funerals and burials; they can preach and preside at worship and the liturgy of the Word in the absence of a priest; they can carry out the works of charity, administration, and social assistance in the name of the Church; they can promote the apostolic activities of the laity. Not only “can” women perform these functions, they do, every day in every territory. Except. The tasks and duties of deacons, well-delineated by official documents, are and can be symbolized by their preaching during the celebration of the Mass. Only a cleric who is participating in a given Mass may preach the homily during it. The deacon can and often is the more appropriate preacher to examine and explain the Word of God from the standpoint of diaconal works. The deacon, ordained to the Word, the liturgy, and charity, can properly explain the relationship between the Word and charity formally during the liturgy. Which brings us back to the original, rather neuralgic problem. The woman ordained as deacon, thereby admittedly able to represent Christ, the risen Lord, would participate in formal liturgies. The woman deacon would be vested. The woman deacon would properly proclaim the Gospel. The woman deacon might preach. The woman deacon would serve diaconal functions at the altar. She would touch sacred vessels. She would assist in the distribution of Communion. She would speak directly to the assembly, and even dismiss it. The Church suffers a long history of misogyny. Can the Church of the twenty-first century accept a woman at the altar? CONCLUSIONS The end is where we started from. The problem, both implicit and explicit, both historical and doctrinal, is whether a woman can be the icon of Christ, the risen Lord. Can the Church accept an ordained woman deacon? If history is the predictor, the answer is yes. If the present is the predictor, the answer is also yes. There is no need for the ministry of women to be restricted by misogyny; there is no reason that women cannot be icons of Christ.

EXPERIENCES AS A MEMBER OF THE PONTIFICAL COMMISSION THE WORK EXECUTED BY THE COMMISSION BERNARD POTTIER sj

1. THE NOMINATIONS In August 2016, a Jesuit companion said to me at table: “So, you’ve been nominated again to a new pontifical commission?” I was surprised, I asked him where he’d got this information. He had read it on the Internet. So, I went to look for myself on the Internet, and indeed, I saw that the pope, “dopo intensa preghiera e matura riflessione”, had decided to appoint a commission to study the historical facts concerning women deacons in the Church during the first millennium. The commission is made up of six men and six women, whose names are listed on the website. Mine is there, and I know a few other people, who have been named. Shortly, I’ll tell you why. It was indeed a second nomination, since I had already been a member of the International Theological Commission (= ITC) since 2014. Nevertheless, I was surprised. I later received a letter signed on August 2, 2016 by his Eminence Mgr Parolin, Secretary of State, and enclosed a letter dated September 5, 2016 from the Secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (= CDF), Mgr Ladaria. Throughout this presentation, I will not cite any names of people from the committee, because we were required during our work to maintain absolute discretion, and I assume that such discretion remains to some extent, now that our report has been delivered. Because there were challenging developments that affect the future. There is, however, one name that I will sometimes mention, that of Ms Phyllis Zagano, here present, Research Professor at Hofstra University in New York. Because not only did she and I work a lot together, during the two years of the commission, that is until June 2018, but then we continued to collaborate for conferences carried out together in the United States (January 2019, Fordham

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University, NY) and Portugal (April 2019, Lisbon and Porto), and an article published in Canada in French, signed under both our names, in the journal Laval philosophique et théologique1. This article will soon also be published in English and Spanish. Why did Pope Francis nominate this commission? On May 12, 2016, in Rome, he had met with the members of the International Union of Superiors General (UISG), and following a question from a participant concerning the ministerial role of women in the Church, he had reacted by saying that he was concerned about this point and would think about it. “A commission seems useful to me to clarify this matter, especially concerning the early days of the Church,” concluded the pope. This reflection came to fruition in August of the same year, and without consulting the twelve members concerned – that’s how it was – the Holy Father set up this commission to the surprise of all, including members responsible for the mission. This list included a group of six male and six female theologians with various outlooks – that was obvious at first glance – and that could only have been a conscious wish. It was undoubtedly also the first pontifical commission with perfect parity between men and women in the history of the Church. In any case, I cannot see any other example in history before today. Why had I been chosen for this commission? What were my skills? For Professor Zagano, the choice was perfectly justified. Her research activities on this subject were numerous and covered a considerable period of time. For my part, in 1998 I had published with Alphonse Borras, here present, the book, “La grâce du diaconat” [“The grace of the diaconate”], in which I had written the chapter entitled “Des diaconesses de jadis au diaconat féminin de demain”2 [“From the deaconesses of the past to the female diaconate of tomorrow”]. This book, which we had written jointly, was the result of a Master’s seminar held at the Institute for Theological Studies (IET) in the second semester of 1995-1996. It was quickly translated into Italian and more recently into Portuguese.

1 Phyllis ZAGANO and Bernard POTTIER, SJ, “Que savons-nous des femmes diacres?” [“What do we know about women deacons?”] in Laval théologique et philosophique, 74/3 (October 2018), p. 437-445. 2  La grâce du diaconat. Questions actuelles autour du diaconat latin [“The grace of the diaconate. Current questions around the Latin diaconate”], in collaboration with Alphonse BORRAS, Lessius, Bruxelles, 1998, 214 p. [Italian translation Cittadella Editrice 2005; Brazilian translation Edições Loyola 2010]. The chapter cited can be found on pages 153-191.

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This 1996 seminar was a matter of burning interest at the time, since it closely followed the Apostolic Letter Ordinatio sacerdotalis of John Paul II of May 22, 19943. The position presented in Ordinatio sacerdotalis: “that this judgment is to be definitively held by all the Church’s faithful.”4 was already that of the declaration Inter insigniores (15 October 1976)5 of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. This first text, clearly more developed, however had less authority in the hierarchy of the assertions of the ordinary Magisterium. On the other hand, what probably escaped the attention of many, was the reason for the 1976 declaration. The General Synod of Bishops of Germany (1972-1975) had studied in detail the possibility for women to receive ordination as deacons – the question could now arise since the restoration of the permanent diaconate, without automatically leading to that of the presbyteral ordination. Since the invited experts, Y. Congar, P. Hünermann and G. Vorgrimler, had seen no dogmatic impediment in this, the Synod presented to the Pope the request to examine the question and to consider the possibility of the ordination of a female diaconate6. The answer to the German question came from Rome the following year, indirectly: it was out of the question to ordain women priests. Are we to understand that by modifying the terms of the debate, Rome was not therefore formally opposed to the ordination of female deacons? The official commentary accompanying the declaration Inter insigniores declares that this question is on hold7. The Church indeed seems to have known deaconesses in the past. A number of recent works had studied their history in depth, particularly those of R. Gryson and A.G. Martimort, who hold diametrically opposite positions8. As it happens I had taken Professor Roger Gryson’s courses in Louvain-la-Neuve several years earlier. So, I also knew the subject from that perspective.

3

Documentation Catholique No. 2096, June 19, 1994, p. 551-552. Documentation Catholique No. 2096, p. 552. 5 Documentation Catholique No. 1714, February 20, 1977, p. 158-164. 6 Cf. Nocke Fr.-J., in Handbuch der Dogmatik, ed. Schneider Th., 2. Bd, Düsseldorf, Patmos, 1992, p. 358. – Gemeinsame Synode der Bistümer in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Offizielle Gesamtausgabe I, Freiburg, Herder, 1976, 634, votum 7.1, 3 °. 7 Documentation Catholique No. 1714, February 20, 1977, p. 168b: the question of the ordination of deaconesses, “The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith considered that it was necessary to put it to one side again and not to approach it in the current document”. 8 Gryson R., Le ministère des femmes dans l’Église ancienne, [“The ministry of women in the ancient Church”], Duculot, Gembloux, 1972 & Martimort AM, Les diaconesses. Essai historique [“Women deacons. A Historical essay”], Ed. Liturgiche, Rome, 1982. 4

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2. OUR

MISSION

Our mission was therefore to establish historically and theologically the facts concerning the first centuries in the life of the Church. Pope Francis did not ask for a theological reflection or pastoral recommendations on this subject. He wanted to have solid information, scientifically established, so he could rely on concrete material, seriously and impartially recognized by a commission of twelve specialists of various outlooks. Our report was not intended to be published, but was to be delivered to the Holy Father himself, for his personal use. Pope Francis appointed Archbishop Ladaria, then secretary of the CDF, and therefore right-hand man of his Eminence Cardinal-Prefect Gerhard Müller, to chair this commission. Our commission was therefore not officially or directly part of the CDF, but it nevertheless worked in the buildings, and in the shadow of this prestigious Congregation, without however being under the orders of Cardinal Müller. Why? The reason seemed obvious to us. Cardinal Müller, for years, had been writing very clearly along the lines of the impossibility of all female ordination, to any degree9. Entrusting this study directly to the CDF or to a sub-committee of the CDF, under the authority of Cardinal Müller, was impossible. The Holy Father therefore chose to entrust it to his secretary, Archbishop Ladaria. But the operation was, from the start, under a certain amount of tension. 3. THE CONGREGATION

FOR THE

DOCTRINE

OF THE

INTERNATIONAL THEOLOGICAL COMMISSION

(ITC)

FAITH (CDF) &

THE

What were the relationships of this new ad hoc commission on the female diaconate with the CDF or the ITC? What are their respective degrees of authority? The ITC had been created precisely 50 years ago in 1969 and it currently brings together 30 theologians from around the world for a 9 Illustrative bibliography: Gerhard Ludwig MÜLLER, Der Empfänger des Weihesakraments. Quellen zur Lehre und Praxis der Kirche, nur Männern das Weihesakrament zu spenden – The Recipient of the Sacrament of Order. Sources for the doctrine and practice of the Church regarding the dispensing of the sacrament of order only to men. Gerhard MÜLLER, Priesthood and Diaconate. The Recipient of the Sacrament of Holy Orders from the Perspective of Creation Theology and Christology (2000), trad. MJ Miller, Ignatius Press, San Francisco, 2002.

