The function of a deaconess, the document read, was summed up in the constitutions thus: "The deaconess does not bless, and she does not fulfil any of the things that priests and deacons do, but she looks after the doors and attends the priests during the baptism of women, for the sake of decency."
While deaconesses were able to carry out the anointing of women in baptism for decency's sake and to visit sick women in their homes, "they were forbidden to confer baptism themselves, or to play a part in the Eucharistic offering."
Even in the fourth century, the document read, "the way of life of deaconesses was very similar to that of nuns."
While history proves that the ministry of female deacons did indeed exist, the text noted that it was "developed unevenly" in the different parts of the Church, and that affirmed that it is clear "that this ministry was not perceived as simply the feminine equivalent of the masculine diaconate."
Divided into seven chapters and a conclusion, the document's second to last paragraph addresses the question of the ordination of women to the diaconate today.
While the general tone was that the question needed further study, the document offered two points of reflection for future consideration.
First, it mentioned that the deaconesses referred to in the ancient Church, "as evidenced by the rite of institution and the functions they exercised – were not purely and simply equivalent to the deacons."
Secondly, it asserted that "the unity of the sacrament of Holy Orders…is strongly underlined by ecclesial tradition, especially in the teaching of the Magisterium," and stressed the "clear distinction" between the ministry of priests and bishops versus that of deacons.
The document concluded with no clear indication either way, but instead simply stated that the question "pertains to the ministry of discernment which the Lord established in his Church to pronounce authoritatively on this question."
Elise Harris was senior Rome correspondent for CNA from 2012 to 2018.