It has been said that it is in times of tension that things change. In the latter part of 2024 I was privileged to be invited to Rome as part of a panel in mid-October on the personal call to be ordained as a deacon in the Roman Catholic Church. I wrote two articles on my experience – one for the Australian Jesuit magazine, Eureka Street, and one for the UK Catholic magazine, The Tablet (see under ‘Articles’ in the menu).
I had already planned a trip to France in November, a mixture of culture, pilgrimage, holiday, research and reflection, –so the Rome early start was a welcome adventure. I had not been to Italy or France since 1984, so was visiting a dramatically changed world at a time of major global upheaval.
To be in that synodal environment in Rome at such an amazing time in the world was profound, and our lunchtime adjunct group met near the Vatican where the World Synod was taking place. The panel also included three other women: a Filipina, German, and American; and attendees included Synod delegates, clergy and women theologians from across Europe.
Our testimonies were all quite different – some felt the call to diaconate early on – some from a point of view of justice and gender parity. For me, it was a call I had felt since my time as a hospital chaplain throughout much of the 1990s and from 2011 to 2015. I think all of us women speaking at that event found it to be a surreal and profound experience.
Currently only men can be ordained as deacons in the Roman Catholic Church, but unlike the priesthood, married men can become deacons. The call to ordain women as deacons, is an entirely different call to the ordained priesthood, and aims to add the sacramental capacity to do baptisms and funerals to the current ministry many women already do in the church. Some women like myself, also hope that this call will also add the capacity to anoint the sick, a sacrament that currently male deacons cannot do, only priests.
The call for women to be part of the diaconate is grounded in tradition. Deaconess Phoebe is mentioned in Paul’s Epistle to the Romans, (16:1-2), and researcher and adjunct Professor of Religion at Hofstra University, Phyllis Zagano, reminds us that liturgies were used to ordain women up until the twelfth century, where the Bishop would lay hands on the woman being ordained and invoke the Holy Spirit. (See ‘An Open Question’, in The Tablet, December 21st, 2024). This is part of the criteria for sacramental ordination as set out by the Council of Trent. These women were therefore part of the diaconate at that time, and part of the clergy.
Pope Francis says he wants a more inclusive church. In late October 2024, at the end of the World Synod process he convened, he clearly stated in the final document that ‘the issue of women deacons remains open.’ (no.60) This was a complete turnaround from an original CBS interview in 2024 where he gave a definitive ‘No’ about ‘holy orders’ for women. So, for me, the Synod gave me hope that the Spirit is moving.
After the women deacons’ event, between trips to the Colosseum in the Rome humidity and the Catacomb of Priscilla, (which dates back to the late 2nd century AD), I contemplated the whole issue of history and change. It took a while for many Romans to adopt Christianity, but some, like the Roman ‘society’ patroness, Priscilla, did. Whether they did so to be politically on the right side of the authorities – who knows – but the changing beliefs of such high profile people as her, shaped their society, – as ours shape our society now.
As I pondered where I might go next after Rome, I watched an old clip of Kris Kristofferson and Sinead OConnor singing a beautiful version of ‘Help me Make it Through the Night’. I thought of our world and how much we need the mystics, artists, writers, theologians, and those who feel called to ministry, to continually speak the truth – and particularly the uncomfortable truths – otherwise what hope is there for the world, and for the Church, or for professing a life of faith?