NCR Online: Women say they want church to talk to them, not about them, on diaconate
A group of pilgrims left the Eternal City Oct. 7, saying they are returning home to continue the push for women to answer their spiritual call as deacons. One of them, a Franciscan sister, said the Spirit would settle the issue, not antiquated church structures. Some expressed frustration following statements from a Vatican official that the […]
A group of pilgrims left the Eternal City Oct. 7, saying they are returning home to continue the push for women to answer their spiritual call as deacons. One of them, a Franciscan sister, said the Spirit would settle the issue, not antiquated church structures.
Some expressed frustration following statements from a Vatican official that the church will not, for now, consider their ordination to the office. More than 50 women, and some men, many of them from the U.S., but also from Brazil, Bolivia and Australia involved with the Ecclesial Conference of the Amazon (known as CEAMA) and Discerning Deacons, ended their 2024 Synodal Pilgrimage to Rome Oct. 6, with some disappointment, but also a determination that the matter is not settled.
“Our purpose really has just been to witness, to be here, to pray for synodality, to pray for the church, to pray for the synod delegates and to be able to witness to the reality that Jesus is asking a lot more of women,” said Ellie Hidalgo, the Miami-based co-director of Discerning Deacons.