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Witnesses
Sr. Mary A. Lamski, C.S.J.
July 20, 2021

‘I have already carried out the ministry of a deacon’


I was baptized Catholic, I entered the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, and I have ministered for nearly 50 years as a teacher, hospital chaplain, spiritual director and pastoral minister in various parish, diocesan and campus settings in Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota and California.

I have a Doctor of Ministry degree from the St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota.

In 1974, I applied to the Diaconate Program in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, but women were not accepted. Yet when I was serving as a pastoral associate in the late 1970s, my pastor asked me to supervise one of the two deacon candidates from our parish while he supervised the other. In the late 1990s until 2001, I taught in the same program to which I had applied. God’s plan is mysterious!

I do hope the Church ordains women to the diaconate soon. There is no reason why it should be postponed any longer, since women have done pastoral and spiritual ministry for many, many years! As a rural Pastoral Administrator, I have already carried out the ministry of a deacon and much of what a priest does. I have been a lay presider of Word and Communion Services, and have preached and assisted with Sacraments. Ordination as deacons would enable women to baptize and officiate at marriages. The grace of ordination itself would be welcome support in doing the work.

Sr. Mary A. Lamski, C.S.J., currently serves as a spiritual director in St. Paul, Minnesota.

[Photo: Sr. Mary leads a training session for deacon and lay minister candidates at the Institute for Christian Life and Ministry in 1998.]

Witness
“[I hope the Church ordains women to the diaconate] to bring a wider witness and expression of God’s life, love, and presence to the people of God. Women’s voices and leadership will heal, encourage and empower the lives of men, women, and children. It will call forth a new understanding of church vocation and enrich Catholic family life.”
Deedee Van Dyke
Catholic Chaplain, Joliet, IL
Witness
“The first Apostle was a woman, Mary Magdalena. She continues to remain a tower of strength for women in ministry today. If more women were ordained to the diaconate in the Roman Catholic Church, I believe we would have more meaningful and spiritually enriching homilies, and our liturgies would embrace and welcome all to the Eucharistic table.”
Sonja Grace
Witness
“If I was ordained as a deacon, it would not be a means to an end, but rather it would be a continual invitation to a deeper and broader journey with Christ. Deacons are asked to become outwardly more visible as hands in service to the Church. To respond to such a vocation would be a treasure, a deepening of my inner faith life enriched by the outward experiences of ministry and service. Both the inner and outer journey become a longing to seek and know the Christ we are called to serve.”   
Nina Laubach
Student, MDiv program at Princeton Theological Seminary

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