Cardinal Radcliffe: I support “moving ahead quickly” on female deacons

The English cardinal's interview highlights the spirituality which underpinned the Synod on Synodality.

(PerMariam) — Cardinal Radcliffe, who served as spiritual advisor to the Synod on Synodality, has given his support to “moving ahead quickly” with ordaining women to the diaconate.

Interviewed by The Telegraph, Timothy Cardinal Radcliffe OP made a number of revelatory comments, not least about the fact that he apparently fell in love with a woman just shortly after he was ordained a priest and invited her to stay at his priory to meet the Dominican community there.

But it is his position on women’s access to the diaconal order which is a standout aspect of the interview.

Cdl. Radcliffe OP, Dec 2024. ©Michael Haynes

Radcliffe characteristically sought to present both sides of the current argument. He downplayed the idea that the only “people that matter” are those in the sacrament of Holy Orders. ‘“Perhaps the public haven’t got it right. It’s a very clericalist view to think that the only people that matter are priests. Saints are more important than priests.”