Representing the “Christ Diakonos” : a vote for the sacramental diaconate of women in a world Church perspective

Abstract

From Würzburg to Frankfurt: The Sacramental Diaconate for Women as a Vote of the Roman-Catholic Church in Germany

With the call to establish the ministry of the permanent diaconate for married, professional men, and as an independent sacramental office with an ordination “unto a ministry of service”, a movement was introduced into the theology of ministry – a movement which is present in the Catholic Church to this day. This “permanent diaconate” is understood – according to the council’s perspective – within the framework of the Church’s sacramental ministry of salvation, as a special representation of the diaconal Christ – the “Christus diakonos”. In times of the council, the question of the diaconate of women was already on the agenda; the German Catholic women’s associations had gathered “wishes” from female Catholics to the council in preparation for the council, among them the reference to women’s access to the diaconate. The St. Joan’s International Alliance, which was active worldwide and arose in the course of the first women’s movement, sent a petition to the Commission for the Apostolate of the Laity on 27-28 May 1961 asking for the establishment of the diaconate for men and women. [extract]