Pope sets up Vatican panel to study female deacons issue

Pope sets up Vatican panel to study female deacons issue

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis has set up a panel to study whether women could serve as deacons, a role now reserved to men.

Married men who serve as deacons can preach and preside at weddings, baptisms and funerals.

Heading the commission is a top official, Archbishop Luis Francisco Ladaria Ferrer, a Jesuit who is the No. 2 official in the Congregation of the Faith, the Vatican office entrusted with ensuring doctrinal orthodoxy.