(CNN)Pope Francis has created a commission to study the historical role of female deacons in the Catholic Church, the Vatican’s press office said Monday.
The commission was first promised by the Pope after a meeting with a group of nuns on May 12. He said the Vatican should study the question of ordaining women as deacons, answering a call that women, particularly in the United States, have been asking the church to address for decades.“In the course of a dialogue 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,” the Vatican’s statement said.
“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, S.J.
In addition to Archbishop Ladaria, the commission is composed of six women and six men from academic institutions around the world.
