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).
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.
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?
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?
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.
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.
