Joseph E. Weiss
Joseph E. Weiss, S.J. Institute for Church Life University of Notre Dame
On Holy Saturday the Church keeps vigil, waiting in hope for the
dawn of
new life through its risen Lord. Zagano's aptly titled work addresses a
Church waiting in hope for a renewed vision and understanding of
ordained
ministry for women. This carefully researched, well documented, and
clearly written work presents a persuasive argument for the restoration
of the female diaconate in the Catholic Church.
Part I establishes the purpose of the work as an "attempt to
expand what
Pope John Paul II has called for: a deeper and more meaningful "feminine
participation in every way in {the Church's} internal life". Pointing
to the contemporary experience of the Church in which both hierarchy and
laity have ratified the ministry of women. Zagano contends that women
must
be formally integrated into public ministry and that therefore the
Church
must formalize their ministry.
Part 2 addresses the issues attendant to the restoration of the
female
diaconate. The seriousness of Zagano's work is seen in her discerning
use of
the best scholarship as well as in her ability to bring these
disciplines
into dialogue with one another. Her careful tracing of the tradition of
diaconal service rendered by women throughout the Church's history makes
the work required reading for anyone interested in the development of
ecclesial ministry.
Following upon Zagano's comprehensive argument, part 3 focuses
on the
ordination of women from within the ecumenical context, demonstrating
that the hierarchical Church already implicitly recognizes the validity
of diaconal ordination of women in the Eastern Churches. She concludes
that as the ordination of women was once possible, so it is possible
again based on the needs of the whole Church.
By eschewing the question of presbyteral ordination and focusing
on
diaconal ordination, Zagano both furthers the discussion of the ministry
of
women in the Church and makes a valuable contribution to our
understanding of the permanent diaconate (for men and women). Thus she
provides an essential piece of the ministry puzzle being worked out in
the Church today. Her study invites further research into the
restoration of the female diaconate and continued discussion on every
level of Church life.