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five-year term. This commission is therefore renewed regularly. And that’s how I received the news that I had been appointed for the quinquennium from 2014 to 2019. With the Pontifical Biblical Commission, the ITC is one of the two bodies, that are not part of the CDF, but whose work is intended to assist the CDF on certain more specific cases. In its beginnings, the International Theological Commission brought together luminaries who had worked at Vatican Council II. Often their terms were renewed for an additional five years, and the changes were not dramatic from one five-year period to the next. But when Pope Francis appointed the 2014 commission, he kept only five theologians from the previous five years and all the others were changed – which was unusual. In addition, the reorganization of the group had some peculiarities. In the previous commission, for example, there were four Salesians and no Jesuit. This time no more Salesians, but three Jesuits. The peripheral countries are better represented. The number of women has gone from two to five. – At the time of our mandate, the Filipino Dominican Gerard Francisco P. Timoner III became Master of his Order. As far as I know, the documents of the CDF are part of the ordinary Magisterium of the Church, at its lowest level. ITC documents do not form part of the ordinary Magisterium of the Church. Their authority is therefore clearly less, but one can say that it is precisely for this reason that they are interesting: theologians can express, with a certain degree of freedom, positions which will not be understood from the outset as being normative. The ITC can be considered as a freer theological research and exploration organ, close to and appointed by the Magisterium, without being directly part of it. My nomination to the ITC had not caught me completely off guard. My Jesuit provincial superior had been contacted before, I had been asked to send a CV for Rome, etc., and I had already been a member of the Doctrinal Commission of the Episcopal Conference of Belgium since 2003, where I worked for Cardinal Danneels, for Mgr Léonard, and currently for Cardinal De Kesel. At the ITC, I succeeded, so to speak, the Belgian exegete Adelbert Denaux, professor at the KUL, who was then dean in Tilburg. – There has also always been a Belgian at the ITC, and even two during the first three five-year periods: Delhaye, Philips, Walgrave, Gesché, Denaux, Pottier. My appointment to the ITC explains why I already knew certain people from the Commission on the female diaconate, since they came from the ITC. Three men and one woman of twelve had indeed, like me, been members of the ITC since 2014.

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4. THE DOCUMENT ON THE DIACONATE, PRODUCED BY THE INTERNATIONAL THEOLOGICAL COMMISSION IN 2002-200310 In 2002-2003, the ITC had already published a fairly long document on the diaconate in general, two parts of which are explicitly devoted to the female diaconate (representing 8.5% of the text). These two parts are separated by a fairly brief text concerning the disappearance of the permanent male diaconate. This document11 had already had a somewhat turbulent history. Indeed12, a first group of ITC theologians wrote a 17-page document completed in 199713, which declared itself to be favour of the ecclesial tradition of women deacons, but the President of the ITC, who was then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, refused to sign it and appointed a new subcommittee instead14. In 2002, this second subcommittee produced a much longer text, Le Diaconat, évolution et perspectives, which concluded in its very last page: “First, the deaconesses mentioned in the tradition of the ancient Church (according to what is suggested by the rite of institution and the functions exercised) cannot be assimilated purely and simply to deacons. Secondly, ecclesial tradition, especially in the doctrine of Vatican Council II and in the teaching of the post-conciliar Magisterium, strongly emphasizes the unity of the sacrament of Order, in the clear distinction between the ministries of the bishop and the presbyters on the one hand and the diaconal ministry on the other. In the light of these elements highlighted by the present historical-theological research, it falls to the ministry of discernment that the Lord has established in his Church to pronounce with authority on the question”15. 10 COMMISSIONE TEOLOGICA INTERNAZIONALE, Documenti 1969-2004, Pref. WJ Levada, 2nd ed. reviewed and corrected, Edizioni Studio Domenicano, Bologna, 2010, p. 651-766. 11 Who twice cites the BORRAS-POTTIER book: cf. Id. P. 715 and 720. 12 Cf. Phyllis ZAGANO and Bernard POTTIER, SJ, « Que savons-nous des femmes diacres? », [“What do we know about women deacons?”] in Laval théologique et philosophique, 74/3 (October 2018), p. 437-445. Here p. 440. 13 The members of this first subcommittee were Max Thurian, chairman, Christoph Schönborn, Joseph Osei-Bonsu, Charles Acton, Giuseppe Colombo, Joseph Doré, Gösta Hallonsten, Stanisław Nagy, Henrique de Noronha Galvão. See ITC, Documenti 19692004, p. 651 note. 14 This second sub-committee was composed of Henrique de Noronha Galvão, chairman, and Santiago del Cura Elena, Pierre Gaudette, Roland Minnerath, Gerhard Ludwig Müller, Luis Antonio G. Tagle and Ladislaus Vanyo. Ibid 15 Ibid. p. 766. http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/cti_documents/ rc_con_cfaith_pro_05072004_diaconate_fr.html#_ftn1. The text was approved in forma specifica by the entire ITC on September 30, 2002. The English, Hungarian, Polish, Portuguese and Spanish texts are dated 2002. The corrected texts in French, German, Italian and Russian are dated 2003. We can observe a significant correction with regard to the § that we have just quoted.

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5. OUR WORK Our situation was therefore, from the start, even before the work started, somewhat complex. The subject was not neutral, but had a history. We can say that this question was mainly debated in Germany and the United States, much less in France or in Belgium where the ecclesial situation is totally different. We did not have a deadline for submitting our conclusions to the Holy Father. He did not want it to drag on, but wanted us to take the time necessary for our study. On the other hand, it was very clear that these conclusions of our commission were not, as in other cases, intended to be published, but it was a document to be personally handed over to the Pope, who would then do with it as he wished. We had to provide him with the factual elements necessary for a theological and pastoral reflection that he would carry out himself, or with other people, but our commission was not asked about the advisability of restoring, re-establishing or creating a female diaconate or other female ministries. These instructions were recalled, discussed, and interpreted on a number of occasions during our work, because the temptation to go beyond our role was strong: to give our opinion and not simply to establish the facts. Not to mention that even the establishment of the facts was already subject to hermeneutical interpretation. It seems to me that we regularly encountered three obstacles, – what is meant by ‘ordination’ in the early days of the Church? – how not to give in to anachronism when speaking of sacramental theology? – what does the unity of the sacrament of order signify, in relation to the documents of 1976 and 1994, and the recent modification of Canon Law of 2009, Omnium in mentem? Calendar of our meetings in Rome • • • •

November 25-26, 2016 March 10-11, 2017 September 15-16, 2017 June 22-23, 2018

I would also point out, as a fact which in my view is not unimportant, that during our mandate, which unfortunately lasted only two years, two of our members received the Ratzinger Prize, one in the first year, the other the second year.

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The two visits by the pope (both unannounced) The first, in the conference room of the ‘Palace of Doctrine’, took place during our second meeting. The Holy Father spoke to us with enthusiasm of the effectiveness of the work of certain female psychologists with seminarians in training, when he was Archbishop of Buenos Aires: these seminarians often progressed better than those who were guided by a man. He also reminded us that he remembered that in the past, some women deacons assisted wives who complained that their husbands beat them, and wanted to inform the bishop of the fact: they therefore played a role of intermediary between the people and the male hierarchy16. The second visit took place during our third meeting, at table in the dining room of the Domus Sancta Marta where we were staying. The Holy Father came to join us at the end of the meal. At that time, I had been entrusted with the role of secretary and I took the opportunity of telling him about one of my perplexities: how to report the content of our debates seeing that the opinions of the members of our committee were very different from each other? He replied: “No mi scandalizzo! [“I am not offended!”] I want to know everything, tell everything in the report”. This was not done, because on the contrary we were asked to come up with a document on which everyone agreed. Which means that the result was basically quite minimalist: we all agreed, yes, but ultimately on fairly uninteresting things. However, everyone was able, through our president, to send the Pope a more personal opinion, which some of us did, without knowing among ourselves who was doing what. There was therefore not much consultation at that level. Our final document was entrusted to Cardinal Ladaria at the end of June 2018, during the last of our four meetings, and he sent us as a PDF a letter that the Holy Father had addressed to him, to thank us for the work accomplished. This letter was dated July 20, 2018. 6. THE CONSEQUENCES OF OUR WORK After that, we didn’t hear anything about our report for months. Sometimes we read in one or the other article: “But what’s happening about 16 https://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/fr/speeches/2016/may/documents/papafrancesco_20160512_uisg.html.

