Is the Catholic Church Ready for Female Deacons? - Top Theologian Says 'Yes'

Calls for a Separate Diaconate for Women © Anna Nass (shutterstock)

Theologian Phyllis Zagano believes the diaconate for women in the Catholic Church is imminent. The question is not “if,” but “when,” says the theologian, who herself was a member of a papal commission on the diaconate issue in 2016, on the recent episode of the German “Himmelklar” podcast.

Opening the diaconate to women is a necessary step for the church, she confirms, a sentiment echoed by many officials in the Vatican during their discussions. “It’s not a question of equality, but of recognizing humanity in its entirety.”

Zagano strongly believes in a national position. “If a bishop’s conference decides they want to introduce female deacons in their dioceses, all they need to do is register this in Rome and Rome would agree.” In her opinion, local bishops should also have the opportunity to appoint female deacons if it becomes necessary due to a “cultural situation” in their diocese. As an example, Zagano cites communities in Latin America where, due to a lack of priests, regular sacraments can no longer be administered.

At the same time, the theologian warns against conflating the female diaconate with the question of ordaining women as priests. According to Zagano, this mistakenly assumed connection of degrees of ordination is often used as an argument against the ordination of female deacons and is therefore “part of the problem.”

The early church, in which women were demonstrably ordained as deacons but not as priests, attests to this. From this, Zagano also criticizes the term “female diaconate” as being historically incorrect. “It’s about the question of whether women can be admitted to the existing diaconate in the Catholic Church.”