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Joshua McElwee is reporting this in the NCR today

Pope Francis has announced he will create a commission to study the possibility of allowing women to serve as deacons in the Catholic church, signaling an historic openness to the possibility of ending the global institution’s practice of an all-male clergy. The pontiff indicated he would create such a commission during a meeting at the Vatican Thursday with some 900 leaders of the world’s congregations of Catholic women religious, who asked him during a question-and-answer session why the church excludes women from serving as deacons. Read the article

Dear René Reid,

Thank you for your kind mail. Personally I do not strive for an official rehabilitation, but I appreciate your sympathy and loyalty and welcome your initiative. The Pope’s fraternal response to my »Appeal« may encourage you.

With all good wishes,
Hans Küng

Petition to reinstate Rev Professor Hans Küng as an official Catholic theologian

7 May 2016

Dear Fr. Küng,

We will be watching eagerly for your dialogue with Pope Francis. He seems to be genuinely open to discussions such as this. If it is not well publicized, please keep us in the loop of knowing when and how it will take place and we will notify all of our supporters.

Grateful for all that you have done over your lifetime,

Rene Reid
Director, CCRI

10 May 2016

Dear René,

Thank you for your message.

In NCR (March 25 – April 7) my article was fully published. 

The Pope's answer will certainly follow in one of the next issues.

Cordially,

Hans Küng

Press Release

For Immediate Release

Contact: Rene Reid
775-825-9196 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Catholic Church Reform International (CCRI) is both hopeful and disappointed in what Pope Francis has said in his Apostolic Exhortation, but in the end finds encouragement for current efforts to promote more participation by the grass roots in the governance of the Church.

There are many signs of hope in the document, which (1) urges church leaders to move away from being rigid enforcers of doctrine to become nurturing pastors (##305-312); elevates transformative love and tenderness over “dry and lifeless doctrine” (#59) and recognizes that “a general law or rule … is not enough to discern and ensure full fidelity to God … as to matters of detail” (#304) (2) reaffirms that “every person, regardless of sexual orientation, ought to be respected in his or her dignity and treated with consideration” (#250); (3) recognizes that “a negative judgment about an objective situation does not imply a judgment about … the culpability of the person involved (#302) and that “individual conscience needs to be better incorporated into the Church’s praxis in certain situations which do not objectively embody our understanding of marriage” (#303); exhorts the clergy to accompany people and dialogue with them, most especially with those who do not live the reality of an ideal marriage (#293); (4) acknowledges that we could draw from the experience of the broad oriental tradition of a married clergy (#202); and (5) reinforces the sanctity of personal conscience (#222) and the obligation of pastors “to encourage an ever greater trust in God’s grace” (#303) and “to form consciences, not to replace them” (#37).