Studying the Diaconate for Women

On May 12 of this year, in the course of  a dialogue that took place during a meeting with the participants in the Plenary Assembly of Superiors General, Pope Francis expressed his intention to establish an official commission that could study the question of the diaconate of women, especially with regard to the first ages of the Church.

After intense prayer and mature reflection, Pope Francis has decided to institute the Commission for the Study of the Diaconate of Women. As president of the Commission, Pope Francis has appointed Archbishop Luis Francisco Ladaria Ferrer, SJ. In addition to Archbishop Ladaria, the commission is composed of six women and six men from academic institutions around the world.

Members of the Commission

to study the question of the

diaconate of women

President
His Excellency, Luis Francisco Ladaria Ferrer, S.J.
Titular Archbishop of Tibica
Secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith

Members
Reverend Sister Nuria Calduch-Benages, M.H.S.F.N.
Member of the Pontifical Biblical Commission

Professor Frencesca Cocchini
Lecturer at La Sapienza University and at the Augustinianum Patristic Institute in Rome

Reverend Monsignor Piero Coda
President of the Sophia University Institute in Loppiano and member of the International Theological Commission

Reverend Father Robert Dodaro, O.S.A.
President of the Augustinianum Patristic Institute in Rome and lecturer in Patristics

Reverend Father Santiago Madrigal Terrazas, S.J.
Lecturer in Ecclesiology at the Comillas Pontifical University in Madrid

Reverend Sister Mary Melone, S.F.A.
Rector of the Antonianum Pontifical University in Rome

Reverend Karl-Heinz Menke, Lecturer emeritus in Dogmatic Theology at the University of Bonn and Member of the International Theological Commission

Reverend Aimable Musoni, S.D.B.
Lecturer in Ecclesiology at the Salesian Pontifical University in Rome

Reverend Father Bernard Pottier, S.J.
Lecturer at the Institut d'Etudes Théologiques in Brussels and Member of the International Theological Commission

Professor Marianne Schlosser
Lecturer in Spiritual Theology at the University of Vienna and Member of the International Theological Commission

Professor Michelina Tenace
Lecturer in Fundamental Theology at the Gregorian Pontifical University in Rome; and

Professor Phyllis Zagano
Lecturer at the Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York, USA.