A Vatican commission has yet to take a firm decision on whether women could become deacons, but the answer for now remains no, according to a document made public Thursday.

The late Pope Francis set up the commission under Cardinal Giuseppe Petrocchi in 2020 to look into the issue amid a fierce debate over the role of women in a Church led for 2,000 years by men.

Its activities were conducted behind closed doors, but a letter from Petrocchi to Pope Leo XIV, written in September and published by the Vatican Thursday, provides the first insight into its deliberations.

It revealed that by a 7-1 vote in July 2022, the commission approved a motion that “excludes the possibility” of moving towards allowing women to join the deaconate — but said this was not a “definitive judgement”.

In its final working session in February 2025, the commission examined contributions from the Synod, a global Church assembly where women deacons had been on the agenda.

The commission was then split five to five in a vote on whether the masculinity of those who receive Holy Orders is a crucial element of Church teaching.

In his letter, Petrocchi advocated a cautious approach on an issue that provokes “intense” debate, calling for further study.

Deacons are ordained and able to celebrate baptisms, marriages and funerals, but unlike priests, they cannot celebrate masses.

In some countries, Petrocchi noted, deacons do not even exist, while in places where they do, sometimes their activities coincide with the roles of lay ministers.

It was not immediately clear why Pope Leo decided to publish the document now, or what will happen next.

But one campaign group for women’s rights, the Women’s Ordination Conference, said Thursday it was “appalled by the Vatican’s refusal to open its doors to women, even a crack”.

“Few will have the patience to excavate hope from the Vatican’s claim there is ‘need for further study’,” it said in a statement.

AFP