Meet a Catholic woman who feels called to be a deacon

The debate about whether the Catholic Church should ordain women to the diaconate often focuses on theological and historical arguments. Rarely, though, do we hear from women who themselves feel called to this ministry. Meet Casey Stanton, co-director of Discerning Deacons, a project to engage Catholics in the active discernment of the church about women and the diaconate. We talk to Casey about how and why she feels like she’s called, and how she tempers feelings of frustration with a commitment to staying in the church. 

Links from the Show: 

America’s special women in the church issue

Avery Dulles on women and the priesthood (from 1996)

Learn more about Discerning Deacons. And read their new study: Called to Contribute: Findings from an In-depth Interview Study of US Catholic Women and the Diaconate

What’s on tap?

Hope Punch:

The church is a pomegranate–service to the many in the one

Rum for fortification

Champagne for joy in the midst

Lemon with sugar to balance the pastoral with the prophetic

Garnished with thyme and the patience to wait and to push...to insist on justice now knowing you will stay....to the eschaton

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices