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Witnesses
Fr. Michael Hickin
Pastor of three parishes in Cavalier County, North Dakota
July 26, 2021

‘A different prism through which to meet and marvel at the truth of Jesus’

When I think of the difference it would make to ordain women as deacons, a mother who recently lost a teenage son to suicide immediately comes to mind. The women I know who’d make good candidates for the diaconate are marked by an abundant wellspring of compassion. They belong to a different and faster moving communications loop. Their embodiment of the Word warrants a sacramental presence, as witnessed in the nascent Church.

An old adage – “whatever is received is received according to the mode of the receiver” (quidquid recipitur ad modum recipientis recipitur) – finds fresh application here. To encounter a woman deacon would offer the world a different prism through which to meet and marvel at the truth of Jesus. The beauty of Catholicism deserves to reflect his bold collaboration with women.

I just met Discerning Deacons in Minneapolis last week at the AUSCP national annual assembly. I am struck by how ecclesial they are. They’re ardent, joyful searchers. They’ve done and keep doing their homework. They walk with the Church while challenging her to build new on old foundations. They’re professional and prayerful. I encourage anyone with questions or aspirations to find their website, engage their community and enter the discernment.

If I had 30 seconds with Pope Francis, I’d say of women in the diaconate, “I can already see their virtue and hear their voices in our churches and in our streets.Please, Holy Father, keep opening the door and release this song. The formation of future disciples needs this feminine energy. The time has come for women to channel Gospel wisdom in a more authoritative way, blessed and sanctioned by the Church. “Do not be afraid! Just have faith,” as Jesus said to the synagogue/Vatican official in today’s Gospel, (Mark 5;36). The female diaconate “is not dead, only asleep…. Talitha koum!” (Mark 5:39)

Fr. Michael Hickin is the pastor of three parishes in Cavalier County, North Dakota, in the Diocese of Fargo, and a member of the leadership team of the Association of U.S. Catholic Priests.

Witness
“Being able to be educated on who St. Phoebe is and giving others the chance to meet her, being part of a community of women who promote an inclusive model of the church, and seeing my own community come alive and heal from division provides a vision of what can and will be possible one day in the Catholic Church.”
Kathleen O'Brien
Maryknoll Bay Area Regional Coordinator in the Mission Formation Department
Witness
“I have witnessed these women become Catholic high school teachers, professors, writers, administer parish life and leaders of prayer services. Women have been my peers and supervisors, except in diaconal ministry. I continue to hold out hope that women’s gifts for ministry and service can and will be acknowledged by the church.”
Fr. Tom Cwick, SJ
Pastoral Minister, North Side, St. Louis, MO
Witness
“I am grateful as a pastor and a part of the BCCs here to learn and journey together with others. As a priest in our community, I am proud to be a part of this ministry to uplift women who are struggling. It is great joy and fulfillment. In my personal life, I have experienced the richness of acknowledging and uplifting the witness of women in the early Church and also in our Church today.”
Fr. Vincent Dsouza, SJ
Pastor and Base Christian Community Leader, India

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