It’s time for female deacons in the Catholic Church
Decades ago when I attended university, a professor proclaimed that the world would double its knowledge within the next 50 years. He made this assertion because he believed that the power of the female brain would finally become unleashed. Through intelligence, determination and self-sacrifice women have made phenomenal gains in the western world. In Canada and the U.S. the enrolment numbers and graduation rates in universities and colleges are noticeably higher for young women compared to men. Most successful businesses today are started by female entrepreneurs. They have advanced to the upper echelons of medicine, science, mathematics, economics, business, philosophy and theology. NASA’s success can be attributed in part to brilliant female engineers, mathematicians and physicists. Currently, four women sit as judges in the Supreme Court of Canada. During the Second World War at least 80% of Britain’s code breakers were women while upwards of 10,000 American female code breakers worked behind the scenes with little post war acclamation. Nuclear fission was the product of a female mind (Lise Meitner). Today, few realize that decades ago it was women like Grace Hopper, Ada Lovelace and others who pioneered computer programming. Countries which have had women as their head of state include Canada, Germany, England, Ireland, India, Argentina, New Zealand, Poland, Norway, Croatia and other nations. This ongoing academic, political and technological revolution is unprecedented and unstoppable.
Despite their advances, the world’s most dominant and influential religions have purposefully kept women in the background. For example, there are 43,195 male deacons in the Roman Catholic Church but no women. Why? Women who make up the majority of the Catholic faith are more inclined to attend weekly service, pray daily, see faith as important in their lives and believe in the afterlife. They outnumber men in the pews and are most likely to pass on the faith to their children.
The word deacon (diakonos) means minister or servant. The Second Vatican Council (1962 – 65) resurrected the diaconate for mature men between the ages of 35 – 65 whether they were married or celibate. If married, written consent and support from his spouse would be required. In addition, he must be able to balance his ministerial work with family obligations, be of good moral character and reputation, a practising Catholic for at least five years, possess a knowledge of theology and undergo a minimum of four years ‘formation’ involving spiritual, academic and ministerial preparation. Deacons are ordained by a bishop “not for the priesthood but for service.” Pope John Paul II said, “the service of the deacon is the Church’s service and sacramentalized”.
What duties do deacons perform? A few of their responsibilities are celebrating marriages (without a Mass), leading funeral services, preaching the homily, proclaiming the gospel reading, distributing Holy Communion, performing baptisms (some restrictions) and leading the faithful in prayer. They are expected to visit workplaces, schools, hospitals, seniors’ residences, shelters and correctional facilities. However, they cannot hear confessions, consecrate the Eucharist, administer the Sacrament of Confirmation or anoint the sick. After ordination, they are assigned to a parish and are subject to the supervision of the pastor. Deaconesses will emerge from groups such as former nuns, teachers, healthcare professionals, (doctors, dentists, nurses), social workers and those from the business world. The qualities each would exhibit are piousness, humbleness, intellect and a strong desire to serve the church.
In 1997, the International Theological Commission (an advisory body to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith) said that there was no theological basis which would prevent women from being ordained as deacons. We need a church in which “the culture of apprehension is erased and replaced by a church which is less jealous of its power and does a better job communicating and listening.” In the words of the black preacher Jarena Lee, “if the man may preach because the Saviour died for him, why not the woman seeing He died for her also?” The Saviour of the world was brought to us through the body of a woman and it was Mary Magdalene who first announced the Risen Christ to the apostles.
The well-educated female of today represents a tsunami of religious energy. She desires a voice in the decision-making process. Consultation without representation is meaningless. If the Church hopes to grow and flourish, it must become more cognizant of a new world. Social activist Dorothy Day who was recognized in a speech before Congress by Pope Francis on September 24, 2015 (along with Thomas Merton, Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King Jr.) said, “the significance of our smallest acts! The significance of the little things we leave undone! The protest we do not make, the stands we do not take, we who are living in the world.” John Warwick Montgomery (arguably the foremost living apologist for biblical Christianity) contends that no one can “sit in a house by the side of the road and watch the world go by.” Do his words apply to the church today?