Female deacons

Pope Francis to look at opening door to female deacons in Church

In apparently off-the-cuff remarks the 79-year-old pontiff promised to examine whether women could join the clergy at the rank of deacon, 

The pledge came in a question and answer session with members of female religious orders during a meeting at the Vatican.

In the exchanges, Pope Francis said he had discussed the use of female deacons in the early centuries of the Church with experts on the subject but was not clear as to their exact role and status.