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the commission on the female deaconate?”. We were not authorized to answer. Meanwhile, Professor Zagano had taken the initiative to invite me to a major conference at Fordham University, the Jesuit University in New York, for January 15, 2019. We had agreed not to reveal anything about the activities of our Commission, but to give an objective account of what each of us had known on the subject for a long period of time, in view of our respective publications during the last 20 years, and to express our own positions, without mentioning the conclusions of the Committee. Cardinal Ladaria was aware of this initiative and did not oppose it, subject to the limits that I have just mentioned. However, in December 2018, a Spanish magazine, Vida Nueva, announced that our report had been delivered to the Holy Father and in a way that put us at ease in relation to the conference that we were busy preparing. The New York event was a real success, it was followed live on Live Stream by hundreds of people, and it continues to be watched on YouTube on a very regular basis. These three videos, one in English, lasting approximately one and a half hours, with a second lasting twenty minutes, and the third in French lasting roughly half an hour, are breaking viewing records17. In April 2019, Professor Zagano and I repeated the experience at two major university conferences in Portugal, first in Lisbon, then in Porto. These were equally successful. For my part, I also went to Luxembourg on Friday 18 October 2019 for a conference and on Saturday 19 for a morning seminar. I presented 3 evening events in Brussels, at the Forum Saint-Michel, on November 7, 14 and 21, 2019. I hosted a morning seminar in Brussels for deacons in training on February 8, 2020. And after the present colloquium in Leuven, I am preparing a big conference for next week on Friday March 6, 2020 in Paris, at the Centre Sèvres des Jésuites de Paris, followed by a seminar the next morning, Saturday March 7. Professor Zagano has also given many lectures concerning the place of women in the Church, before and after our official commission. I cannot list them here. 17 New York January 15, 2019: Video of event: https://saltandlighttv.org/thefutureofwomendeacons/https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2019/01/15/vatican-commissionmembers-women-served-deacons-millennium. In French: https://seletlumieretv.org/ temoin/?f=pere-bernard-pottier

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I was also contacted individually by several people, who may even be in this room, but I did not respond due to lack of time. I apologize to them. 7. CONCLUSION In line with the preparation for the Synod for the Amazon, Pope Francis spoke again of our commission and declared himself disappointed with our conclusions. He added that each of the theologians expressed themselves differently and had their own little theory. It fits well with what I felt myself. I would like to add an element of explanation to this type of failure. Besides the too great divergence of theological positions at the starting point, which shows that the question has yet to mature in our Church, there has also been a lack of time. I am convinced that our commission could not be completed in two years. Either ourselves or the people who had entrusted us with this mission were in too much of a hurry. I am referring here to my experience with ITC. ITC works like this. The thirty theologians are divided into three groups of ten and the mission of each sub-committee of ten people is very clear: we have five years to write a document on a given subject. This may seem a long time. In fact, it’s very short, it’s barely enough. The sub-committee to which I belonged between 2014 and 2019 succeeded in its mission and published a text entitled La libertà religiosa per il bene di tutti18 [religious freedom for everyone’s good]. It’s not always the case. I would remind you that, with regard to the diaconate, it took two five – year periods for the ITC to produce the 2003 document. More than once, a subcommittee has withdrawn and failed to fulfil its mission. This can be seen by comparing the list of theologians engaged and the dates of publication of the various documents. The sub-committee of ten people in which I was engaged on Religious freedom included two French people, one Belgian, a Togolese, an Italian, a Korean, a Canadian, an Australian, a Croatian, and a Spaniard. Imagine the time it took to understand one another theologically, quite apart from the language barrier! But it was a great experience. At the very recent Synod for the Amazon in Rome (October 2019), the pope reopened the case and had the bishops vote on certain aspects of 18 http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/cti_documents/rc_ cti_20190426_liberta-religiosa_it.html

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the place of women in the Church. The majorities required were not reached, but many were nevertheless surprised by the number of favourable votes on a rising trend. The Pope announced that he had decided to relaunch a new commission. But so far, I don’t know what has become of it. I am not aware of anything. In any case, this is a whole area of the history of the Church in the East and in the West, that is opening up beautiful perspectives for today’s Church, but this topic is also the subject of fierce controversies, as we can see. But this is not merely a question of history. It is also and above all a crucial question of contemporary anthropology: what kind of collaborations are there between men and women today in our Church? I am hopeful that days like today will advance our thinking, even if many, especially among women, and rightly so, are impatient to see it succeed.

THE DIACONATE AFTER OMNIUM IN MENTEM WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF THE SHORTAGE OF PRIESTS ALPHONSE BORRAS

On April 8, 2010 the Motu proprio Omnium in mentem (OiM)) took force after previously being promulgated on January 8. However, the document dated 26 October 2009 had actually been published on the following December 16. For the reminder, it repealed four canons of the Code of 1983: three regarding wedding sacrament (canons 1086 §1, 1117 and 1124.) and one canon concerning the sacrament of order (canon 1008). It is on this point that I intend to stop and review the scope of the provisions relating to the diaconate by contextualizing them with what is commonly called the “lack of priests”. Hence the title of my speech at the invitation of the Willy Onclin Chair. This invitation honours me especially since this eminent professor was a priest in the then Diocese of Liège (which also included the current Diocese of Hasselt). My contribution will consist of two parts: one on the content of OiM within respect to the diaconate in the context of its promulgation; the other on explicit or implicit expectations due to the decrease in the number of priests. 1. WHAT DOES OMNIUM IN MENTEM SAY ABOUT THE

DIACONATE?

The modifications introduced by OiM correct and modify the old canons of the 1983 Code1. These changes were welcomed by some and questioned by others. Let us first look at the content of the

1 BENEDICT XVI. “Litterae apostolicae motu proprio datae Omnium in Mentem. Quaedam in Codice Iuris Canonici immutantur. October 26. 2009” (= OiM)), AAS 102 (2010), p. 8-10. Most studies refer to the canons on marriage. However, I cite these more directly centered on canons 1008 and 1009 § 3: P. HÜNERMANN. “Anmerkungen zum Motu proprio “Omnium in Mentem”, TQ 190 (2010/2), p. 116-129; A. LONGHITANO. “Come leggere il motu proprio Omnium in Mentem?”, Il diaconato in Italia 42/116 (2010), p. 27-30; J. SAN JOSÉ PRISCO. “Modificación de los cánones 1008 y 1009 en la carta apostólica de Benedicto XVI Omnium en mentem”, REDC 67 (2010), p. 441- 445.

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new canons. We will examine this mainly with regard to the diaconate2. The new canon 1008 is expressed in these terms: “Sacramento ordinis ex divina institutione inter christifideles quidam, charactere indelebili quo signantur, constituuntur sacri ministri. qui nempe consecrantur et deputantur ut, pro suo quisque gradu. novo et peculiari titulo Dei populo inserviant.”

I propose the following translation: “By divine institution, some of the Christian faithful are marked with an indelible character and constituted as sacred ministers by the sacrament of holy orders. They are thus consecrated and deputed so that, each according to his own grade, they may serve the People of God by a new and specific title.”

It repeals the old canon 1008 where the sacrament of orders was presented as follows: “By divine institution, the sacrament of orders establishes some among the Christian faithful as sacred ministers through an indelible character which marks them. They are consecrated and designated, each according to his grade, to nourish the people of God, fufilling in the person of Christ the Head the functions of teaching, sanctifying, and governing.”

As for canon 1009 of the 1983 Code, it is assigned a third paragraph which reads as follows: “§3. Qui constituti sunt in ordine episcopatus aut presbyteratus missionem et facultatem agendi in persona Christi Capitis accipiunt, diaconi vero vim populo Dei serviendi in diaconia liturgiae, verbi et caritatis.”

I translate it in these terms: “§3. Those who are constituted in the order of the episcopate or the presbyterate receive the mission and capacity to act in the person of Christ the Head, whereas deacons are empowered to serve the People of God in the ministries of the liturgy, the word and charity”.

These modifications to canon 1008 and the addition of a third paragraph to the previous version of canon 1009 had a double aim: first doctrinal and then pastoral. Benedict XVI did indeed intend to adjust the doctrine contained in the canon of 1983 to the magisterial evolution relat-

2 But these changes generally concern the sacrament of orders. I refer here to my study A. BORRAS, “Les diacres d’après les nouveaux canons 1008 et 1009” §3 [“Deacons in accordance with the new canons 1008 and 1009 §3”], RTL 43 (2012), p. 49 -78.

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ing to the diaconia and correlatively to the sacrament of order in its three degrees. Canon 1008 provided an understanding of the sacrament based, firstly, on the leading of God’s people in persona Christi capitis through threefold function: prophetic, priestly and kingly and, secondly, on the indelible character with which ordained ministers are marked. Admittedly, this leadership was to be understood according to each of the three degrees, but the fact remained that all three had the purpose of pascere Dei populum [To shepherd the people of God] in persona christi capitis [in the person (or role) of Christ the Head] according to the tria munera, namely proclamation, sanctification and government. This description was not without problems, for two reasons. First, it linked the diaconate to the episcopate and the presbyterate by inducing pastoral responsibility through the use of the verb pascere. This metaphorically connotes the function of pastors [shepherds] in the strict sense of the word – bishops and priests. This assimilation of deacons to pastors was reinforced by the qualification “in the person (or role) of Christ the Head” and referred in addition to the functions of teaching, sanctifying and governing. In this regard, let us remember that, until the promulgation of the Code, neither the Fathers of Vatican II, nor the post-conciliar magisterium had used the tria munera in connection with the diaconate. This innovation to the Code therefore had no basis in the recent Magisterium. Equally problematic was the application to deacons of the expression “in the person (or role) of Christ (the Head)”: this is totally inappropriate for deacons since it describes the role of the ministerial priesthood of the bishop and priests presiding at the Eucharistic. Benedict XVI wanted to review the doctrine of the sacrament of orders contained in the old canon 1008 of the 1983 Code. He did this by distinguishing more clearly the diaconate from the episcopate and the presbyterate through identifying the common denominator at the three degrees of the sacrament of orders. He justified the new canons 1008 and 1009 §3 by means of the decision taken by John Paul II, his predecessor, to modify No. 875 of the 1992 edition of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. This affirmed that all the ordained ministers, including deacons, received “the mission and faculty” (“sacred power”) to act “in persona Christi”. According to the wish of John Paul II, the 1997 edition came to reserve this power only to bishops and priests. On the other hand, it said henceforth of the deacons that they had received “the strength to serve the people of God in the diaconia of the liturgy, of the word and of charity, in communion with the bishop and the presbytery” (No. 875, ed. 1997).

