I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon of the church in Cenchreae. 2 I ask you to receive her in the Lord in a way worthy of his people and to give her any help she may need from you, for she has been the benefactor of many people, including me.
3 Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my co-workers in Christ Jesus. 4 They risked their lives for me. Not only I but all the churches of the Gentiles are grateful to them….
7 Greet Andronicus and Junia, my fellow Jews who have been in prison with me. They are outstanding among the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was.
-Romans 16:1 -4, 7
The ordination of women as priests is a controversial topic in the Catholic Church. Research shows that a substantial proportion of Catholics want it, the Vatican line is that it is theologically impossible (even though the majority of Protestant denominations have found no impediment). However, the ordination of deacons should present few obstacles - as the quotation above shows, the earliest church saw no difficulty with women deacons. Phoebe is explicitly described as a deacon, Priscilla and Aquilla as co-workers with Paul, and Junia as “outstanding among the apostles”. The scriptural evidence is clear, that women were active in ministry, including the diaconate.
The historical evidence complements that of Scripture. Over 5o ooo women deacons served the church during the first millenium, of whom over 1oo are known to us by name, including 29 listed as saints or martyrs.
Yet, the subject of women deacons in the Church is unduly neglected, receiving little attention or discussion. A new book by Gary Macy, William T. Ditewig, and Phyllis Zagano could change that.
In their new book, Women Deacons: Past, Present Future, Gary Macy, William T. Ditewig, and Phyllis Zagano revisit the question of women’s ordination to the diaconate in the Roman Catholic Church. Unlike ordination to the priesthood, women’s ordination to the diaconate has unambiguous roots in the Christian New Testament, where Phoebe is named as a deacon of the church in Cenchrae (Rm. 16:1). Likewise, Roman Catholic canon law appears to have much more wiggle room with regard to the diaconate.
Macy, Ditewig, and Zagano have been swimming in the often choppy sea of questions around the ordination of women in the Catholic Church for many years. RD contributor Elizabeth Drescher talked with the three writers about how their collaborative project advances the conversation.
(Read the interview at Religion Dispatches)
In an open letter to Pope Benedict in April this year, Zagano noted that the subject of women deacons has been nominally under discussion ever since Vatican II, and that Benedict himself had raised it as a possibility, in a meeting with the priests of Rome in 2oo6. Earlier this year, the Swiss Bishop of St. Gall, Markus Bűchel, said women deacons were a good idea, as have many other modern bishops. It is high time that this moved beyond the realm of idle talk, and on to serious debate and planning.
Ray Grosswirth adds information on an interesting twist to this publication - a campaign to get Catholic bishops to read the book.
In an attempt to get bishops to read ‘Women Deacons: Past, Present Future,’ there is a ‘Books to Bishops’ campaign underway. Paulist Press will send a copy of this book if contributors send Phyllis Zagano a check for $10.00 per bishop. Phyllis in turn will send checks and individual letters naming donors to Paulist Press, which adds a book order form for more and sends each bishop a copy of the book. Checks may be sent to Phyllis at her office: Phyllis Zagano, Religion-104 Heger Hall, 115 Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY 10549.
Let’s hope that U.S. bishops are persuaded by the above mentioned book.
Your Holiness, it is time for women deacons (Phyllis Zagano, NCR on-line)
Interesting article on Wikipedia about female deacons http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deaconess. The shift seems to have occurred during the formative years of institutionalised Christianity after Constantine (a lot of problems can be traced back to that era).
The book is also on my Amazon wish list. Looks interesting.
It would seem normal to assume that as the early church became more centralised under the control of imperial bishops, the patriarchal power structures of the empire would be employed within the church.
Interesting. I like that you mentioned the theological difficulties with a female priesthood in catholicism (rather than just attacking the fact that they are not allowed like everyone else); details, accuracy, and full-spectrum approach is one of the reasons that I feel you have one of the highest quality progressive-catholic blogs on the net.
I also find the fact that Phyillis Zagano is directing this quality approach to be interesting, because (at least from what I have heard from clergy and conservative lay people alike) she is often aggressive, vindictive, and leaves threatening voicemails to those whom she has taken an unkind eye towards, and other generally abusive journalism practices. Maybe this represents a new constructive outlook that she has obtained, or maybe those sources whom I am familiar with have misrepresented her. Either way, I find it positive.
Thanks for your kind words about the blog.
I would be wary of forming an opinion of Phyllis Zagano based on hearsay about supposed personal practices. My only knowledge of her comes from her writing, which I usually find thoughtful and constructive.
Looks like you have bitten the “Fr. Z” slander of her hook, line and sinker. Check out your sources!