Phyllis Zagano

Phyllis Zagano holds a research appointment at Hofstra University, Hempstead, New York. Her most recent book is Just Church: Catholic Social Teaching, Synodality, and Women (Paulist, 2023).

By this Author

St. Phoebe is depicted in an icon by Eka Fragiadaki of the Angelicon workshop in Crete, Greece. (Angelicon/Eka Fragiadaki)

Women Religious, Women Deacons Q&A: Why would the ministry of women religious/women deacons be beneficial?

Essay, Part 5 of 5: The discussion about women deacons has always been about ministry. It has been about ministry because the ministry of women is about the needs of the church. It is not about clerical power.

Laity and religious hold a rally in support of nuns gathered for the August 2012 assembly of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious in St. Louis. Earlier that year, the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith had ordered reform of the o

Women Religious, Women Deacons Q&A: Would ordination co-opt women's religious life?

Essay, Part 4 of 5: Much has been written about women's religious institutes being "outside the system," freer to act on behalf of the people of God. Would the presence of ordained members weaken this prophetic stance?

(Wikimedia Commons/G. Mannaerts)

Women Religious, Women Deacons Q&A: Who could be the general superior?

Essay, Part 3 of 5: The diaconal ordination of a woman religious would make her institute or order mixed — comprising both clerical and lay members. The question arises: Would their major superior have to be a deacon?

The mosaic of the Holy Virgins, in the sixth-century Church of St. Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna, Italy (Wikimedia Commons/Sailko)

Women Religious, Women Deacons Q&A: What about ordained women religious?

Essay, Part 2 of 5: The diaconate does not replace religious life. The diaconate is necessary for those women religious for whom it is a genuine vocation, distinct from their vocation and identity as religious.

Women Religious, Women Deacons: Addressing most-often-asked questions

Essay, Part 1 of 5: In a new series, Phyllis Zagano examines the questions most often raised by women religious about the possibility of women religious being ordained as deacons or of women deacons joining religious life.

Beguines carried forward women's ministry

Following the money, part 2