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The catechism of 1997 therefore no longer used the expression in persona Christi capitis to describe diaconal functions. This change is important and even capital. It in fact avoids applying to deacons the typically priestly and Eucharistic expression in persona Christi3. The bishop and the priest act equally in personae Ecclesiae, [in the person (or role) of the Church] as they preside over the Eucharist on behalf of the assembly; moreover, they pray in his name in the first person plural. But it is Christ himself who makes himself present in his paschal mystery. Certainly, Christ is also present in the congregation which represents in this place his ecclesial body; he is also present in the proclamation of the Word of God (cf. SC 7). But, in the account of the institution, just after the (first) epiclesis, namely the invocation of the Holy Spirit on the bread and wine, the minister who presides then switches to a narrative mode – he “recites” in the third person, that is, he “recounts” the institution narrative – and in this manner withdraws himself to allow the Risen Lord, whom he recalls, to make himself present. Christ acts singularly so he is really present by the effect of his grace, gratia operante. which grace can only be brought about by God4. Strictly speaking, the action in persona Christi used to designate the priestly presiding ministry with the precedence devolved to the bishop or the priest: the latter act in memory of the single and unique sacrifice of Christ who makes himself present. But they then go on to pray in persona Ecclesiae through the second epiclesis so that this sacrifice becomes, by the grace of the Holy Spirit, that of the Church which offers herself here and now in thanksgiving to the Father through Christ with him and in him. This is the strict meaning of the expression in persona Christi, which it is important always to take in relation to the expression in persona Ecclesiae. There is however a broader meaning to be ascribed to the expression in persona Christi: in this case, it would designate the sacramental reference of the ordained ministers to Christ under the 3 This expression is used in various ways in the texts of Vatican II. It is used in connection with the ministry of bishops (cf. LG 10b, 21b, 25a, 27a; AA 2b; CD 11b) and priests (cf. SC 33b; LG 10b, 28a; PO 2c, 13b; AG 39a). It is used in particular to describe the role of the ministerial priesthood in Eucharistic act. As is also noted the INTERNATIONAL THEOLOGICAL COMMISSION (= CTI). « Le diaconat. Évolution et perspectives », [“The diaconate. Developments and Prospects”] La Documentation Catholique 100 (2003), p. 58-107. here p. 95. 4 Cf. DM FERRARA. In persona Christi. Valeur et limite d’une formule [“Value and limit of a formula”]. La Maison-Dieu 215 (1998) p. 59-78, here p. 76 with reference to St. Thomas Aquinas (S.Th. III, a.78, 2 ad 2 ; 74.4) and Paul VI, encyclical Mysterium fidei of September 3, 1965.

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characteristic inherent to ordination that refers to Christ and configures them to him5. For the record, the Directory for the Ministry and Life of Permanent Deacons in 1998 rather used the formula (in) nomine Christi, in the name of Christ (No. 28 and 37)6. In 2002, the International Theological Commission also provided a judicious clarification: “even if we qualify the action of deacons in persona Christi capitis, it is still necessary to characterize their specific way of making Christ present, as being different from the ministry of bishops and priests”7. OiM has therefore chosen to avoid the use of an expression at once ambiguous and unsuitable – unsuitable by being ambiguous. This should be welcomed! Like the former canon from 1983, the new canon 1008 reiterated that the sacrament of orders constitutes (lat. constituere [electio]) consecrates (lat. consecrare [consecratio]) and sends (lat. deputari [missio]) among the faithful of Christ (lat. inter christifideles), some of their number who are henceforth now marked by an indelible character. The ordained ministers are destined to serve the people of God “in a new and special manner” (lat. novo et peculiari titulo). By using N° 875 from the Catechism of the Catholic Church in 19978, the new canon 1009 §3 considers “service” as a characteristic common to all ordained ministries, as already underlined in 2002 by the International Theological Commission9. However it is specified particularly for the deacons who have for

5

Representation for sacramental purposes by means of ordination must be understood as a reference to Christ which operates through the character of a person. The latter “ distinguishes “ himself from the other faithful for the purpose of placing the ordained person at the service of Christ and his Church. Like bishops and priests, deacons are ordained, that is to say, sent for the service of the Church and being distinguished in their mission relative to other people (Signum distinctivum) and being referred to the source of their mission (signum configurativum)) as well as to the people of God for whom they are intended. See A. BORRAS. « Un caractère diaconal? », [“A diaconal character?”], NRT 129 (2007), p. 45-63. 6 A. BORRAS. Le diaconat au risque de sa nouveauté, [“The diaconate at risk from its own novelty”]. Brussels, Lessius. 2007, p. 141. I was already suggesting the correction of canon 1008 of 1983 by taking up the differentiated formula of n° 875 of the CEC and by adopting the formula nomine Christi instead of in persona Christi capitis as the common denominator for all the ordained ministries, including bishops and priests, because only the Eucharist is in the strict sense presided over in persona Christi while the other sacraments are celebrated nomine Christi. 7 CTI, “Le diaconat”, p. 96. 8 It is interesting to note that the Catechism then says in No. 876 that “its character as service is intrinsically linked to the sacramental nature of ecclesial ministry”. 9 CTI, “Le diaconat”, p. 97 n.31.

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this purpose the “power” (lat. vis) to exercise it “in the diaconia of the liturgy, the word and of charity”10. The expression vim accipere is absent from the conciliar texts although it echoes the verb roborari applied to deacons (“strengthened by a sacramental grace”, cf. LG 29a). It is also absent from the 1983 Code. One never finds the word vis to designate the compulsory nature of standards, the force of a device or the value of a law. Also, the expression vim accipere is not found in the sense of receiving the power to do something, that is to say the legal meaning of aptitude or of capacity and, consequently, of empowerment to legitimately do something. Most translations of this new canon 1009 §3 render vim accipere as “to be (or become) empowered.” which cannot fail to surprise us pleasantly because these translations well express the legal sense of the term! This translation was probably made from the publication of the Motu Proprio in Italian in the Osservatore Roman11. The versions in other languages were mostly made from this Italian version and not from the editio typica, the only authentic text12. In this sense, Omnium in Mentem suggests by vim accipere the capacity of deacons to serve, their empowerment to serve, that is to say to exercise a ministry, either a charge (munus), or an office or a function in the technical sense of the term (officium, cf. canon 145). This aptitude is inherent in ordination itself, whereas in the lay faithful this empowerment depends on their suitability and on the call of the Church (cf. canon 228 §1)13. 10 Unlike bishops and priests who receive “a mission and a capacity” (lat. Missio et facultas) deacons receive a “power”. 11 L’Osservatore Romano. December 16. 2009. 12 We can easily see this in the Spanish. Portuguese and English translations of the Vatican Site: in Spanish “aquellos que han sido constituidos en el orden del episcopado o del presbiterado reciben la misión y la facultad de actuar en la persona de Cristo Cabeza; los diáconos, in cambio, son habilitados para servir para servir al pueblo de Dios en la diaconía de la liturgia, de la palabra y de la caridad “. In Portuguese: « aqueles que são constituídos na ordem do episcopado ou do presbiterado recebem a missão e a faculdade de agir na pessoa de Cristo Cabeça; os diáconos, ao contrário, sejam habilitados para servir o povo de Deus na diaconia da liturgia, da palavra e da caridade”. And in English: “Those who are constituted in the order of the episcopate or the presbyterate receive the mission and capacity to act in the person of Christ the Head, whereas deacons are empowered to serve the People of God in the ministries of the liturgy, the word and charity”. On the other hand. it is the German translation which sticks most closely to the Latin text; it is stated in these terms: “Die die Bischofsweihe oder Priesterweihe empfangen haben, die Sendung erhalten und die Vollmacht, in der Person Christi, des Hauptes, zu handeln; die Diakone hingegen die Kraft. dem Volk Gottes in der Diakonie der Liturgie, des Wortes und der Liebe zu dienen”. 13 Cf. A. BORRAS. “Ministère diaconal et potestas sacra”, in B. DUMONS and D. MOULINET (ed.), Le diaconat permanent, Relectures et perspectives [“The permanent diaconate,

