"It is necessary to fight for equality," he writes in a post for the Spanish portal "Religion Digital" on Tuesday.
Many theologians and religious women would like to become deacons and priestesses, as is already customary in the Anglican Church. But, according to Nann, the Catholic official church, consisting exclusively of men, is still unwilling to share power with women.
The former bishop also criticized the document of the second Vatican Commission on the Women's Diaconate, which had become public in December 2025. It stated that women could not become deacons, as this was a step towards the priesthood.
"Pope Leo XIV will certainly follow the Council of the Commission, despite its complete illogic, especially on this point: power in the Church is bound to the priesthood, and the priesthood is reserved exclusively for men," Nann said. This argument ignores historical and cultural changes and merely aims to secure the de facto power of the male clergy.
No further fighting for access to the diaconate
As a bishop, he himself had appointed two religious wives and one laiin as parish administrators according to the law of the Church. Her tasks included the coordination of pastoral care as well as the donation of baptism and weddings. But Nann advises women not to continue to fight for access to the diaconate. This would only discourage and exhaust them.
"Under current church law, they can be allocated parishes where there is a shortage of priests, and this is the case worldwide," he explains. "The bishop can therefore grant them the authority to baptize and worship, that is, the exact sacraments that a deacon may donate. Thus, they can exercise the diaconate without being called deacons."
The former bishop advises women, among other things, to exercise the common priesthood of all the faithful at home. This is how the Church started. Women could therefore be priests in their families for spouses, children, relatives and friends, but without liturgical vestments or measurement books, according to Nann. “Don’t preach, let everyone express their opinion instead.”
Nann had informed last autumn that he was no longer a priest after his resignation as bishop and that a civil marriage had been received with his wife. The Nann, a native of Breisach am Rhein, was bishop of the Caravelí territorial prelature in southern Peru from 2017 to 2024.
A territorial prelature is equivalent to a diocese and forms a partial church within the Catholic Church. Since 2002, Nann has been permanently operating in the South American country.
In 2024, he resigned as a bishop because he needed a time of clarification and decision.