Congratulations to Phyllis Zagano on the publication of her book The Vatican and Women Deacons (Orbis Books, May 2026).
The question of women in the ordained diaconate arose in the early 1970s at a Synod of Bishops. It was subsequently considered by three iterations of the International Theological Commission as well as two pontifical commissions. The examination of these events demonstrates the complexity of restoring women to the ordained diaconate.
The Synod on Synodality took up the question again, asking for a review of the research. The November 2025 release of a summary report of a Vatican committee, although read as a rejection of the ordination of women to the diaconate, affirms that the question is open for future discernment.
As a result of the Synod on Synodality, the fact that the question is still open for resolution is now part of Magisterial teaching.
