Posts Tagged women deacons
Members of Francis’ women deacons commission express diverse views / National Catholic Reporter
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Pope Francis, Voice of the Faithful, Women Deacons on August 9, 2016
The members of Pope Francis’ new commission to study whether women might serve as deacons in the Catholic church have expressed a wide range of views on the subject in the past, with some clearly supportive of the possibility while others say there is no firm historical precedent to follow.
“Very few members of the commission — comprising six men and six women and led by Vatican Archbishop Luis Ladaria — have made public comments since their appointments were announced in a brief press release Aug. 2.
“But as many of the appointed experts are theologians or other kinds of academics, some — like member and NCR contributor Phyllis Zagano of Hofstra University — have written extensively on the subject in the past.”
By Joshua J. McElwee, National Catholic Reporter — Click here to read the rest of this story.
Francis institutes commission to study female deacons, appointing gender-balanced membership / National Catholic Reporter
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Vatican, Voice of the Faithful, Women Deacons, Women in Catholic Church on August 2, 2016
Pope Francis has created a commission to study the possibility of allowing women to serve as deacons in the Catholic church, following up on a promise made last May in what could be an historic move towards ending the global institution’s practice of an all-male clergy.
“The pontiff has appointed an equal number of male and female experts as members of the commission, which will be led by Archbishop Luis Francisco Ladaria, a Jesuit who serves as the second-in-command of the Vatican’s doctrinal congregation.
“The Vatican said in a release announcing the commission Tuesday (Aug. 2) that the pope had decided to create the group ‘after intense prayer and mature reflection’ and wanted it particularly to study the history of the female diaconate ‘in the earliest times of the church.’
“The formal name given to the group is ‘Study Commission on the Women’s Diaconate.’ The commission’s members include experts in patristic theology, ecclesiology, and spirituality.”
By Joshua J. McElwee, National Catholic Reporter — Click here to read the rest of this story.
Church reform movement Voice of the Faithful would welcome Pope Francis’ women’s diaconate commission
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Pope Francis, Voice of the Faithful, Women Deacons, Women in the Church on May 12, 2016
Pope Francis may soon initiate a commission to study ordaining women as deacons in the Catholic Church, according to media reports today (May 12). Equality of women in the Church has long been an issue with Church reform movement Voice of the Faithful, which would welcome such a commission.
VOTF has long been called for all baptized Catholics—women and men—to have equal access to all positions within the Church and a voice in all decision-making processes. VOTF encourages conversation on all ministries and opportunities for women, with special attention to restoring the female diaconate.
Phyllis Zagano, Ph.D., senior research associate-in-residence, Hofstra University, has written widely regarding a women’s diaconate in the Church and spoken often to VOTF audiences. She said today: “I am delighted that in this time of Pentecost the Spirit has brought the question of women deacons to the Holy Father’s mind, and I hope and pray that I will be able to assist whatever commission he establishes.” Zagano is the author of Women Deacons? Essays with Answers, and the recipient of VOTF’s St. Catherine of Siena Distinguished Layperson award.
The Pope made his comments on the possibility of a commission to study a women’s diaconate during a meeting in Rome today of the International Union of Superior Generals, which represents about a half million Catholic women religious.
Voice of the Faithful presents its views on women deacons on its website in a paper it commissioned from Carolyn Johnson, Ed.D. Click here to read “Women Deacons: How Long Will It Take the Catholic Church to Open This Door,” and click here to see a bibliography of suggested readings on women in the Church that VOTF compiled for its 10th Year Conference in 2011.
Voice of the Faithful®: Voice of the Faithful® is a worldwide movement of faithful Roman Catholics working to support survivors of clergy sexual abuse, support priests of integrity and increase the laity’s role in the governance and guidance of the Church. More information is at www.votf.org.
Francis to create commission to study female deacons in Catholic church / National Catholic Reporter
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Pope Francis, Vatican, Voice of the Faithful, Women Deacons, Women in Catholic Church on May 12, 2016
Pope Francis has announced he will create a commission to study the possibility of allowing women to serve as deacons in the Catholic church, signaling an historic openness to the possibility of ending the global institution’s practice of an all-male clergy.
“The pontiff indicated he would create such a commission during a meeting at the Vatican Thursday with some 900 leaders of the world’s congregations of Catholic women religious, who asked him during a question-and-answer session why the church excludes women from serving as deacons.
“The women religious, meeting with the pope as part of the triennial assembly of the International Union of Superiors General (UISG), told Francis that women has served as deacons in the early church and asked: ‘Why not construct an official commission that might study the question?’
“The pope responded that he had spoken about the matter once some years ago with a ‘good, wise professor’ who had studied the use of female deacons in the early centuries of the church. Francis said it remained unclear to him what role such deacons had.”
By Joshua J. McElwee, National Catholic Reporter — Click here to read the rest of this story.
Voice of the Faithful’s Women’s Initiative is dedicated to the proposition that all baptized Catholics—women and men—have equal access to all positions within the Church and have a voice in all decision-making processes. VOTF encourages conversation on all ministries and opportunities for women, but we focus our project work primarily on the restoration of the female diaconate.
