Once again, Pope Francis is working behind closed doors with his Council of Cardinals, also known as C9. This is the group's third meeting so far this year. The Pope created the C9 at the beginning of his pontificate to help advise him on various decisions and reform the Roman Curia.
Earlier this year, the February C9 meeting involved three women who spoke with the Pope and the Cardinals about the role of women in the Church. One of them was Jo Bailey Wells, a bishop of the Church of England.
But months after this meeting, the Pope shut down the possibility of the female diaconate during an interview with CBS News.
Despite his answers in this interview, the topic of women deacons remains on the agenda for the closing session of Pope Francis' Synod on Synodality that will take place in Rome in October.
AT