NEW YORK – Ordaining women to the permanent diaconate now, when the church is "crying for ministry," is a logical way to fulfill its obligation to bring the Gospel to all people, according to panelists at a Jan 15 event at Jesuit-run Fordham University in New York.

For Mark Neugebauer, his journey to the permanent diaconate is something he says he just “fell into.” A look at his story would beg to differ.

VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis has appointed six men and six women to a commission to study the issue of women deacons, particularly their ministry in the early church.

Much ado followed a recent impromptu promise by Pope Francis to study the role of women deacons in Church history. His  simple pledge to convene a commission to look into what Francis called an “obscure” historical question was widely — and wildly — interpreted as a thumbs up for a female diaconate.

Pope Francis on Sunday told Deacons from across the globe that they must be generous with their lives and with their time.

VATICAN CITY – Deacons are called to be servants who set aside their own self-serving plans and are generous with their lives, Pope Francis said.

Does anybody today believe men are intellectually superior to women because of their gender? The question is not about the intelligence of an individual man or woman, but collectively. Simply put: if you have the Y chromosome does it make you smarter?

An exclusive focus on whether or not women might be ordained deacons misses the real point of the conversation Pope Francis had with leaders of 900 orders of nuns May 12 at the Vatican, said a Canadian sister who was present for the gathering.

VATICAN CITY – Catholic sisters globally would be better-equipped to carry out their work if they could become deacons, the head of a global network of nuns has said, an important marker in the sharp debate over women deacons that Pope Francis opened last week.

PULASKI, Wis. – When David Parker informed his eldest child, Legionary Brother David Parker Jr., that he was pursuing the diaconate again, the son had a question for his father: "How many years do you have in formation?"

VATICAN CITY – After some news outlets reported the Pope was considering ordaining women deacons and comments were made about women deacons leading to women priests, Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi clarified the Pope’s comments May 13.

VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis told the heads of women's religious orders from around the world that he would set up a commission to study the New Testament deaconesses and he also insisted more can and should be done to involve lay and consecrated women in church decision-making at every level.

TORONTO – If a woman comes down the aisle carrying the book of the Gospels, and if she later stands at the ambo to read the Gospel and preach on it, would your parish cease to be Catholic?

SASKATOON - Saskatoon Bishop Donald Bolen is accepting the recommendation of a 12-member committee to move ahead with a permanent diaconate program for the Prairie diocese. 

TORONTO - A decade after converting to Catholicism, Stephan Brunck is now a deacon.