The synod on the Amazon has again raised the possibility of women deacons. The New Testament gives us a model and precedent, writes Micah D. Kiel of St. Ambrose University, by the name of Phoebe.

Deacon Andrade de Lima, the son of farmers who grew up on the banks of the Amazon River in the Solimões region, said he is involved in the formation of pastoral workers in the region and assists the bishops in the implementation of their decisions.

Participants expressed support for proposals to ordain women deacons and warned of the deadly consequences of climate change.

The number of U.S. parishes without resident pastors has leveled off to about 3,400, according to the latest data from CARA—but only after dioceses have closed down thousands of churches since 1990.

As a woman in leadership in the church, I think we are having the wrong conversation when we focus so narrowly on the question of women deacons that we fail to see the ways Catholic women can—and already do—lead.

Our survey of Catholic women found little opposition to the ordination of women as permanent deacons, but a survey of U.S. bishops revealed more skepticism of the idea.