In an interview with the magazine "Communio" (online, Thursday), the former Vatican official responsible for ecumenism said that he had struggled with the answer to this question for some time.
"Each local church would be free to decide whether or not to make use of this possibility," Kasper continued. The Cardinal emphasised that he was talking about permanent deaconesses, not the ordination of deacons as a transitional stage to priestly ordination.
According to Kasper, the argument in favour of ordaining women as deacons is that the Western and Eastern churches were familiar with this ministry in the early centuries.
Nor could it be said that the ordination of deaconesses was not a sacrament at the time, as these theological concepts only developed later.
It would be inappropriate to view the ordinations of that time only as sacramentals, i.e. merely as symbolic blessings: "The fact that - as far as I know - the ordination forms for deacons and deaconesses were the same also speaks against this."
Unity of the sacrament of ordination not an argument in Kasper's favour
Kasper was also not convinced by the argument that women cannot be ordained as deacons because the ordinations of deacon, priest and bishop are an inseparable sacrament of the "ordo".
Pope Benedict XVI (2005-2013) made it clear that deacons, unlike priests and bishops, do not represent Jesus Christ as the head of the Church.
Furthermore, the ordination of bishops was only finally recognised as a sacrament by the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965).
"There were and are therefore not insignificant differences within the one sacrament of the ordo, as well as historical developments that have been orientated towards pastoral needs," emphasised Kasper.
The question of whether women can be ordained as deacons has been a contentious issue within the Catholic Church for years.
Several commissions set up by popes have already dealt with the issue without coming to a clear conclusion.
A decision by the Pope is also pending.
In 1994, Pope John Paul II (1978-2005) merely stated that the Church had no authority to ordain women as priests.
The document did not contain a statement on women deacons.
The Synod on Synodality, which ended last Sunday, described the question of the ordination of women deacons as open in its final document.