A Hofstra University professor is at the forefront of a new push that could help transform the 1.3 billion-member Roman Catholic Church: allowing women to serve as deacons and perform some of the same ...

BROOKLINE, Mass. (RNS)— A consortium of Orthodox Christian scholars, clergy and lay supporters meeting this week outside Boston proposed guidelines for the church to revive the ancient practice of ...

Francis has also faced criticism recently for expressing what one Belgian Catholic university denounced as “reductive” views on the role of women in the church. In an interview earlier this year, he ...

Pope Francis sits down with "CBS Evening News" anchor Norah O'Donnell at the Vatican April 24, 2024, for an interview ahead of the Vatican's inaugural World Children's Day. (OSV News photo/Adam ...

In the heart of the Church’s synodal journey, an essential voice calls, awaiting recognition. The voice of the diaconate remains notably absent in the ongoing dialogue of the Synod on Synodality and ...

The ordination of female deacons is no longer on the agenda during a global assembly at the Vatican, but will be discussed separately. By Elisabetta Povoledo Reporting from Vatican City Pope Francis ...

The Vatican just released its much-anticipated working document for the Oct. 4-29 Synod of Bishops in Rome, and few Catholic watchers will be surprised that “the question of women’s inclusion in the ...

It’s no secret that the priesthood in the United States is aging, quickly. But what if part of the solution to the priest shortage is actually ordaining more older priests? Deacon Steve Kramer thinks ...

"Being ordained is not an ascent but a descent, whereby we make ourselves small, lower ourselves and divest ourselves," Pope Francis said in a message to 23 men from eight countries, including three ...

Ask a permanent deacon about his primary role in the Catholic Church, and he'll tell you it's to serve the poor, the sick, the imprisoned and the lonely. But in a church that is faced with a steady ...