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Pope Francis Formally Expands the Law and Allowed More Roles for Women in Catholic Church



There is nothing new anymore about women serving the holy mass as altar servers or proclaiming the Word of God during liturgical celebrations or serving as Eucharistic ministers. This has already been happening in many countries around the globe.

However, Pope Francis has recently changed the law of the Roman Catholic to formally allow women to serve as readers at liturgies, altar servers and distributors of communion or the ones who assist the priest in administering communion.

Through Apostolic Letter Spiritus Domini (The Spirit of the Lord) in the form of a Motu proprio, Pope Francis modified the first paragraph of Canon 230 of the Code of Canon Law regarding access of women to the Ministries of Lector and Acolyte.

The new formulation of the Code of Canon Law reads:

“Lay persons of suitable age and with the gifts determined by decree of the Episcopal Conference may be permanently assigned, by means of the established liturgical rite, to the ministries of lectors and acolytes; however, the conferment of such a role does not entitle them to support or remuneration from the Church”.

However, it does not mean that women are allowed to be ordained priests. The roles were “essentially distinct from the ordained ministry”, stated the Vatican.

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Source: Reuters, Vatican News, The Washington Post, Vatican, Bulletin of the Holy See Press Office

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