Only in 1972, Paul VI abolished these minor orders and the subdiaconate in order to replace them with a new kind of "lector" and "acolyte" which were called “lay ministries” so that the claim spread that these corresponded to the common priesthood of the laity.
Based on this false assumption, no convincing reason can be given for excluding female lectors and acolytes although the Church’s unbroken tradition prohibits women from carrying out such liturgical services.
Therefore, Schneider calls Francis’ recent decision to "allow" women access to them a “gesture of great and clear rupture with the uninterrupted and universal tradition of both the Eastern and the Western Church.”
Schneider admits that this break was in practice already "carried out or tolerated" by Paul VI, John Paul II, and Benedict XVI.
#newsTmhsvaompw