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This is indeed the effect of diaconal ordination to empower individuals to exercise a ministry14. Because diaconal ordination cannot be seen as the simple formalization of what people were already doing, as unfortunately AG 16f could imply. “Ordination”, writes H. Legrand, “is therefore not declaratory but instituting”15. It indeed places someone in a new way in the Church; the person concerned remains a member of the people of God, registered among the ecclesial fraternity, at the same time as he is placed facing his brothers and sisters, as though opposite them, to indicate to them that the Church comes from (is held up by) Christ through the Spirit16. Ordination confers upon deacons an intrinsic potestas which however for its implementation, its exsecutio, calls for the assignment of a function or an ecclesial charge17. As for the episcopate and the presbyterate, it is also Reinterpretations and perspectives”], Paris, Ed. du Cerf, collection “Theologies”, 2007, p. 251-277. Lay people can cooperate in a potestas for which the clerics have been clothed with the sacrament of orders. Current law provides that they can in certain circumstances exercise a “power of jurisdiction”: “in the exercise of this power (of government, i.e. of jurisdiction), the lay faithful can cooperate in accordance with the law “Lay members of Christ’s faithful can cooperate in the exercise of this same power (i.e. of government, or jurisdiction) in accordance with the law. (canon 129 §2). Canon 129 §1 lays down the general principle to which §2 constitutes the exception: “Those who are in sacred orders are, in accordance with the provisions of the law, capable of the power of governance, which belongs to the Church by divine institution » (canon 129 §1). Baptism is not enough to turn baptized persons into ministers: they must also be able (lat. [Laici sunt] qualified. cf. canon 228 §1) to receive a ministry, according to the required suitability in their leader (laici qui idonei reperiantur)) and with the call of the Church (ut sacris Pastoribus assumantur). Under the heading of laity exercising a ministry, their collaboration is not intrinsically linked to their condition of being baptized: it is not endogenous to their baptism whereas, for the ordained, it is indeed endogenous to their ordination and even immediate in the case of the diocesan bishop (who receives his office through the very act of episcopal ordination at the seat for which he is designated), but is indirect with respect to priests and deacons, that is to say subject to the subsequent attribution at the ordination of an ecclesial function or office. 14 A. BORRAS. Le diaconat au risque de sa nouveauté [“The diaconate at risk from its own novelty”]. p. 151-171, namely the whole of chapter 7 entitled « l’effet instituant et habilitant de l’ordination diaconale ».[“The instituting and empowering effect of diaconal ordination”]. 15 Cf. H. LEGRAND. « Le diaconat dans sa relation à la théologie de l’Église et des ministères. Réception et devenir du diaconat depuis Vatican II », [“The diaconate in its relation to the theology of the Church and the ministries. Reception and development of the diaconate since Vatican II”], in A. HAQUIN and PH. WEBER (ed.), Diaconat XXIe siècle. Actes du Colloque de Louvain-la-Neuve (13-15 September 1994). Ed. Lumen Vitae-Novalis-Cerf-Labor et Fides, 1997, p. 13-41, here p. 31-32. 16 The CTI understood this very well when it wrote a contrario: “if one denied its sacramentality, the diaconate would represent a form of ministry rooted solely in baptism” (CTI, “Le diaconat”, p. 93). 17 Cf. Vatican II, Nota explicativa praevia. n. 2b on the assignatio subditorum for the diocesan bishop and the concessionio particularis officii vel muneris for the other bishops, priests and deacons.

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the canonical provision which will determine the specific field for the exercise of the ordination received18. 2. THE PRESSURE OF THE “LACK OF PRIESTS”

ON THE DIACONATE

In the context of the 1983 Code, the consideration of the diaconate therefore suffered from a theological confusion because the old canon 1008 had included it in the general purpose of all ordained ministries, namely that of pascere Dei populum in persona Christi. Faced with this, OiM therefore brought a doctrinal clarification on the basis of a common purpose now defined in terms of service to the people of God. Deacons will thus serve in accordance with the “triple diaconia”. But the bishops and priests serve in persona Christi. For the episcopate and the priesthood, I would have preferred that the new canon 1009 §3 were expressed in terms of “ecclesial and eucharistic presiding”. This new canon only retained the priestly dimension at the expense of the prophetic and kingly dimensions. In my eyes, this is unfortunate19. By focusing on the expression in persona Christi, the new canon errs by “maximalism of the priesthood” at the risk of sacralizing the separation between priests and the laity. This latter is at most a distinction which must otherwise be viewed in the light of the baptismal co-responsibility of all the faithful and the variety of charisms and ministries among them. The diaconate is not a ministry of precedence. At the risk of being redundant, it is at the service of the diaconia of the people of God and of its mission at the heart of this world. Like the ministerial priesthood of the bishop and of priests in the service of the common priesthood, deacons assume a ministerial diaconia in the service of the common diaconia of all the faithful. They are indeed called, consecrated and sent out to train the Church to be a whole diaconal people. However, we must not separate diaconate and priesthood: these two realities intersect as much in the people of God as in the ministry of the Church20. In a context in which they dealt with the holiness of the people 18 We join here in the wish of Vatican II “to root all potestas sacra in the Church in a sacramental way” as the CTI recalls (“Le diaconat”, p. 97). 19 I explain this in more detail in A. BORRAS. “Les diacres d’après les nouveaux canons 1008 et 1009 §3”, [“ Deacons in accordance with the new canons 1008 and 1009 § 3 “], RTL 43 (2012), p. 49-78. 20 By their baptism in the one and only sacrifice of Christ, who gives himself in grace to the Father and gives grace to our humanity, the faithful offer themselves through Christ, with

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of God and the sanctification of all the faithful, the Council Fathers had also affirmed that deacons “are also sharers in a special way in the mission and grace of the Supreme Priest” (lat. missionis autem and gratiae supremi Sacerdotis peculiari modo participes sunt. LG 41d) and that their sanctification takes place inter alia “by serving the mysteries of Christ and of the Church” (lat. mysteriis Christi and Ecclesiae servientes, ibidem.). Deacons are not, however, “pastors” like the bishop and the priests who, moreover, constitute a single presbytery, at the head of which the bishop, with his priests, is in the service of the local Church. And OiM makes it possible to identify more clearly the pastoral consequences. Because the ministry of deacons is not defined by one single, and very precise function as for the episcopate and the presbyterate presiding in persona Christi, but by the triple diaconia of the Word, the liturgy and charity (LG 29 a; cf. AG 16f). This definition through the triple diaconia is part of what I call the “makeshift theology” of the Council Fathers of Vatican II. The doctrinal distinction induced by canon 1009 §3 must not, however, become an absolute separation. However, if one holds to the unity of the apostolic ministry which is said to be of divine institution (cf. LG 28a), one cannot qualify in this way the tripartition into three degrees21. Hence, the importance of not making absolute the distinction between priesthood and diaconia. The life of the Church and the imperatives of its mission are richer than the indispensable doctrinal distinctions and the equally necessary canonical categories. These help to discern what is useful in order to lead the people of God. As paradoxical as it may seem, the Council Fathers themselves do not appear to have overly tightened the distinction between episcopate / presbyterate and diaconate. In their eyes,

him and in him: they thus enter the diaconia of Christ-Servant, let themselves be borne within his unique priesthood and take part in the communion of divine grace by the action of the Holy Spirit. We should read the remarkable study by A. GRAU. “ ‘The Diaconia of Christ’. From practical analogy to theological category”, Communio 26/2, 2001, 29-51, here p. 48-49. I refer to my recent studies, in particular A. BORRAS. « Diaconat, liturgie et diaconie “ [“Diaconate, liturgy and diaconia”], ET- Studies 9 (2018/2), p. 187-204 and, to be published soon, « Le diaconat, un ministère en mal de consistance? » [“The diaconate, a ministry with a lack of consistency?”] in B. BOURGINE (ed.), Le souci de toutes les Églises. Mélanges en hommage à Joseph Famerée [ The concern of all the Churches. Selections in homage to Joseph Famerée], Leuven, Peeters, coll. “BETL”, 2020. 21 Besides, in this matter, we must not forget the difference between the structure of the ministry of (for and in) the Church and the figures of the ministry. B. SESBOÜÉ. Pour une théologie œcuménique [“For an ecumenical theology”]. Paris, Éd. du Cerf, coll. “Cogitatio fidei” n ° 160, 1990, p. 91.

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the pastoral needs (lat. cura animarum) required the reinforcement of the deacons where priests were lacking22. From the preparatory works for Vatican II and throughout the whole conciliar process, the shortage of priests was as much the motive as one of the causes of the restoration of the permanent diaconate23. The supporters of its reactivation saw it as a means to bring about a remedy, either from a charitable or a social perspective or from a catechetical or homiletic perspective. It is true that this was part of a long history of a ministerial monopoly of priests who, over time, had come to assume a range of tasks which, of themselves, did not fall under their presiding ministry. The reestablishment of the diaconate thus constituted a breach in this centuries-old monopoly of the priests. As the latter became less numerous, the deacons then took over a series of tasks hitherto assumed by the priests. but which very often fell within the domain of the deacons24. The theological jamming of the 1983 Code undoubtedly inherits something from the context of Vatican II. By distinguishing the ministerial diaconia of the diaconate from the other two degrees of the sacrament of orders, the new canon 1009 §3 provides an undeniable doctrinal clarification. However, it is important, not to treat it as absolute, especially because, traditionally, the ministerial diaconia has always had a polymorphous character as is suggested by the trilogy of the Word, the liturgy and charity. In practice, this trilogy unfolds according to a wide range of tasks which, moreover, do not allow themselves to be compartmentalized in relation to each other, but which are called upon and involved in each other. Having said that the diaconate was “not unto the priesthood, but unto a ministry of service” (LG 29a), the Council Fathers had also illustrated this trilogy by a set of tasks arranged in two separate lists, one

