Roman Catholic Church to discuss women deacons at Pope Francis' synod in October

A Hofstra University professor is at the forefront of a new push that could help transform the 1.3 billion-member Roman Catholic Church: allowing women to serve as deacons and perform some of the same duties as priests, such as preaching at Mass.

The issue is on the list of items to be discussed at a major international "synod" that Pope Francis is convening in October in Rome.

Phyllis Zagano, a Hofstra University research associate and adjunct professor, says the synod, or monthlong meeting, represents the highest profile yet given to the issue and is "a major step forward." Zagano is considered a leading expert on the topic and was appointed by Pope Francis in 2016 to a special commission to examine it.

Now she is hopeful women deacons could become a reality in the not-distant future, shaking up the Catholic Church, an institution whose hierarchy is dominated by men.

The synod, two years in the making due to worldwide consultations, is a gathering of 400 representatives from the Roman Catholic Church. Every diocese in the world, including Rockville Centre, was asked to hold meetings in local parishes to find out what the faithful were thinking about and in which direction the church should go.

Zagano and other experts say one of the main topics is elevating women to the role of deacon, whose duties also include baptizing people and officiating at weddings. Unlike priests, deacons cannot celebrate Masses, hear confession, or administer last rites. Deacons can be married because they don't take a vow of celibacy as priests do. Both deacons and priests are ordained.

'It's time' for women deacons

“All the different listening sessions around the world are pointing to a few things that really need to be looked at, and women deacons is one of them,” said Sister Donna Ciangio, chancellor of the Archdiocese of Newark and an organizer of the U.S. part of the synod. “People are just saying it’s time.”

Zagano and other experts say that women deacons existed in the early days of the Roman Catholic Church. One, St. Phoebe, is named in the Bible by St. Paul.

Deacons were phased out in the 12th century, but brought back in the 1960s, though for men only, as part of the Vatican II reforms. Discussion about reviving the diaconate had accelerated after World War II, partly because of renewed interest in the church's social justice work, said Deacon William Ditewig, former executive director of the Secretariat for the Diaconate at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

“There are some 47,000 male deacons in the world, and it would stand to reason that if the Church needs deacons, it needs women deacons,” said Zagano, whose latest book on the topic is “Just Church: Catholic Social Teaching, Synodality, and Women.”

Shortage of priests

Proponents say that with a shortage of priests, allowing women deacons could quickly bolster the ranks of those who minister to the faithful and give half of humanity — women — a greater role in the church.

In some parts of the world, it is already happening, with women serving as de facto deacons in areas such as the Amazon and Australia, said Ellie Hidalgo, a leader of the Minnesota-based group Discerning Deacons, which raises awareness about the issue.

“They are ministering in small remote communities, and they already have the permission of their bishops to preach, to celebrate services, to baptize, to celebrate weddings and funerals,” said Hidalgo, who is based in Miami and has worked with gang members at a parish in East Los Angeles. She added that the de facto deacons are not officially recognized by the Vatican but are allowed to do the work through a "canonical exception" granted by local bishops.

Not everyone thinks official women deacons will become a reality soon. Longtime Vatican correspondent John Thavis said the issue had been raised several times in Rome over the past few decades, but remained unresolved.

“I don’t see the synod resolving that issue,” said Thavis, author of “The Vatican Diaries.” Controversial issues in the church often are “kind of put on a back burner where they simmer for years and years until there is a consensus to move forward, and right now I don’t think that consensus exists in the church.”

He believes that to be the case because the issue has come up "perennially" among church leaders, who have never reached agreement on it and don't appear ready to now. Conservative Catholic leaders in the U.S., for instance, likely would "wince" if Pope Francis opened the diaconate to women, he said.

Pope Francis' role

Thavis added: “I think there could be women deacons one day certainly, but I don’t see this as an issue that the pope would want to push across the finish line by himself.” 

Francis could approve women deacons on his own but would run the risk of having it undone by his successor if there is not broad support in the church, Thavis said.

Opponents of the move contend that allowing women deacons would open the door to women priests, which they say is not permitted according to the Bible and church teachings. Zagano and others say that canonically — that is, under church law — they are separate roles and would not bleed into each other.

They also note that the role of deacon is not determined by dogma or unchangeable belief, so could easily be adjusted by the pope.

Pope Francis already has made some moves indicating he might support bringing back women deacons. He has changed Canon Law, for instance, to allow both men and women to be formally installed to the lay ministries of lector and acolyte. In those roles, people read Scripture to the congregation at Masses or otherwise assist the celebrant. Women were already doing that, though they'd not been officially proclaimed eligible to do so.

As the Catholic Church loses members nationwide, many people are clamoring to hear the perspective of women as preachers at Sunday Masses, Hidalgo said.

“There are so many women who are incredibly capable and do have the gift for doing this ministry,” Hidalgo said.