ROME (AP) – Pope Francis changed church law on Monday to explicitly allow women to do more during Mass, granting them access to the most sacred place on the altar, while continuing to claim that they cannot be priests .
Francis changed the law to formalize and institutionalize what is common practice in many parts of the world: that women can be installed as readers, to read the Gospel and serve on the altar as Eucharistic ministers. Previously, these roles were officially reserved for men, although exceptions were made.
Francis said he was making the move to increase recognition of women’s “precious contribution” to the church, while emphasizing that all baptized Catholics have a role to play in the church’s mission.
But he also noted that doing so distinguishes between “ordained” ministries, such as the priesthood and the diaconate, and ministries open to qualified laypeople. The Vatican reserves the priesthood for men.
The change comes when Francis remains under pressure to allow women to be deacons – ministers who perform many of the same functions as priestesses, such as presiding over weddings, baptisms and funerals. Currently, the ministry is reserved for men, although historians say the ministry was performed by women in the early church.
Francisco created a second commission of experts to study whether women could be deacons, after the first failed to reach consensus.
Proponents of expanding the diaconate to include women say it would give women a greater voice in church ministry and governance, while helping to address the shortage of priests in various parts of the world.
Opponents say allowing it would become a slippery slope to ordain women to the priesthood.
Phyllis Zagano, who was a member of the pope’s first study commission, considered the changes important, as they represent the first time that the Vatican has explicitly and through canon law allowed women to access the altar. She said it was a necessary first step before any official consideration of the female diaconate.
“This is the first movement that allows women to enter the sanctuary,” said Zagano. “This is very important.”
Noting that bishops have long called for such a change, she said it opens the door to further progress. “You cannot be ordained a deacon unless you are installed as a reader or acolyte,” said Zagano, professor of religion at Hofstra University.
Lucetta Scaraffia, the former editor of the Vatican women’s magazine, however, called the new changes a “double trap”. She said that they only formalize what is current practice, including at papal masses, while making it clear that the diaconate is an “ordained” ministry reserved for men.
“It closes the diaconate door for women,” she said in a telephone interview, calling the move “a setback” for women.