22

Cf. CTI, “Le diaconat”, p. 86. Cf. PH. WEBER. « Vatican II et le diaconat permanent », [“Vatican II and the permanent diaconate”], in A. HAQUIN and Ph. WEBER (ed.), Diaconat XXIe siècle, [“Diaconate 21st century”]. p. 77-99; D. MOULINET. « La restauration conciliaire (1959-1964) », [“The conciliar restoration (1959-1964).”] in B. DUMONS and D. MOULINET (ed.), Le diaconat permanent. Quarante ans d’expérience française [“The permanent diaconate. Forty years of French experience”]. Paris, Ed. du Cerf, 2007. p. 47 -68. 24 As Paul Winninger once wisely wrote, “For centuries, it is true, the priest replaced the deacon” (P. WINNINGER. « Les ministères des diacres dans l’Église d’aujourd’hui », [“The ministries of deacons in the Church today”], in G. BARAÙNA (dir.), L’Église de Vatican II. Études autour de la constitution conciliaire sur l’Église [«The Church in Vatican II. Studies around the conciliar constitution on the Church”]. Paris, Ed. du Cerf, coll. “ Unam sanctam “ No. 51c, 1966, p. 996). 23

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putting more emphasis on liturgical tasks (LG 29a), the other on charitable and administrative tasks, or even management (AG 16f)25. For lack of actually having permanent deacons at their work, the Fathers of Vatican II took inspiration from the experience of mission lands and the reality of the young Churches. Hence the mention of the leadership of local communities typical of the Decree on missionary activity (AG 16f, not referred to in LG 29a). If we retain primarily from the conciliar texts that the diaconate is not considered under the presiding at the Church and the Eucharist (cf. LG 29a). One must however note that it is not excluded that “some” deacons may manage (lat. moderari) (remote) communities under the authority of the bishop (and the parish priest) (cf. AG 16f). The diaconate is indeed – today as in the past – a polymorphic ministry which is adapted according to the practical needs of the Church in a particular place and in accordance with the mission letter26 which determine the exsecutio of power (or potestas) to be used. In practice, this has given rise to a diversity of figures. In this connection K. Depoortere has taken up the triple typology of “Samaritans”, “prophets” and “shepherds” developed by P. H. Zulehner from his field of investigations27. There are deacons who are more of the “Samaritan” type, more sensitive to the personal needs of others; others are rather more the “prophet” type. more sensitive to the collective challenges of justice, mutual aid and charity; and finally others are more of the “shepherd” type, for leading the community, gathering it in prayer, guiding it in its witness. Be that as it may, in this diversity inherent in the diaconal ministry, it is the 25 For the record, these lists are illustrative and not exhaustive. They are therefore not be taken as absolute. Cf. H. LEGRAND, « Le diaconat dans sa relation à la théologie de l’Église et des ministères. Réception et devenir du diaconat depuis Vatican II », [“The diaconate in its relation to the theology of the Church and of ministries. Reception and evolution of the diaconate since Vatican II”], p.23-24. 26 It is therefore this broad perspective against which should be understood the concrete exercise of the ministry of permanent deacons. It is therefore illusory, in my eyes, to specify the ministry of deacons by what they “do”. It is not what they do that specifies them, but what authorizes them to do it, namely ordination as sacramental empowerment. 27 I take up this typology of “Samaritans”, “prophets” and “Levites / shepherds” from K. DEPOORTERE. “Typologie van het permanent diaconaat: een kleurenpalet”, J. VAN DER VLOET & R. VANDEBROECK (ed.), Het permanent diaconaat op zoek naar zichzelf. 35 jaar diakens in Vlaanderen. Antwerp, Halewijn, coll. “Cahiers voor praktische theologie”, n° 6, 2006, p. 138-141. My colleague reinterpreted it in our ecclesial context on the basis that Prof. P. M. Zulehner had identified as “ideal-typical” profiles in a vast survey in the German-speaking dioceses (Germany, Austria, Switzerland; cf. PM ZULEHNER. Dienende Männer – Anstifter zur Solidarität. Diakone in Westeuropa. Ostfildern, Schwabenverlag. 2003).

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diaconia of charity which undeniably colours that of the Word and the liturgy28. Therefore, the polymorphic nature of the diaconal ministry does not exclude that its exercise concerns, if necessary, the governance of the ecclesial community. This is true in our local Churches of old Christianity. They have become secularized, but they have certainly not eliminated religion. It has simply been “de-traditionalised”29 and is also situated within the framework of the “individualization” of our secularized societies and the “pluralization” of the different Weltanschanungen. It is clear that a demand for religion from the citizens nevertheless continues to be addressed to the Catholic Church – if we speak only of it alone – mainly in terms of rites of passage, which need ministers to celebrate them. Having inherited a system of Christianity framed by the clergy our communities are “accustomed to a range important services”30. Since they are still dependent on a “cadastral” vision of the Church given the (vain) claim to maintain a strict parish grid of the diocesan territory, these communities further strengthen the image of the parish as a public service of religion. The decrease in the number of priests makes it difficult to satisfy these needs for religious framework of the faithful who still turn to the Church, at least occasionally during their existence. These communities deplore a lack of priests, but they do not seem to deplore (or not too much) the growing decrease in the number of faithful. Have they understood – they and their pastors – that the collapse in numbers of the Catholic Church is related to the pluralism in our present environment and, consequently, that “We are moving more and more towards a Christianity that people choose as they wish”31? Today as in the past, the experience of faith is based on a personal conversion to the Gospel and an ecclesial, lived experience in dialogue with others. 28 Cf. B. SESBOÜÉ. « Quelle est l’identité ministérielle du diacre? », [“ What is the ministerial identity of the deacon?], in J. DORÉ (ed.), L’Église à venir. Mélanges offerts à J. Hoffmann, [The Church of the future. Selections offered to J. Hoffmann], Paris, Éd. du Cerf, 1999, p. 255-257. 29 Cf. L. BOEVE. Theologie in dialoog. Op het kruispunt van universiteit, kerk en samenleving. Over dialoog, verschil en katholieke identiteit, Brugge, Pelckmans, 2018 2. among others p. 18-19, 51-56. 30 See CTI, “ Le diaconat “, p. 91. 31 BENEDICT XVI. Lumière du monde. Le pape, l’Église et les signes des temps. Un entretien avec Peter Seewald, [Light of the world. The Pope, the Church and the signs of the times. An interview with Peter Seewald”]. Paris, Bayard, 2011, p. 200.

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Consequently, in the absence of priests, the sustaining of the system of Christianity is implemented thanks to the additional help of deacons32. Due to their occupational pension, but also due to their “attraction to the altar”33, deacons are able to free up more time for the parish ministry. They are therefore asked to work more usefully in the fields of liturgy and the sacraments: non eucharistic Sunday services, the homilies in various celebrations, the celebration of baptisms, marriages and funerals, visiting the sick, etc. They help in the preparation of the sacraments, but also in initiatives concerned with listening and welcoming, pastoral dialogue, even spiritual guidance, prayer groups, etc. in which they are happy to work, often in partnership with lay people. Beyond this taking-on of tasks previously assumed by the many priests – while most of them were not stictly sacerdotal – we have noticed for a decade or two that deacons have been at work on the level of community leadership. as members of a pastoral team around a parish priest (cf. c. 519), or within of a team with a priest as moderator (cf. c. 517 §2), or even, where necessary, as a pastoral coordinator or a person responsible for the local community (LG 29a; cf. AG 16f). In other words, the diaconate of “shepherd” type could take precedence over the other two types. On the ground, these shepherd-deacons seem to have the wind in their sails. The current circumstances embody a paradox, namely that after having witnessed a “de-sacerdotalization” of the ministry by the reactivation of the diaconate, we are witnessing today a “sacerdotalization” of the ministry of the deacons. This is perhaps not without relevance to the perpetuation of the system of Christianity. Given the needs of the Church, the diocesan bishops are therefore involving shepherd-deacons more closely in the pastoral leadership of the parish or the pastoral unit and, when necessary, may even cause deacons to live in a rectory which, as such, is the official accommodation of the parish priest. It is one thing to admit the legitimacy of the shepherd – deacon. It is quite another thing, under the pressure of the

32 I have already presented the following in A. BORRAS. Te weinig priesters en nu?, Theologische en kerkrechtelijke bakens voor tijden van schaarste. Antwerp, Halewijn, 2018, p. 146-153. 33 C. BÉRAUD. “Le diaconat en France aujourd’hui. Perspective sociologique” [“The diaconate in France today. A sociological perspective”], La Vie spirituelle 167 (2013), p. 157-168. here p. 160-161; “Some priests themselves seem ready to delegate, at least in part, this type of task to deacons. Finally, individuals distant from the Church do not differentiate between a priest and a deacon, a difference that deacons do not always endeavour to explain” (p. 160).

