"German prelate commissions 13 female ‘deacons in the spirit’ with support of bishops’ conference head"

"Thirteen German women have been 'commissioned' as 'deacons in the spirit' by a local bishop following a three-year 'female deacons' training plan, in an event praised by the president of the German bishops’ conference.

On April 13, the auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Essen, Bishop Ludger Schepers, commissioned 13 women who had completed a three and a half year training program with the 'Women’s Diaconate Network.' The Franciscan community of Waldbreitbach who hosted the event described the women as being commissioned as 'deacons in the spirit.'

Schepers celebrated a Mass and certificate-awarding ceremony for the 13 women in his capacity as a long-standing friend and supporter of the movement. The bishop has a long history of heterodoxy and was the first German Catholic bishop to attend a homosexual 'blessing' in 2022. He was recently appointed by the German bishops as the first 'commissioner for queer pastoral care.'

In his homily, which he delivered jointly with Sister Edith-Maria Magar, the superior of Waldbreitbach, he called for the recognition of women as deacons. A summary of his words stated that he 'emphasized that women are also called. Women rightly felt discriminated against in the Church and excluded with their calling.'...

While not present at the commissioning, the president of the German bishops’ conference, Bishop Georg Bätzing, who openly rejects Catholic teaching on a number of subjects, issued a special message of congratulations to the women who completed the course.

'They are a blessing for our church,' he claimed, according to the Waldbreitbach report.

However, in response to this reporter’s questions, spokesman for the German bishops conference Matthias Kopp denied that Bätzing commissioned 'deaconesses of the spirit.' Kopp told LifeSite that in Bätzing’s letter to the group 'he wished God’s blessing on the training course ‘Diaconal Leadership Services for Women in the Church,’ just as I wish you God’s blessing on your work.'"