My first point is that the answer to this question is not settled doctrine. The Magisterium has infallibly taught that Jesus did not give his Church the authority to ordain women to the priesthood (or the episcopate, since a bishop is a kind of priest). Women cannot be validly ordained as priests or bishops:

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 faithful. (Pope John Paul II, Ordinatio Sacerdotalis, n. 4).

However, the documents on this subject clearly specify “ordination to the priesthood” and “priestly ordination” is prohibited to women. It is currently an open question as to whether or not the Church has the authority to ordain women deacons (deaconesses).

Faithful priest (and tireless blogger) Fr. Z. has repeatedly opined that the same theological arguments that work for women not being priests, also work for the deaconate. But he still holds that the question is open. He is not telling the faithful that the Magisterium has decided the question definitively.

My theological opinion is that the Church does have the authority to ordain women to the deaconate. However, I want to be very clear that, at the present time, no woman can be validly ordained, even to the deaconate, even if a Roman Catholic Bishop were to make such an attempt.

First, Canon Law forbids the ordination of women. The Church has the authority to add conditions for the validity of a Sacrament, beyond what is absolutely required by the nature of the Sacrament. For example, the Church has decided that a marriage to a second or third cousin is invalid, unless a dispensation is obtained. So the Church sets an additional requirement for validity, and the Church may also dispense that requirement. Similarly, the Church currently requires that the candidate for ordination be male. There is no dispensation possible at the present time.

Second, even apart from Canon Law, the ordination of women to the deaconate has no sacramental form. A valid Sacrament requires valid matter and valid form. Now some commentators would say that a female is not valid matter for the Sacrament of Ordination. But the Magisterium teaches no such thing. The Magisterium teaches that the Church lacks the authority to ordain women to the priesthood; this particular basis for prohibiting women from priestly ordination is definitive. If anyone says that the real reason the Church forbids priestly ordination to women is that a female is not valid matter, his assertion would seem to disregard and to conflict with the infallible teaching of the Magisterium.

Third, if the Church has the authority to ordain women deacons, She must decide to exercise that authority. Until and unless that occurs, no attempted ordination of women, even to the deaconate, is valid.

To resolve the first obstacle, the Church can change Canon Law. There are two types of things in Canon Law: things that are per se of the law, and things that are direct expressions of the teaching of the Church on faith and morals. So some of the Canons of the Church are not really laws; they express the teaching of the Church to better integrate the changeable laws of discipline with the unchangeable truths of doctrine.

If the Magisterium decides that the Church has the authority to ordain women deacons, then the Canons on this topic can be changed. If the Magisterium decides that the Church does not have the authority, then Canon law lacks the power to say otherwise. If any Canon of the law were to conflict with the eternal moral law, then that law would be null and void. An unjust law is not a law.

To resolve the second obstacle, the Church can establish, within the form for ordination, that women can be ordained only as deacons.

But is it true, as Fr. Z. has it, that the same arguments that work to prohibit women’s ordination to the priesthood, also work to prohibit ordination to the deaconate?

1. The main basis for the prohibition to the priesthood is that the Church lacks the authority, as shown by Tradition and Scripture. That case is very clear, and the Magisterium has infallibly taught the meaning of Tradition and Scripture on that point.

But when the examine Tradition and Scripture on the same question applied to the deaconate, it is not clear. There is an argument to be made that both Tradition and Scripture indicate the Church possesses this authority. See this analysis of Tradition and Scripture by the ITC: From the Diakonia of Christ to the Diakonia of the Apostles (2002).

The case presented by the ITC is not definitive. But it certainly leaves the question open.

2. The priest stands in persona Christ, and so the male-only priesthood is fitting.

There are many reasons for the association between the male priesthood and the choice by God to become incarnate as a male human being. In the plan of God for humanity, men have certain roles of headship, such as the husband/father as the head of the family, the Pope as the head of the Church on earth, each Bishop as the head of his diocese. A priest leads and teaches the parish; he has a role of leadership over the faithful. Certain types of roles of teaching, leadership and authority are given to men, not to women — as Saint Paul controversially teaches. But since his teaching is also the teaching of the Holy Spirit, the Scriptural basis for a distinction in roles between men and women is firmly established, even if its application is still something of an open question.

However, a deacon does not stand in persona Christi. He does not lead the celebration of the Mass, or consecrate the Eucharist, or absolve sins, or dispense any Sacraments, except that he may baptize and may officiate at a wedding. But in extraordinary circumstances, these same two roles regarding the Sacraments can also be taken by a lay person. A man or woman may baptize, in cases of necessity. A man or woman may officiate at a wedding, in extraordinary circumstances, if there is a grave necessity.

3. The role of priest is a role of leadership; but the role of deacon is a role of service. Certain roles of leadership (but not all) are prohibited to women. But roles of service are not prohibited to women. The role of priest is fundamentally a role of leadership, though he also serves. The role of deacon is fundamentally a role of service, though he also may lead.

In summary, there is nothing inherent to the role of a deacon that would prohibit a woman from having the role, even if we interpret the Pauline passages on women’s roles strictly.

Finally, the infallible teaching that Jesus did not give his Church the authority to ordain women to the priesthood becomes moot once Jesus returns. The Church does not teach that women can never be ordained, but only that the Church currently lacks that authority.

{20:5} The rest of the dead did not live, until the thousand years are completed. This is the First Resurrection.
{20:6} Blessed and holy is he who takes part in the First Resurrection. Over these the second death has no power. But they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and they shall reign with him for a thousand years.

by
Ronald L. Conte Jr.
Roman Catholic theologian and
translator of the Catholic Public Domain Version of the Bible.