Swiss Bishops Want Female Deacons
The Swiss bishops submitted a report to the Vatican on 13 May on the local synod on synodality. Excerpts:
- "Synodal decisions that marginalize or exclude people and their experiences, especially women, queer people and the socially disadvantaged, are contrary to the mission of the Church."
- "Recognition of the equal baptismal dignity of men, women and queer people must be lived and witnessed in the building of a synodal church."
- "The question of [...] the inclusion of women in all [!] ministries is an important issue".
- "The exclusion of women from the priesthood is no longer understood in many places".
- "The opening of the diaconate to women is to be welcomed when it expresses a development towards the recognition of the equal baptismal dignity of men and women in the Church".
- "A special form of diaconate 'for women' would be seen in the Swiss context as an expression of the relegation of women, as would the gradation of the diaconate in relation to the ordained ministry".
The Catholic Church in Switzerland is clinically dead, but still very rich because of a very lucrative church tax system, which also taxes companies and banks, so that many priests, deacons and pastoral workers earn more than 14,000 Swiss francs (over 15,500 US dollars) a month. Mgr Felix Gmür, the bishop of Basel, the country's largest diocese, earns around CHF 200,000 a year.
Francis and his "Church of the Poor" are very popular among Switzerland's bishops and priests.
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- "Synodal decisions that marginalize or exclude people and their experiences, especially women, queer people and the socially disadvantaged, are contrary to the mission of the Church."
- "Recognition of the equal baptismal dignity of men, women and queer people must be lived and witnessed in the building of a synodal church."
- "The question of [...] the inclusion of women in all [!] ministries is an important issue".
- "The exclusion of women from the priesthood is no longer understood in many places".
- "The opening of the diaconate to women is to be welcomed when it expresses a development towards the recognition of the equal baptismal dignity of men and women in the Church".
- "A special form of diaconate 'for women' would be seen in the Swiss context as an expression of the relegation of women, as would the gradation of the diaconate in relation to the ordained ministry".
The Catholic Church in Switzerland is clinically dead, but still very rich because of a very lucrative church tax system, which also taxes companies and banks, so that many priests, deacons and pastoral workers earn more than 14,000 Swiss francs (over 15,500 US dollars) a month. Mgr Felix Gmür, the bishop of Basel, the country's largest diocese, earns around CHF 200,000 a year.
Francis and his "Church of the Poor" are very popular among Switzerland's bishops and priests.
#newsThkzzyjmnc