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from a CATHOLIC perspective

      VATICAN (CWNews.com) -- Women cannot be ordained to the diaconate because that would "represent a degree toward the priesthood," according to Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos, the prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy.

      Speaking at the Vatican on March 25, as he presented the Pope's Holy Thursday letter to the world's priests, Cardinal Castrillon emphasized the "spiritual paternity" of the ministerial priesthood. His comment on the prospect of female deacons may have been an indirect response to an article published earlier in the month by the prestigious Jesuit review Civilta Cattolica, which had suggested that a female diaconate might be possible.

      Cardinal Castrillon also observed that the vocational crisis of the 1970s and 1980s has abated. He added that the sources of priestly vocations have changed, and that today more seminarians are being drawn "from the professional world and people who have begun university studies." These vocations, he said, could prove more durable.

      Noticias Eclesiales also reported in Church News that Cardinal Castrillon explained that the Pope's Letter is focussed on the theme of divine fatherhood. Among other things, he emphasized that it began with the words "Abba Father." And says, "Priests are invited to be permeated by this fatherhood, but they are also called to give it to the whole world, which is in such urgent need of it." The Cardinal Prefect also affirmed the importance of the Eucharist for the priest's life. This sacrament is "the inexhaustible mystery of Christ and from his prayer is the summit and source of all good. The Holy Sacrifice is the absolute center of the life and day of the priest. Priesthood and the Eucharist are indissolubly united," commented the Vatican Cardinal.

      In his letter, the Pope urges all priests to "carry out with confidence and courage their duty of guiding the community to authentic Christian prayer. This is a duty which no priest may ever forsake, even though the difficulties caused by today's secularized mentality can at times make it extremely demanding for him."