“Research shows that organizations are stronger when they have leadership that reflects the diversity of the employees and communities they serve – teams that are diverse across lines of race, ethnicity, gender, income, and experience have been shown to operate more effectively. The fact that women cannot currently serve as deacons leaves women’s voices out of decision making structures in many parishes and the larger institutional church. Most importantly, we miss the perspective of women when we listen to homilies each Sunday. My hope is that if I have daughters in the future, that my daughters can identify with a female deacon who is preaching at Sunday Mass and see themselves in that role; and that if I have sons, my sons can learn from the female perspective at Mass, not just the male perspective. My hope is that young girls will not be reminded on a weekly basis of how they are excluded from Catholic Mass and that young boys will not be reminded on a weekly basis of how they are empowered above women through the current Catholic institutional structures.”

“As Catholic Women Preach has shown, we are missing a valuable perspective each Sunday at Mass when women are not able to preach. Having women deacons will create stronger parishes and could bring people back to the Church who have left, if they feel like their voice and perspective is now valued. It will create stronger faith communities in the long-term, as it means that we are valuing all members of the community for their contributions and not elevating the role of male over female, perpetuating inequality. We still have to fight for the full inclusion of women in ministry in our Church, but I see women serving as deacons as the first step in that fight.”

Katherine Novinski is an Educator in Denver, Colorado