Prayers for our Church at a pivotal moment

“Pope Francis Waving” by Sara Myers, Art and Synodality Project 

Today the conclave begins to choose the 267th pope. We pray for an overflow of the Holy Spirit to be poured on our brother cardinals as they take up their responsibility. May they keep their hearts open to the realities and to the sufferings of humankind, and to our hopes and dreams for the future. […]

Carrying the Synodal Dream Forward: A Tribute to Pope Francis

Discerning Deacons joins with you and with people of diverse faiths throughout our world in mourning the passing of Pope Francis. We are grateful for the gift of his remarkable life and papacy which sparked hope for a Church that recommits to going outside of itself to encounter, listen and walk with those on the […]

Deacons – Painters of the Merciful Face of God

Deacons and their wives who traveled from around the world to Rome for the Jubilee of Deacons, Feb. 21-23, found themselves fervently praying for the health of Pope Francis, whose condition became critical. Even so, the Holy Father’s words of hope to deacons and their families reverberated throughout the Basilica of St. Peter as his homily was […]

Looking back on 2024: DD’s Year in Review

An essential grace of 2024 is the undeniable movement of the Holy Spirit, whose work cannot be stopped. Through the collaboration of hundreds of synod members participating in the Synod on Synodality – and the courageous testimonies of scores of women serving faithfully in diaconal roles from around the world – the Synod affirmed that […]

“Turning my worries over to Mary, I felt peace returned to me”

As a Cuban-American Catholic girl, my childhood was shaped by two Marys: La Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre and Madonna of the Street, my mother’s favorite. It wasn’t until I moved to Los Angeles in the late 1990s that I encountered Our Lady of Guadalupe. Over time, she became my go-to Mary — a […]

Thanksgiving: “What comes from the Holy Spirit cannot be stopped”

The final document from the Synod states: “what comes from the Holy Spirit cannot be stopped.” Today we write our Thanksgiving message with profound gratitude for the remarkable ways in which the Holy Spirit has been guiding each and every one of us to keep moving forward with the promise of synodality and the hope […]

A faint light on the other side of the river

We’re in the final days of the month-long Synod Assembly in Rome. Casey and I are heading back home, having seen off Lisa, Maureen, and Anna a few days ago – buoyed by your prayers, by the graces, and by a sense of the Spirit guiding the journey, even as we sometimes have experienced turbulent waters. […]

What does Jesus ask of women in a violent world?

Restoring women to the order of deacons could grow the Church’s peacemaking efforts By Ellie Hidalgo This article originally appeared in the September 2024 issue of El Ignaciano.   One week into my pastoral ministry work at Dolores Mission Church in East Los Angeles, I received an urgent phone call. The grandson of one of our […]

St. Phoebe, pray for us!

Happy Feast Day, St. Phoebe! A blessed feast day for all the women and men for whom the charism of the diaconate—to respond generously to the pastoral needs in our communities—touches our vocational call. It’s a joyful day for the many parish, school and university communities who already receive the diaconal ministry of women and who will […]

Summer reading recommendations from DD

We hope your summer includes opportunities for rest, reflection and restoration! Following the publication of the Synod’s Instrumentum Laboris for the second gathering of the General Assembly, there has been a flurry of good articles to read about Synod preparations alongside commentary about women’s participation in the Church. We have a few to recommend for […]

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