Sharing the fruits from our season of listening

“A Church that teaches must be firstly a Church that listens.” Pope Francis

Discerning Deacons has responded to Pope Francis’ call for a synodal church. During the summer of 2021, more than 1,500 Catholics from Canada, India and the United States gathered via video conference and in-person to actively discern the question of women and the diaconate in our Catholic Church.

This report conveys the ideas, hopes, and concerns raised in these discussions.

Report was prepared by Laura Boysen-Aragon and Casey Stanton, with contributions by Ellie Hidalgo, Lisa Amman and Luke Hansen. With thanks to Certified ToP® Facilitators Laura Johansson and Maria Teresa Gaston who led ~60 hosts in a series of consensus workshops as we sought to grow our capacity to walk together in a listening, discerning, participatory endeavor. Additional thanks to Jack Rogers for his work on graphic design. 

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Witness
“I’m not sure I’m really called to be a deacon, but even the chance to have a platform in front of a parish during mass would be a revelation for folks, especially people who experience gender discrimination. The Church would start to live out a truer version of universality.”
Katie Laskey
Contemplative Leaders in Action -  DC Cohort 2021-23 
Witness
“Women have been the caregivers and great support of most churches. Why? Because we deal with the personhood of the ordinary. The everyday matters of living. To me, that is what a deacon is. She extends the Church to the common community: visiting the sick and dying, helping parents with family problems, attending as a lector at Mass, burying the dead, and comforting families.” 
Kathleen Carlton Johnson
Hospice Chaplain
Endorser
“It is time for our Church to acknowledge the role of countless women serving the people of God in positions of ministry and leadership.”
Deacon Guillermo "Memo" Rodriguez
Facilitator of Diaconate Formation for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles

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