Ordination of female deaconesses in Chicago: did Cardinal George raise the issue in Rome? He promised to do so, according to the Tribune.
Lynne Mapes-Riordan, of Evanston, hopes women will one day serve as Roman Catholic deacons. After 800 years [!], she could be one of the first.Growing up, she never gave ordination a second thought. But then she learned that, unlike the church's verdict barring female priests, the question of female deacons has never been resolved.That open question has led Mapes-Riordan, 49, and fellow parishioners at St. Nicholas Catholic Church in Evanston to seek an answer. If the church finds in favor of female deacons, she could become one of the first women ordained [sic] since the 12th century [since Pentecost]. After meeting last winter with members of the parish, including Mapes-Riordan, Chicago's Cardinal Francis George reportedly promised to raise the question in Rome during his visit earlier this year.
Let us never forget to whom the merit belongs: if "deaconesses" are ever "ordained", we must do justice and call it The Vangheluwe Reform, in honor of confessed nephew-molester Bp. Roger Vangheluwe, who led the charge in favor of this move.
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In fact, however, due to the inescapable fact that what has been received from the Lord from the foundation of the Church cannot be changed at will, women cannot be in ordained ministry - because the degrees of Holy Orders cannot just be separated as if they were the layers of an onion... To understand why, see this interesting interview with the current Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Archbishop Müller - he has written extensively on this matter.
[Tip: reader. Recess for several days.]
