Witnesses

"You will be my witnesses."

(Acts 1:8)

The preparatory process for the Synod of Bishops on the Amazon involved 87,000 people bearing witness to their laments, hopes and dreams for their communities and the Church they love.

During the 2021-2024 Synod on Synodality, calls to rethink women’s participation and to permit women to serve as deacons emerged on every continent. The Synod’s Final Document affirmed that “the question of women’s access to diaconal ministry remains open” and that the discernment should continue.

From the heart of the Amazon, across the Americas and around the world, diaconal women are responding to the needs of the people and exercising diaconal ministries, and their communities are welcoming and receiving their gifts.

“What comes from the Holy Spirit cannot be stopped” (Synod on Synodality Final Document, #60).

Here, we gather to listen to women serving in ministry today who are ready to be received as deacons in the Church. We also share prayers and hopes for our Church’s discernment, as we seek to bear collective witness to the movement of the Holy Spirit.

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Witness

Organization

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Witness

“I felt seen in my call to pastoral care, to teaching, to preaching—just as clearly as my ordained colleagues are seen in theirs. I felt valued. Not invisible. Not dismissed. I don’t know what the future holds—for me, or for the role of women in the Church. But I know this: I have hope.”

Jolaine M.J. Liupakka, PMin

Coordinator of Middle School & Confirmation, St. Thomas Becket, Eagan, MN

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Witness

“If I were a deacon, I would have the support of other deacons and a community where I could draw strength through prayer and discernment. Women would have the privilege of speaking about Catholic social teaching from the ambo. I do believe women as deacons would renew the face of the Church.”

Beth Brinkmann Cianci

Volunteer with the Ignatian Spirituality Project, Boston, MA

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Organization

“We are happy to be able to share about women in the Church who lead and are heard, especially for the youngest amongst us who need to hear this message.”

South Seattle Parish Family

Seattle, WA

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Witness

“I have always felt like God equips us with the gifts we need along our journey as we need. This has certainly been true throughout my life, which I am so deeply grateful for. I always say, it’s not me, it has to be God!”

Rev. Dr. Jasmin Hivale

Retired Prison Chaplain, Virgil, Ontario, Canada

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Witness

“A highlight for many present was the Scripture reflection offered by a female parishioner who specifically spoke about her experience as a minister in the Church. At St. William, communal leadership and ministry are a central part of our community’s identity and values.”

St. William Catholic Community

Louisville, KY

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Witness

“I have always viewed my ministry through this lens – out of service for and to the people of God. My intention was and is never to center myself in my ministry as a lay leader, rather my focus was always on how I could better uplift others in our midst. The Holy Spirit has certainly been active in the communities where I have ministered.”

Sr. Janet M. Peterworth, OSU

Community Leader, Pastoral Caregiver, Writer, Louisville, KY

Witnesses

"You will be my witnesses."

Here, we gather to listen to women serving in ministry today who are ready to be received as deacons in the Church. We also share prayers and hopes for our Church’s discernment, as we seek to bear collective witness to the movement of the Holy Spirit.

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