BREAKING NEWS:POPE INSTITUTES COMMISSION TO STUDY THE DIACONATE OF WOMEN

Pope Francis at a meeting with members of the International Union of Superiors General (12 May 2016). At the meeting, the Holy Father announced his intention to institute a commission to study the question of the diaconate of women.

(Vatican Radio) In the course of a dialogue during a meeting with the participants in the Plenary Assembly of Superiors General, which took place in May, 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.

Below, please find the complete list of the members of the Commission for the Study of the Diaconate of Women:

President:
Abp Luis Francisco Ladaria Ferrer, S.J., Secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
Members:
Sr. Nuria Calduch‑Benages, M.H.S.F.N., member of the Pontifical Biblical Commission;
Prof. Francesca Cocchini, of the «La Sapienza» University, and of the Patristic Institute “Augustinianum,” Rome;
Msgr. Piero Coda, President of the University Institute «Sophia», Loppiano, and member of the International Theological Commission;
Fr Robert Dodaro, O.S.A., President of the Patristic Institute “Augustinianum,” Rome and professor of patrology;
Fr Santiago Madrigal Terrazas, S.J., professor of ecclesiology at the Pontifical University “Comillas,” Madrid;
Sr Mary Melone, S.F.A., Rector of the Pontifical University “Anonianum,” Rome;
Fr Karl‑Heinz Menke, professor emeritus of dogmatic theology at the University of Bonn and member of the International Theological Commission;
Fr Aimable Musoni, S.D.B., professor of ecclesiology at the Pontifical Salesian University, Rome;
Fr Bernard Pottier, S.J., professor at the “Institut d'Etudes Théologiques,” Brussels, and member of the International Theological Commission;
Prof. Marianne Schlosser, professor of spiritual theology at the University of Vienana, and member of the International Theological Commission;
Prof. Michelina Tenace, professor of fundamental theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome;
Prof. Phyllis Zagano, professor at Hofstra University, Hempstead, New York.