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scarcity of priests, for all deacons or at least the majority of them, to assume a truly pastoral role in guiding a local community. If we expect (or call) deacons to lead parish communities (or even hospital or prison chaplaincies), might there not be grounds for ordaining them as priests? This would be more consistent both theologically and pastorally if we want to preserve at least the sense of priestly and eucharistic presidency since we keep on repeating the wish that the Eucharist is “the fount and apex of the whole Christian life” (LG 11 a). 3. BY

WAY OF CONCLUSION: PERPLEXITY AND DARING

The back flow of deacons towards the pastoral care of the parish is a trend that is apparently being confirmed. It meets current expectations of both parish priests and the faithful. It maintains an image of the deacon as a substitute priest and feeds an ambiguous relationship to the priesthood. Admittedly, the deacons demonstrate on the field a wider presence of the ordained ministry – at least compared to the recent past, when only the priests still had the monopoly of ministry. The reestablishment of the permanent diaconate has moreover been emblematic of the emergence of the diversity and complementarity of the ministries in our local Churches in Western Europe. However, this trend towards the substitution of priests is not without danger. First of all, the danger to the sustainability of a system of Christianity which, under the effect of a kind of retinal persistence, can mask the real challenge of a missionary reform of the Catholic Church. A second danger is more directly linked to the perception that people have of deacons. Because of their ordination and their presence at the altar, deacons are seen as substitutes for priests, incomplete priests, “sub-priests”. As a result, it is the ministerial identity of deacons that is undermined if it is included at the fringes of the priesthood. As a result, it is not only the originality or the specificity of the permanent diaconate that is threatened, but also its reception, even its sustainability. At the time of a “de-culturation”34, or even an “ex-culturation” of the faith 35 and in a world threatened by the de-culturation of Cf. L. VOYÉ and K. DOBBELAERE. « Une déculturation annoncée. De la marginalisation de l’Église catholique en Belgique », [“A deculturation is announced. On the marginalization of the Catholic Church in Belgium”], RTL 43 (2012), p. 3-26. 35 Cf. D. HERVIEU-LEGER. Catholicisme, la fin d’un monde [“Catholicism, the end of a world”]. Paris, Bayard, 2003. This process of unlinking Catholic culture from the 34

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humanity36, evangelization implies “entering into conversation”37 with our contemporaries just as they are, so that they can “incarnate the Gospel” at the heart of this world, where the Spirit of God is already at work. The Church needs indeed deacons for an incarnate communication of the Good News of the Kingdom, this fullness of life that God offers to humanity, his greater love, the grace of his covenant38. We measure the need for a diaconate in phase with the requirements of the communication of the Gospel to train the faithful to take up the challenges of fraternity that the world so badly needs. At the heart of a Church, certainly a minority but called to radiate the joy of the Gospel39, is it not so, that the deacons – Samaritans, prophets and shepherds – have to lead the other faithful to live their common diaconia as torch-bearers at the heart of the upheavals of this world40? The diaconate cannot be locked into a “cadastral” pastoral for maintaining of the parish property grid and for satisfying religious needs. Among their brother and sister missionary disciples (cf. EG 24 & 120), deacons have to take their specific place in a civilizational universe reflects at the same time the progressive secularisation of a culture shaped by religion and the cultural repression of the Church. 36 The expression is from M. GAUCHET. « La liberté religieuse, quarante ans après. La conscience chrétienne face aux dilemmes de la société des individus », [“Religious freedom, forty years later. The Christian conscience faced with the dilemmas of the society of individuals”], in CONFÉRENCES DE LA FACULTÉ NOTRE-DAME, Le temps de l’écoute. « Vers un nouveau rapport entre Église et âge moderne » (Benoît XVI) [“A time to listen. ‘Towards a new relationship between Church and modern age‘“ (Benedict XVI)]. Paris, École cathédrale – Parole et Silence, 2006, p. 111-128, here p. 126. 37 Cf. PAUL VI, “Encyclical Ecclesiam suam”. Documentation Catholique 61, 1964, 1079, n ° 67. But Pope Francis would say that this exchange can only produce fruit in a “friendly” (n° 16), and “gentle” conversation, (cf. apostolic exhortation Gaudete and exsultate of March 19, 2018, on the call to holiness in today’s world, no. 73 in fine). 38 L. BRESSAN. “Il diaconato. Questioni aperte”, Credere Oggi 39, 2019/2, 9-20, in particular p. 17-18 where the diaconate is envisaged for this incarnation of the Gospel not only by the testimony of individuals, but by its inscription in the ecclesial “texture”. At a higher level, this supposes going beyond a corporate vision of a diaconate closed in on itself; at a lower level, this involves managing a reformation of the Church which makes more visible the divine charity that animates it. 39 Cf. A. BORRAS. « De la marge aux périphéries: l’inéluctable discernement », [“From the margin to the peripheries: the inevitable discernment”], Prêtres diocésains n° 1544 (2018), p. 201-218. 40 Cf. K. JANSSEN. “ De lantaarndragers. Over de toekomst van de kerk “, in M. STEEN (ed.), Parochie… waarheen?. Antwerpen, Halewijn, coll . “ Leuvense cahiers voor praktische theologie “ n ° 14, 2013, p. 182-188, in particular p. 184-187, where, taking up three scenarios from the sociologist Staf Hellemans, Kolet Janssen pleads for “an attractive, powerful and lively minority church”. It is within this scenario that deacons have to play their role. Note that this same sociologist speaks of “parishes in a time of relocation” (ibidem, p. 13-27). He also writes very judiciously: “the reorganization of the parish is just one aspect of the major transformations that the Catholic Church is going through at the present time” (p. 25).

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Church that is on its way out – to meet up with their contemporaries – to share with them the joy of the Gospel and to accompany humanity in all its processes (EG 24 cf. n° 44b). Because we do not have the courage to consider the priestly ordination of viri probati. will we go so far as to sacrifice the identity of the diaconate and reduce it to a crypto-presbyterate? This substitution of the priesthood allows the perpetuation of a pastoral care of old Christianity which is anchored in a parish grid in the diocesan territory. But does it give room for any chance for the missionary reform of the Church? If we fail to suppress the parishes that no longer deserve this name, will we ensure that this polymorphous ministry that is the diaconate does not deserve this name either?

SOME REMARKS ON WOMEN AND DIACONATE RIK TORFS

Not long ago, I was talking to a manager of a broadcasting company in The Netherlands. Would he be interested in a documentary on the Vatican? The answer was no. “The questions asked by the Roman Catholic Church are no longer relevant in our country”, he said. “Those issues have been solved forever. Television viewers are tired of discussing old fashioned issues such as same sex marriages and equality between men and women. In their eyes, all possible arguments are irrelevant since the question is definitively settled.” Any form of discussion is out of place. According to my interlocutor, in secular society, the debate is closed. This short discussion took place in January 2020. On 22 May 1994, pope John Paul II wrote the apostolic letter Ordinatio Sacerdotalis, in which he argued that women cannot be ordained to the priesthood because of the divine constitution of the Church1. And saint John Paul added: “The debate is closed.” The gap between the Western world and the Roman Catholic Church seems to be unbridgeable. The Church is not criticized as it used to be in the past. In certain circles it is just not taken seriously any longer. What remains, quite often, is contempt and hatred. I was deeply moved by a passage in a recent book by Henri Tincq2, former Vatican correspondent for the French newspaper Le Monde. Tincq attended a play at a Paris theatre. It was based on the work of the German film director Rainer Fassbinder (1945-1982). The piece was full of moral indignation about the Church and its violence towards foreigners, homosexuals and women. The Church was the Daech, the Islamic State, of medieval times. Such was the message of the play. Henri Tincq concluded that new sentiments regarding the Church are born. Following rage, fright, disgust, dismay, stupefaction, true hatred is now on today’s agenda. Of course, the sexual abuse cases are to a large extent responsible for this evolution. But the position that the Church reserves for women does not help to downplay that negative image. This is truly painful, not just for the Church as an 1 2

Acta Apostolicae Sedis 86 (1994) 545-548. Henri TINCQ, Vatican, la fin d’un monde, Parijs, Les Editions du Cerf, 2019, 239-242.

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organisation and its leaders, but also for ordinary Christian faithful who have become used to criticism because of their faith, but now have to face outright hatred. I apologize for this long introduction, in which I just wanted to illustrate that discussing the position of women in the Church today is not the same as doing so several decades ago. Time elapsed. Society changed. Secularisation in the West gained force. Moral indignation replaces true virtue. I certainly do not wish to praise without any criticism the society we are living in. However, it is necessary to start up again the debate on the position of women in the Church, even if many open discussions of the past appear to have been closed, and even if the Church lost its credibility among many. For this reason, the topic of this year’s Monsignor Onclin Chair is very relevant. It is a discussion on a, at least partly, closed debate. The opinions differ, yet everybody is convinced he or she is right, which in itself is wrong. Although I am very happy with the debate, I also have some additional remarks. I limit myself to the following four points. The first remark concerns the role of history. Historians are highly respected in our society. Very often they are consulted on what truly happened and what can be seen as fake information. Here, the Church is very much in line with current trends in secular society, also counting on historians to reveal the ultimate truth on facts and events belonging to the past. When it comes to the position of women in the Church, historical arguments play a pivotal role as well. Ordination to the priesthood was very often analysed from that angle, as the declaration Inter insigniores of 1976 clearly illustrates3. The same is true for the debate on female diaconate, that raises questions such as: “Can the deaconesses of the past be compared or assimilated to permanent deacons as they operate today?” It goes without saying that these, as well as other questions can be quite fascinating. At the same time, using the historical approach entails several less positive consequences. The French philosopher Rémi Brague describes it as follows: “Les études historiques ont tendance à transformer le passé, qui pulse encore dans nos veines, en cadavre.4” His words mean that history attempts to objectify the past and, by doing so and by focusing on the differences with our era, builds a wall of separation between the past and today, taking away from history exactly that what could help us right now. To put 3 4

Acta Apostolicae Sedis, 69 (1977) 98-116. Rémi BRAGUE, Des vérités devenues folles, Paris, Salvator, 2019, 163.

