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.
At the synod in Rome, bishops repeatedly affirmed that women are already doing the work of deacons in the region, and they asked that this ministry be seen and recognized.
The Synod formally requested to share their “experiences and reflections” with a papal commission on women and the diaconate, and Pope Francis immediately responded, saying:
“I pick up the challenge. A glove has been thrown down. The women have put up a sign: ‘Please listen to us. May we be heard.’ And I pick up that gauntlet.”
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
“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
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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
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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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Endorser
“It is time for the Church to heed the Spirit’s voice, recognizing women’s call to the diaconate and allow the Spirit to restore and renew the Body of Christ so that it may fully live into its identity of missionary discipleship.”
M. Therese Lysaught, Ph.D., Theologian
Theologian, Doctor of Philosophy - Loyola University Chicago and the Pontifical Academy for Life (Chicago, IL/Madison, WI)
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Witness
“I feel that the Catholic Church as it is structured is not what Jesus envisioned for his followers—so many of them were women of his day. What happened?”
Joan D. Martin
Ignatian Volunteer Corps Member, parishioner at New Roads Catholic Community in Belmont, MA
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Endorser
“It is time to open up the permanent diaconate to all who are qualified regardless of gender. The Church needs this witness.”
Keith Davis
Director of Deacon Formation (Archdiocese of Santa Fe) and National Association of Lay Ministry Board Member
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