Cerrato: Understanding Pope Francis, women and holy orders

The issue of admitting women to the diaconate has been, over the past decade, a subject of intense theological debate. In a recent interview with CBS News, Pope Francis unequivocally stated that women cannot be ordained as deacons.

Vatican publication looks at ways to raise profile of women in the church

The January issue of “Woman-Church-World” was dedicated to a series of articles looking at how, without changing church law or discipline, more could be done within the Catholic Church to treat women as equals, value their contributions and talents and include them in leadership and decision-making at all levels of church life.