Pope Francis has made perfectly clear that he is opposed to ordaining women as deacons. Although I disagree with him, I accept that we are not going to see women deacons during his pontificate. But if Francis or anyone else opposes ordaining women deacons, there is a simple solution: stop ordaining anyone as deacons, and Read more
Dr Phyllis Zagano and Dr Joe Grayland discuss the diaconate, the actual need for deacons and women deacons. Joe Grayland – What’s the point of having deacons You’ve written a lot about the diaconate and women as deacons. So I’m going to start because, coming with a little bit of a parish priest appreciation, it’s Read more
“Until the Holy Father has a woman proclaiming the gospel in St Peter’s at a Mass he celebrates, the Church really doesn’t have the right to say women are to be recognised as equal and to be held as equally human to men” said Phyllis Zagano PhD, a Senior Research Associate in Residence at Hofstra Read more
In an October 2023 interview, Cardinal Robert McElroy of San Diego and Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago said that the General Assembly of the Synod on Synodality raised the question of “reimaging” or “revisioning” the diaconate as a whole. It is precisely such a “revisioning” that many historians and theologians of the diaconate have been Read more
Without doubt, the best line to emanate from the Synod on Synoldality is “Excuse me, Your Eminence, she has not finished speaking.” That sums up the synod and the state of the Catholic Church’s attitude toward change. In October, hundreds of bishops, joined by lay men and women, priests, deacons, religious sisters and brothers met Read more
Permanent deacons whose ministry focuses on service to the poor and hurting is an antidote to clericalism within the church. Their service illustrates that “to love is to serve and to serve is to reign,” Pope Francis says. Francis made the comment when he met most of the Diocese of Rome’s 137 permanent deacons, their Read more
Priests were among the thousands of prisoners held at Dachau concentration camp during World War II, permanent deacons and their families were told during the 2018 National Diaconate Conference in New Orleans. The priests came from from 144 dioceses and 25 countries and were about a third of the camp’s total population. Of the around Read more
In a wide-ranging interview, Pope Francis has spoken about sexual abuse, the Society of St Pius X and clericalising laity by making them deacons. Pope Francis told French newspaper La Croix that it is often a mistake to “clericalise” talented laity by turning them into deacons. “In Buenos Aires, I have known many good priests Read more
Ten students of Pacific Regional Seminary of St Peter Chanel were ordained deacon by Soane Cardinal Mafi of Tonga on Sunday 8th May in at the Sacred Heart Cathedral in Suva, Fiji. The deacons come from six different Pacific Island nations. Three were ordained for the Archdiocese of Samoa-Apia. Two are members of the Congregation of Read more
The bishops of England and Wales have rejected a proposal to ordain married men to the priesthood. Bishop Seamus Cunningham of Hexham and Newcastle proposed the motion at the bishops’ plenary meeting last month. He did this on behalf of the Council of Priests in his diocese. The proposal was rejected after a “thoughtful discussion”, Read more