Francis told reporters returning home from the Balkans that the commission found evidence that female deacons performed functions that included immersion baptisms for women. But he said there was no agreement on whether these women underwent the same sacramental ordination as male deacons. "It's fundamental that there is no certainty that there was an ordination with the same formula, with the same goal, as the male ordination," Francis said. Deacons today are ordained ministers, not priests, though they can perform many of the same functions as priests. Opponents say ordaining women to the diaconate would signal the start of a slippery slope toward ordaining women to the priesthood.

Source: Fox News May 07, 2019 20:26 UTC