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Entity reports on the Vatican's debate over female priesthood in the Catholic church.

Despite early Christian art depicting female deacons, suggesting that women served in the now male-only role, the Roman Catholic Church has long denied women the opportunity to serve as ordained ministers. The late Pope John Paul II issued a decree to exclude women from the priesthood and ban all discussion on the topic.

According to NPR, however, it seems the Vatican’s policy is evolving.

Pope Francis recently announced his intention to form a commission that will decide whether women will be permitted to once again serve as deacons. Female clergy members and supporters flocked to Rome this June to hold an unofficial summit on female priesthood, hoping to sustain momentum for the movement.

NPR reports that panelists at the women’s summit expressed hope that “female priesthood would be an important signal in a culture where women suffer disproportionately from violence, poverty, lack of education and trafficking.”

In the past, women acting as priests, and even their vocal supporters, have been excommunicated from the Church. One woman, who had been ordained in Kentucky, met with Vatican officials to share her petition for reinstatement with Pope Francis. She asks that the Pope lift the punishments on her supporters as well as begin a dialogue with women priests.

That dialogue, they hope, will move beyond discussions regarding the possibility of women deacons to the reality of female priests.

Edited by Ellena Kilgallon
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