NCR: Lament, hope, and witness: Supporters of women deacons gather to pray

By Heidi Schlumpf

Alyssa Pedicino wrote her first letter to Pope Francis when she was 9. By that age, she had been an altar server for two years and already felt called to be a deacon, just like her dad.

In her letter, Pedicino congratulated the pope on his new position and shared her frustration that she would be unable to fulfill her calling, given current church rules against women deacons.

“I felt like there was promise,” she recalled. “He seemed like someone who’d be willing to listen.”

Indeed, over the years, Francis has been open to women’s leadership in the church, and established two commissions to examine the ordination of women to the diaconate. The issue also has been discussed as part of the ongoing synod on synodality.

So when Pedicino, who is currently a senior at Pomona College in California, heard about Francis’ hard “no” to the possibility of women deacons, in response to a question posed during a “60 Minutes” interview, she was disappointed.

It was “like he had failed us,” she said during a reflection at a June 3 online prayer service of “lament, hope and witness for inclusive Holy Orders,” hosted by FutureChurch and the Women’s Ordination Conference.

Read the full article on the National Catholic Reporter website.