Pope Francis wants to study idea of ordaining women as deacons

c. 2016 Religion News Service

VATICAN CITY (RNS) Pope Francis has said he wants to study the possibility of ordaining women as deacons, a step that could for the first time open the ranks of the Catholic Church’s all-male clergy to women.

The order of deacons was reinstituted in the Catholic Church after the reforms of the 1960s, and while deacons cannot celebrate the Eucharist like a priest, a deacon can preach at mass, preside at weddings and funerals, and perform baptisms.