Synod Cmte Expresses Openness to Women Deacons

One of the 13 members of the committee expected to draft the hotly anticipated final document from Pope Francis' ongoing Vatican summit on the future of the Catholic Church has expressed an openness to ordaining women as Catholic deacons. In an exclusive interview with National Catholic Reporter, Australian Bishop Shane Mackinlay, elected to the committee role by his peers at the Oct. 4-29 Synod of Bishops, said of discussions about women's ordination: "I'm glad that it is being addressed."