Pope Francis has formed a new commission to study the female diaconate. The 12-member commission will be chaired by Cardinal Giuseppe Petrocchi of L’Aquila, Italy, with Father Denis Dupont-Fauville, an official of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), serving as secretary.
This is the second time Pope Francis has formed such a commission. In November 2016 a panel chaired by then-Archbishop Luis Ladaria Ferrer (who is now prefect of the CDF) met for the first time. By May 2019, the Pope reported that this commission had been unable to reach any consensus.