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Dianne Clark wrote:

Hi, guys —

  • Does the Catholic Church have women deacons or deaconesses?

Dianne

  { Does the Catholic Church have women deacons or deaconesses? }

Eric replied:

Hi, Dianne —

Not per se.

In years past, when catechumens were baptized in the nude by immersion, for the sake of propriety there were women who did this, and these were called deaconesses.

They were:

  • not ordained
  • were not considered clerics, and
  • did not correspond to the position we now know as deacon.

Eric

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