Pope Francis’ proposal to examine the possibility of women joining the diaconate took people by surprise. But, asks an expert, is it merely a device to fudge an age-old question?

Just prior to Pentecost, responding to questions at the final session of the Union of International Superiors General (UISG) triennial meeting, Pope Francis said he would like to think about women deacons. The eyes of the world turned toward Rome. Women ordained as deacons? Well, the Church has never ruled against it.

Like the good Jesuit pastor he is, Francis sees the need for clarity and decision-making here. Around the world, women – and men – are asking, why not restore women to the ordained diaconate? The question will not go away; neither will it be answered quickly.

Francis appreciates the importance of careful discernment that he and every other follower of Ignatius strives for. The first step in Ignatian discernment is gathering facts, and when speaking to the women Religious, he made it clear he did not know much about the history of women in the diaconate. He said he had asked a Syrian theologian once, and had learned that female deacons were employed in immersion baptisms and full-body anointing, and they examined the bodies of women beaten by their husbands, reporting on the injuries to the bishop. Such little information is a poor periscope to the history of diaconal ministry by women over the centuries, and Francis knows it.