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Witnesses
St. Bridget of Kildare Parish
Seattle, WA
March 27, 2024

Here at St. Bridget of Kildare Parish in Seattle, Washington we uplifted the ministry of women at all Masses on the weekend of September 8-9, 2023. The Masses over the weekend were exclusively served by female altar servers (including some new ones!) and at each Mass a female member of our Parish Council offered a reflection following the gospel. Together we prayed the prayer of St. Phoebe and asked her to intercede on our behalf in this journey.

As a parish, we know the blessing of the many ministries and gifts that women in our parish share with all of us. Celebrating Mass this weekend to honor the witness of St. Phoebe focused attention on women’s gifts for leadership in our parish and the Church more broadly. We are proud to be a part of the conversation and discernment for women’s ordination to the diaconate.

St. Phoebe, pray for us! We will continue celebrating and uplifting her witness.
Witness
“As a college campus minister, diaconal ordination wouldn’t change how I encounter my students on the margins, but it would change how they encounter the Church through me. I wouldn’t be only Julia, their campus minister who tells them that God loves them unconditionally, but an official representative of a Church that loves them too.”
Julia Erdlen
College Campus Minister and Hospital Chaplain, St. Louis, MO
Witness
“Restoring the diaconate in my church, to include women, supports the hopes and desires of our whole community where I see a longing for both male and female deacons to serve. As soon as I had the opportunity to become an acolyte, I became one. If I had the opportunity to become a deacon, I similarly would rejoice at the opportunity!”
Jessica Kenny
Chaplain, ConnectEd, Alta-1 College, Perth, Western Australia
Witness
“If I were ordained a deacon, it would only be because I have accepted a call to a vocation that is equally accessible to women.“
Oblate James Holzhauer-Chuckas, ObSB
Executive Director of United Catholic Youth Ministries, Chicago, IL

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This is the hub where we share relevant news, events and opportunities to participate in the work. 
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