Pope Francis appointed a commission (two commissions, actually) to investigate the historical record which described the ministry of women deacons in the early church. My guess is that he was looking for some theological cover if he decided to restore that office today. While that might have been a nice thing to do, it was not really necessary. The Church has from the very beginning raised up ministries that it needed to fulfill its mission. We hear in the Acts of the Apostles that the ministry of deacon developed because of the multi-racial, multi-lingual reality of those first believers. Select from among you seven reputable men, filled with the Spirit and wisdom, whom we shall appoint to this task. If your starting point is “we’ve always done it this way” you will never improve, never be able to respond to changing circumstances. If you do what you always did, you will get what you always got.
