ROME (AP) – Pope Francis changed church law on Monday to explicitly allow women to do more during Mass, giving them access to the holiest place on the altar, while continuing to say they cannot be priests. .
Francis amended the law to formalize and institutionalize what is a common practice in many parts of the world: that women can be installed as lecturers, read the gospel, and serve at the altar as Eucharistic ministers. Previously, such roles were officially reserved for men, even if exceptions were made.
Francis said he is making the change to increase recognition of the “precious contribution” women make to the church, while emphasizing that all baptized Catholics have a role to play in the church’s mission.
But he also mentioned that this makes a distinction between “orderly” services such as the priesthood and the diaconate and services open to qualified lay people. The Vatican reserves the priesthood for the people.
Change occurs when Francis remains under pressure to allow women to be deacons – ministers who perform many of the same functions as priests, such as presiding over weddings, baptisms, and funerals. At present, the service is reserved for men, even though historians say that the service was performed by women in the primary church.
Francis created a second commission of experts to study whether women could be deacons, after a first failed to reach a consensus.
Advocates for the expansion of the diaconate to include women say this would give women a more important say in the ministry and governance of the church, while helping to address the shortage of priests in many parts of the world.
Opponents say the permit would become a slippery slope to ordaining women to the priesthood.
Phyllis Zagano, who was a member of the pope’s first study commission, called the changes important because it is the first time the Vatican has explicitly and canonically allowed women access to the altar. She said it was a necessary first step before any official analysis of the diaconate for women.
“This is the first move that allows women to enter the sanctuary,” Zagano said. “It’s a very big business.”
Noting that bishops have long called for such a move, she said it opens the door to further progress. “You cannot be ordained as a deacon unless you are installed as a lecturer or acolyte,” said Zagano, a professor of religion at Hofstra University.
However, Lucetta Scaraffia, the former editor of the Vatican women’s magazine, called the new changes a “double trap.” She said they only formalize what is the current practice, including at papal Masses, while also clarifying that the diaconate is a “ordained” ministry reserved for the people.
“This closes the door on the diaconate for women,” she said in a telephone interview, calling the change a “step back” for women.