Cathal Barry
Fr Tom Norris An Irish priest who was part of the commission that advised Pope John Paul II on the possibility of women deacons in 2002 has welcomed Pope Francis’ call for further study on the issue.
Fr Tom Norris, who previously served as a member of the International Theological Commission, said the issue of women deacons “needs further consideration because I think it will make the matter more definite one way or the other”.
Acknowledging that “there is probably a slight difficulty with regard to the theological and doctrinal dimension” of allowing women to serve as deacons in the Church, Fr Norris said a new commission “would be a good idea and a continuation of the Church’s thought about it”.
“The last time, the document we eventually produced recommended that the matter would go to the Pope and be looked at by him because we weren’t able to come up with a definitive decision.
“I happened to be on that commission and felt we had done all we could do with it. I think we did the right thing in referring it to the Holy Father,” he said.
Fr Norris, who is currently serving as Spiritual Director at the Pontifical Irish College in Rome, said the “diaconate is part of the sacrament of orders and that has always been understood to be exercised by men”.
“In other words, episcopacy, priesthood and diaconate are seen as participation in the priesthood of Christ and therefore reserved for men,” Fr Norris said.
“It’s a difficult subject because it is hard to deal with these questions without appearing to be against somebody. The Church is not against people, she exists for the glory of God and for the spiritual welfare of believers so there is always a kind of delicacy about these kind of questions.
“I don’t know what Pope Francis will do. I know he’s a great Pope with great courage, wisdom and goodness and it will certainly be interesting to see what he will do. He will work with the advice and on the advice of the commission to make this decision,” he said.