Women Deacons: How Long? — paper on restoring the female diaconate to the Church (15 pages)
Suggested Readings: Women in the Church — additional resources and information on women’s roles (9 pages)
What happened at the Synod Oct. 6 regarding women deacons / Pray Tell Blog
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Synod of Bishops, Vatican, Voice of the Faithful, Women Deacons, Women in Catholic Church on October 7, 2015
What happened at the synod today (Oct. 6)? Review for us just what (Canadian) Archbishop (Paul-Andre) Durocher (of Quebec) said.
“Archbishop Durocher commented on No. 29 in the Synod document—the place of women in the Church. He made two very important and interrelated comments: 1) women should be included in Church governance; 2) women should be restored to the ordained diaconate. As a matter of fact, the only persons who can share governance or jurisdiction in the church are clerics, and the ordinary way of entering the clerical state is by ordination to the diaconate …”
Click here to read the rest of this Q& A on Archbishop Durocher’s comments at the Synod on the Family regarding women’s roles in the Church. The Q&A is on the Pray Tell blog and is with Phyllis Zagano, Ph.D.
Dr. Zagano is a senior research associate-in-residence at Hfostra University, Hempstead, NY, where she continues her research on women in ministry, specifically women deacons. She is author of many books and articles on the topic, most recently: “In the Image of Christ: Essays on Being Catholic and Female,” and the ground-breaking “Holy Saturday: An Argument for the Restoration of the Female Diaconate in the Catholic Church.” Voice of the Faithful presented her with a St. Catherine of Siena Distinguished Layperson Award in 2012.
Why are we silencing women (and lay) preachers? / National Catholic Reporter
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Catholic Bishops, church reform, Voice of the Faithful on September 3, 2014
Bishop Salvatore Matano, the new bishop of Rochester, N.Y., is in the process of ending a 40-year custom of permitting lay ministers to preach at Mass. Most are women commissioned to preach by the former bishop, Matthew Clark. All have advanced degrees in theology and all have served for many years in various diocesan leadership positions. Many are or were parish administrators in a diocese where one-third of all parishes are without a resident priest. (And things are going to get worse. According to the diocesan website, the number of active diocesan priests is expected to decline from 140 to 62 by 2025 — a decline of almost 60 percent.)
“Preaching at Mass by prepared and gifted laity, especially laywomen, flourished under Clark, who interpreted church law broadly, though the practice actually began under his predecessor, Bishop Joseph Hogan. Clark, who retired in 2012, was nationally known for supporting expanded roles for women in the church.”
By Christine Schenk, National Catholic Reporter — Click here to read the rest of this story.
Speaking of the roles of the laity and of women in the Church reminds us that Voice of the Faithful® has long advocated for ordaining women to the diaconate. An example of the impetus for women deacons in the Church recently occurred in Ireland. When Bishop Kiernan O’Reilly of Killaloe Diocese began a permanent male diaconate, women began asking him to include them in his call for deacons. You may support them by writing to Bishop O’Reilly. His email address is bishop@killaloediocese.ie. Remind him that, “for the first half of its history, that is, for more than 11 centuries, women were ordained to the diaconate by bishops, within the sanctuary, with the laying on of hands.” (from the Voice of the Faithful document “Women Deacons: How Long Will It Take the Catholic Church to Open This Door“)
An Open Letter from the People of God to U.S. Bishops
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Catholic Bishops, Celibacy, Voice of the Faithful, Women Deacons on June 11, 2014
Voice of the Faithful® encourages interested Catholics to join with FutureChurch supporters and ask U.S. bishops to open a dialogue “about restoring our early traditions of married and celibate priests and male and female deacons.”
In an open letter to U.S. bishops, FutureChurch urges bishops “to discern the needs of all the people of God and to listen to Pope Francis’ call for courage in realizing reforms that will bring new vitality to Eucharistic communities.”
You can join this effort by clicking here to send your bishop a copy of the letter.
We need to shout loudly for our bishops to hear our Spirit-filled voices and help us change the Church.
Making a Case for Women Deacons
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in church reform, Voice of the Faithful, Women Deacons on June 10, 2013
In April, the president of Germany’s bishops’ conference called for establishing an office for female deacons. The bishop of Regensburg responded that the “the office of bishop and deacon is inseparably bound to priest and bishop” and “the tradition that only men may be ordained is based on the Bible.” Gerald O’Collins, writing in The Tablet, has responded:
Bishop Voderholzer (of Regensburg) seems to have overlooked not only a document co-authored by his predecessor in Regensburg, Bishop Gerhard Ludwig Müller (now Archbishop Müller and prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith), but also an addition to the canon law of the Western Church made by Pope Benedict XVI.
Read O’Collins’ entire article, Unlock the Door: The Case for Women in the Diaconate, by clicking here and click on this title, Women Deacons: How Long Will It Take for the Catholic Church to Open this Door, to read a paper commissioned by Voice of the Faithful® and promulgated during VOTF’s 10th Year Conference in Boston last September.
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