VATICAN CITY: A Vatican commission has yet to take a firm decision on whether women could become deacons, but the answer for now remains no, according to a document made public on Thursday.
The late Pope Francis set up the commission under Cardinal Giuseppe Petrocchi in 2020 to look into the issue amid a fierce debate over the role of woman in a Church led for 2,000 years by men.
Its activities were conducted behind closed doors, but a letter from Petrocchi to Pope Leo XIV, written in September and published by the Vatican on Thursday, provides the first insight into its deliberations.
It revealed that by a 7-1 vote in July 2022, the commission approved a motion that “excludes the possibility” of moving towards allowing women to join the deaconate -- but said this was not a “definitive judgement”.
In its final working session in February 2025, the commission examined contributions from the Synod, a global Church assembly where women deacons had been on the agenda.
The commission was then split five to five in a vote on whether the masculinity of those who receive Holy Orders is a crucial element of Church teaching.
In his letter, Petrocchi advocated a cautious approach on an issue that provokes “intense” debate, calling for further study.
