Catholic Church in Ireland urged to advocate for women deacons
VATICAN MEDIA /Catholic Press Photo/Alamy
The Irish Synodal Pathway’s National Assembly in October will consider recommending that the Irish Church establish a National Office for Women and advocate for “an ongoing exploration” of women’s ministry, including the diaconate, The Tablet has learned.
The two proposals are contained in the draft Working Document for the National Assembly which takes place on 17 October 2026 in Co Meath.
The key question that has guided the Synodal Pathway since the Irish bishops announced it in 2021 is, “What does God want from the Church in Ireland at this time?” Baptism emerged as the key theme.
The Working Document sets out five pathways intended to spur the conversion, renewal and future growth of the Church in Ireland.
They are: the Church that proclaims the Gospel; the Church as a place of belonging; the Church as a place of healing; the Church that accompanies; and the Church that empowers for ministry and co-responsibility.
Each pathway contains a series of proposals for the Assembly covering issues including women, young people, lay ministry, faith formation and the legacy of abuse in the Church.
One proposal recommends that women, and women’s voices, be visible, heard, and valued in liturgy and public prayer at all levels of the Church in Ireland in order to “re-balance our Church’s unconscious bias”.
Elsewhere the document asks the Assembly to recommend the establishment of a National Office for Women at the level of the Irish Episcopal Conference, as part of the Church’s commitment at parish and diocesan levels in Ireland to the full inclusion of women.
On women’s ministry and ordination to the diaconate, Proposal 9 states: “This Assembly recommends that the Church in Ireland advocates for ongoing exploration of women’s ministry, including the diaconate.”
While recognising that this issue ultimately belongs to the discernment of the universal Church, the document notes that women and the diaconate have arisen “at all moments of the synodal pathway”. It says it “must remain to the forefront of future discussions both within every area of the Church in Ireland, and in Irish representation at the wider level of ecclesial discernment”.
Bishops, the proposal suggests, must use their role and influence to encourage discussion and education on this issue nationally and internationally.
Such advocacy needs to be theologically informed by current theology and ecclesiology, with particular emphasis on female theologians who have researched and written on the role of ordained ministry.
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