ROME (CNS): “Being ordained is not an ascent but a descent, whereby we make ourselves small, lower ourselves and divest ourselves,” Pope Francis said in a message to 23 men from eight countries who were ordained permanent deacons in St. Peter’s Basilica on February 23.
The ordination Mass, celebrated by Archbishop Rino Fisichella, pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelisation, was the culmination of a three-day Holy Year celebration that drew thousands of deacons, plus their wives and others, from more than 100 countries to Rome for communal prayer, discussion and celebration of the diaconate.
The pope was originally scheduled to preside over the Mass but remained hospitalised and sent his text to be read out.
In his homily, the pope reflected on three essential dimensions of the diaconate: forgiveness, service and communion.
“Forgiveness means preparing a welcoming and safe future for us and our communities,” the pope wrote. “The deacon, invested in a ministry that leads him toward the world’s peripheries, must see—and teach others to see—in everyone, even those who cause suffering, a brother or sister wounded in spirit and in need of reconciliation, guidance and help.”
Being ordained is not an ascent but a descent, whereby we make ourselves small, lower ourselves and divest ourselves
Pope Francis
He asked that deacons make selfless service “an essential dimension of your very being” and encouraged them to serve with humility, quoting the Gospel of Luke: “Do good and lend, expecting nothing in return.”
The pope wrote, “Your greatest liturgy will be charity, and your most humble service will be your greatest act of worship.”
The deacons and their wives were in Rome during the Jubilee of Deacons to reflect on how their service can contribute to building a more synodal Church, one where the gifts and responsibilities of all its members are recognised.
Questions about the possibility of opening the diaconate to women were part of the conversation on February 21 at Rome’s Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere.
Sponsored by the Community of the Diaconate in Italy and the US-based Discerning Deacons, the meeting drew about 250 people.
Your greatest liturgy will be charity, and your most humble service will be your greatest act of worship
Pope Francis
Belgian Deacon Geert De Cubber, the only permanent deacon who was a member of the synod assemblies in 2023 and 2024, told the group how he had to explain the role of permanent deacons at the synod to a bishop who had said he did not need deacons because he had enough priests.
“His words broke my deacon’s heart,” he said.
“Deacons are sent by the Church to places she does not, cannot or may not always reach,” he said. “We listen, especially to those who are rejected—by the world, by their friends, sometimes even by the Church.”
Deacon De Cubber said, “On Sundays we bring the realities of those we serve to the altar and the pulpit, ensuring that their voices and struggles are part of the Church’s prayer and mission.”
Reflecting on the diaconate “inevitably raises the question of the inclusion of women,” he told the group, adding that he believes women should be ordained deacons as long as steps are taken to “ensure they are not clericalised.”
Speaking later to CNS, Deacon De Cubber said, women “definitely bring something unique to the Church as a whole. So why couldn’t they bring something new and perhaps unexpected into ministry, including ordained ministry?”
Deacons are sent by the Church to places she does not, cannot or may not always reach
Deacon de Clubber
He said, “We should seriously think about that,” adding that women served as deacons in the early centuries of the Church, “so it is in our tradition.”
He observed that “clericalism [in the sense of] thinking you are more important than someone else” is something all ordained ministers must fight. But ordination is important because it signifies a “a lifelong commitment” to ministry.
In early February, the Vatican confirmed that the second commission on women and the diaconate established by Pope Francis in 2020 and revived by him during the synod assembly in October had met.
Ellie Hidalgo, co-director of Discerning Deacons, said that until the synod, the commission was focused on the history and theology of the diaconate and the debate over whether women referred to as deacons in the New Testament and in the early Church were “ordained” or simply assigned ministries.
But the synod added a focus on current pastoral needs and the Church’s mission today, she said; “it’s like the third leg of the stool. And so, if we’re looking at history and theology and the pastoral realities together, could we better get a sense of: What is the Holy Spirit asking of us now to be Church in the third millennium?”
In early February, the Vatican confirmed that the second commission on women and the diaconate established by Pope Francis in 2020 and revived by him during the synod assembly in October had met
As part of the Church’s ongoing reflection on women deacons, she said, Discerning Deacons sent the Vatican the testimonies of 29 women ministering in the Church who described their call to diakonia—or service—and “some of the constraints that they come up against consistently in serving the Church’s mission because of the lack of ordination,” particularly when ministering in prisons, hospitals, campus ministry or even parishes.
Yolanda Scott Brown, former parish life director at Blessed Sacrament Church in Hollywood, California, said that even though she had wonderful relationships with priests and deacons, having to turn to them when one of her parishioners wanted to be baptizsed, married or needed to be buried was difficult for her and sometimes for the parishioner.
“Those valuable, beautiful relationships that were nurtured,” she said, had to be turned over to someone who did not have the time or opportunity to build the same connections.
As part of the Church’s ongoing reflection on women deacons, she said, Discerning Deacons sent the Vatican the testimonies of 29 women ministering in the Church
Elie Hidalgo
Deacon Fernando Moreno and his wife, Maria Lourdes González Garcia, from the Archdiocese of Monterrey, Mexico, said that González plays a vital support role in her husband’s ministry of charity and social service, which includes feeding more than 2,500 people each week and giving them a few minutes of religious instruction.
“She has been an important part of this effort,” Moreno said. “She helped develop this programme of ‘food and formation’.”
Moreno said that “women are very important in supporting the Church and [are] in many important positions but not necessarily in ordained ministry. But without women, we would not be able to do what we do.”
González said, “I think that to save the family, you need to begin in the family. We need to be the image of Mary in the home and evangelise with our example at home.”