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it in yet another way: once the past is frozen in history, it stops being an element of living tradition. It loses its flexibility. It has become petrified. However, there also is another danger. History always holds a subjective element. It reflects to a considerable extent the ideas of the historian himself and the world in which he lives. It is not without reason that Benedetto Croce (1866-1952) argued that all history is contemporary history, as the needs and motives of the historian are always those of his own time5. Croce did not criticize this phenomenon. On the contrary, he upheld the idea that every generation has the right to rewrite history. But it is clear that his viewpoint is at odds with the idea that a higher truth, which is normative for the future, can be found by means of a thorough study of these historical facts. Sometimes the Church gives the impression that a definitive conclusion derived from the past is possible. Admittedly, legal concepts that include the notion of divine law strengthen a normative approach of history. Yet, implicit and explicit ideas on history play a part in its current use and usefulness. And maybe the way the Church instrumentalizes the past should be discussed more openly at a methodological level. The second remark concerns the search for consensus. The wider the required consensus, the more difficult it is to reach. Conversely, the fewer topics on which agreement is sought, the more irrelevant any consensus will become. Given the universal character of the Church, a global consensus on difficult issues is far from obvious. The problem could be solved by attributing more competencies to episcopal conferences or by the universal legislator issuing norms with a regional scope of application. As long as merely ecclesiastical norms are at stake, that do not interfere with divine or natural law, there is no convincing reason not to reflect on these formulas, even when it comes to the issue of female deacons. Perhaps, a more regional, thus limited consensus, could go together with a higher degree of approval when it comes to the strength of adherence. According to Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951) true agreement does not rest upon opinions, Meinungen, but upon a form of life (Lebensform). Einverstand, the result of a reasonable process, is not sufficient. The consensus should be true Einstimmung, a notion that includes a deeper engagement covering elements of life as a whole6. 5 On this topic Giuseppe GALASSO (ed.), Benedetto Croce. Teoria e storia della storiografia, Milan, Adelphi, 2001. 6 Ludwig WITTGENSTEIN, Culture and Value, Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1980, 85 and following.

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Obviously, true Einstimmung will not always be easy to reach. Religion in general, and theology more specifically, sometimes give way to emotional aspects of human existence, even if they are often expressed in a hidden way. However, the notion and scope of consensus in inner Church debate should be discussed again. This is certainly the case when it comes to delicate issues including the position of women, since women themselves have only recently started having a limited voice in the debate. The third remark concerns the ongoing discussion on power of governance and power of ordination. For a long time, the issue was at the centre of theological discussions, and included deep historical analysis. What about the sacra potestas? Some focused on its unity, whereas others made a distinction between the conferring of the sacrament leading to the power of orders, and the missio canonica as a requirement for the power of jurisdiction7. The latter position was among other places present in Canon 109 of the Code of 1917. As we know, Canon 129 opted for a unity between the orders and the power of governance. It was perceived as a victory and a recognition of an old tradition. Perhaps we lack consistency in the application of this so-called theological success. A first difficulty can be found in the fact that the Code of Canon Law itself does not always follow the principle it expresses. Canon 1421 §2 creates the opportunity for women to become judges. A judge truly participates in the power of governance. This goes beyond mere collaboration as it can be allowed to the laity. Consequently, Canon 1421 §2 does not follow the general line as expressed by Canon 129. A result of the mere existence of an exception is that the principle as such cannot be seen anymore as belonging to divine law. Not only does the legislator struggle with the unity between power of ordination and power of governance. Also the executive power does not appear to be at ease with it. Bishops and popes try to give women positions, including powerful ones, without being formally at odds with the principle expressed in Canon 129. In January 2020, Francesca Di Giovanni was appointed undersecretary of the section relationships between states and multilateral contacts, belonging to the Secretariat of State. It is a function that in theory can be qualified as just a form of collaboration, and not as participation to the power of governance. Yet at the same time it is clear that her function includes much more real power than, for instance, the office of a parochial vicar in a small parish, which is reserved to priests. 7 See Eugenio CORECCO, «Natura e struttura della ‘Sacra Potestas’ nella dottrina e nel nuovo Codice di diritto canonico», Communio, 75 (1984) 24-52.

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Also in the particular Church, functions are being created with a profile close to that of an episcopal vicar, without formally being exactly the same. Women are appointed and their appointment is seen as a success, and maybe rightly so, but at the same time the unity between power of ordination and power of governance as expressed by Canon 129 is subtly circumvented. This behaviour gives a strange message. The Church propagates a norm, establishing the unity between power of ordination and power of governance, automatically leading to the exclusion of women when it comes to true power in the Church. Yet, after having made this statement, the same Church tries to find techniques to avoid the consequences of the norm it promulgated itself and is proud of its own cunning move. Normally speaking, those who try to avoid norms try to avoid norms of others, not those issued by themselves. This is particularly true when the pope, as a universal legislator, formally maintains his strict norms and goes as far as he can to turn them into an empty shell. This problem has not been sufficiently debated yet. In any case, recent practice gives the impression that the impossibility to ordain women finds itself more connected with sacramental and ritual elements than with governance as such. In theory, the distinction between ordination and governance could be made, and this has been done so in the past. The code creates unity. Yet Church leaders, in their minds, do make the distinction. While they remain very strict when it comes to sacraments, they try to find practical solutions in the field of governance. A fourth remark concerns the political and psychological meaning of the discussion on the possible ordination of women. It is remarkable that this issue emerges again. I remember it as a topic of last millennium, more precisely of the eighties and the nineties. Ida Raming, who was ordained a priest on the Danube, which subsequently led to her excommunication, already wrote in 1973 on the possible ordination of women to the priesthood8. This became increasingly impossible during the pontificate of John Paul II. It was not necessary to wait for the letter Ordinatio Sacerdotalis in 1994 to be fully aware of the fact that there was no chance whatsoever for the priesthood to become accessible to women. Consequently, the dialogue moved to the question whether or not women could become deacons. One can tackle the problem theologically. In that case, one of the main questions is whether ordination should be seen as a unity, leading the Church to not allowing female deacons. Apparently, certainly in the eyes 8 Ida RAMING, Der Ausschluss der Frau vom priesterlichen Amt. Gottgewollte Tradition oder Diskriminierung?, Cologne/Vienna, Bohlau, 1973.

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of the Church, gender is very essential. This discussion can also be translated into legal reasoning. Two different techniques can be used to answer the question whether or not women can be deacons. The first one is the reasoning a similibus. This means that we can apply the ideas that lead to the exclusion of women to the priesthood, even when the position of deacons is at stake. This legal technique fits well with a theological position asserting that unity of ordination is of paramount importance. Women cannot be ordained to the priesthood. Ordination is one. Thus, women cannot be ordained to the diaconate either. Another possible legal technique is the reasoning a contrario. The Church teaches that women cannot be ordained to the priesthood. Nothing is said about the diaconate. So we can conclude that the latter is open to women. The unity of ordination has been abandoned by the legislator himself as he specifically legislated on the priesthood. Both solutions are legally acceptable, although some preference may be given to the second, given the way Canon 18 is formulated: “Laws (…) which contain an exception from the law are subject to strict interpretation.” This canon follows a long canonical tradition that the odius is to be restricted and the favourable amplified. In Latin, odiosa restringenda favorabilia amplianda. But then again, the a similibus interpretation also makes sense especially when theological motives can be found that unify priesthood and diaconate. However, a deeper issue emerges. What does it mean when women are pleading for the possibility to be ordained as deacons? Here also, two different approaches are possible. Some women may see the diaconate as a first opening on the way to priesthood. That could be a strategy. Yet since 1994 and the status of divine law prohibiting the ordination of women to the priesthood, it becomes very unlikely for it to ever be a realistic option. The second approach is more humble and can even be seen as an abdication. Indeed, when women accept to enter into the debate on the diaconate, they implicitly recognize the impossibility to become priests. I witnessed a debate on the issue in the Netherlands during the nineties of the last century within the then existing progressive 8th May Movement (8 Mei Beweging, AMB). Some members refused to advocate the diaconate for women as they saw it as a defeat and an acceptance of the unjust exclusion from the priesthood. Discussions on the diaconate of women are certainly not over yet. Arguments will be sought and found. The positions are very different, which sometimes leads, as Bernard Pottier concluded in this publication, to disappointing results when it comes to grounds for consensus. One can

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even be more pessimistic by saying that it is very likely in the current state of the discussion to take a viewpoint first, for or against, and then find convincing arguments to underpin it. We should be honest enough to recognize that fact. What I tried to do in my small contribution is to focus on some underlying issues, not immediately relevant at first glance, but clearly present in a broader discussion. What is the exact role of history when it comes to options for the future? What kind of consent in the Church is required to come to a consent concerning diaconate for women? Do we reason a similibus or a contrario and why? What are the internal political implications of a campaign in favour of opening the diaconate for women? These four questions are of utmost importance. Yet some others still go deeper. They concern anthropological ideas on equality between men and women. Are there differences between both? Or are the differences stronger between concrete men and women? Can the Church in this regard come to some sort of compromise with modern society? Or does secular society follow the Church in the opposite direction, as being a woman is increasingly seen as a major plus for top functions? That last question is an important question for the Church as a whole. It is not a good idea to follow the spirit of time without any true criticism. It is an equally bad idea to be opposed to it all the way. Where the right position can be situated, nobody knows. It remains a central question for many debates on the Church, be it on anthropology, legal culture, fundamental rights or true consensus. Probably the best position is a position that can be criticized by everybody. That in itself constitutes a form of equality.