Cardinal Muller says no to women deaconettes

Card. Müller on deaconettes. “No.”

Posted on 22 May 2019 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

I am reminded of years in the past when I would sometimes be challenged again and again for decisions I had made.   I eventually would say, “I have two answers.  There’s a short answer and a long answer.”  “What’s the short answer?”  “No.”  What’s the long answer?” “Noooooooooooooo.”

Meanwhile, LifeSite quotes Card. Müller on the topic, who says:

“InfoVaticana: You have written several books on women and the priesthood. There’s been a commission on the female diaconate. Do you believe that there will be an opening to the female diaconate and therefore, in the future, to the priesthood of women?
Cardinal Müller: No. Dogmatically it is not possible. The pope does not have the power and authority to change the sacraments. And there was never a sacramental diaconate for women. And some historical data cannot be interpreted in this sense, and the Church has never dogmatically said that it is possible for women to receive the sacrament of Holy Orders. There is only one sacrament of Holy Orders: bishop, priest and deacon, and the sacrament cannot be separated or distinguished.  [Those who say it can be changed would place themselves against one of their golden calves, Lumen gentium!  What’s it gonna be?  Which?  HUH?]

InfoVaticana: And an intermediate way of a non-sacramental ministerial diaconate, is it possible?

Cardinal Müller: No. Why call it a ministerial diaconate? It would create a confusion of words. Large numbers of our Christians are instructed by the press and do not know how to make theological distinctions because of a lack of education in theology. [In [FILL IN BLANK]] That’s what we have ministries for. Lay ministries too. The same applies to men and women. There is no point in constructing something in the sense of a female diaconate, because we have this word, “ministry,” which comes from Latin. Why create confusion? The word deacon is a technical term for the first degree of the sacrament of Holy Orders. We cannot create a terminological confusion.”

That’s because, at least for a while, words still mean things!