"Amazon cardinal ‘lays hands’ to confer ‘ministry’ on women going to ‘celebrate a sacrament’"

"Calling for a female diaconate, Cardinal Ulrich Steiner, from Brazil’s Amazon region, has revealed that he 'lays hands' on women who he has commissioned to baptize since they are going to 'celebrate a sacrament.'

Addressing a press conference in Fatima, Portugal, over the weekend, Steiner renewed his prior calls for a female diaconate.

'In our reality, women exercise the deacon’s ministries,' said Steiner on Saturday. The Cardinal-Archbishop of Manaus, in the Amazon, presides over an area with approximately 1.6 million Catholics.

He added that 'the vast majority of our small communities are coordinated by women,' noting that the 'role of women in the church of the Amazon is fundamental.'

Steiner continued, revealing that he performs a para-liturgical ceremony for women he sends to offer the sacraments within the archdiocese.

'When I send someone, for example to baptize, I lay hands on them, but I don’t lay hands on someone as an ordination. I lay hands as the apostles did,' he attested, adding that it is 'a sign of receiving a ministry and that this person will celebrate a sacrament.'

The apostles are recorded in the Scriptures as laying on hands on new Catholics, but primarily the laying on of hands was used in conjunction with conferring sacramental ordination to Holy Orders, such as when ordaining the seven deacons. (Acts 6: 6)"