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Phoebe’s witness in Romans 16:1-2, the Synod on Synodality’s affirmation of women’s leadership, and the prophetic ministries of the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests (ARCWP) and Roman Catholic Women Priests (RCWP) together reveal the Holy Spirit calling the Church toward the fullness of Gospel equality. In the Synod’s Final Document, paragraph 60 affirmed that “there is no reason or impediment that should prevent women from carrying out leadership roles in the Church” and acknowledged that discernment on women in the diaconate must continue.
These words echo the reality of the early Church where women like Phoebe served openly as deacons, leaders, benefactors, and trusted ministers within Christian communities. Today, ARCWP and RCWP continue this prophetic witness by embodying a synodal model of Church rooted in baptismal equality, shared leadership, and inclusive sacramental ministry where women serve as deacons, priests, and bishops in communities of equals.
“I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon of the church at Cenchreae, so that you may welcome her in the Holy One as is fitting among the saints, and assist her in whatever she may require from you, for she has been a benefactor and leader of many, including myself.”²
Phoebe stands as a luminous witness to the leadership of women in the earliest Christian communities. Paul does not describe her merely as a helper or servant, but as a deacon (diakonos) of the church at Cenchreae. The same Greek word is used elsewhere for ordained ministers, including Paul himself and other male leaders in the early Church. Paul also calls Phoebe a prostatis—a patron, protector, and leader of many, including Paul himself.³ These titles reveal that women exercised recognized ministerial authority, pastoral leadership, and missionary responsibility in the apostolic Church.
For me, Phoebe is not simply a figure from the past. She is a mirror reflecting the future to which the Spirit is calling the Church today. The Synod on Synodality has invited Catholics into deeper listening, shared discernment, and co-responsibility in the life of the Church. In many ways, inclusive Catholic communities led by deacons and priests in ARCWP and RCWP are already living this synodal vision through collaborative leadership, dialogue homilies, open-table Eucharist, and communities where all the baptized are recognized as equal in dignity and giftedness.
Yet, while affirming women’s leadership is an important step, genuine equality in the Church cannot stop short of ordination. Women cannot be fully equal while remaining excluded from sacramental and ordained ministry solely because of gender. Baptismal equality must lead to sacramental equality. Anything less leaves women in a subordinate place within the institutional Church and contradicts the Gospel vision proclaimed by Jesus, who called women and men alike to discipleship, leadership, and service.
The women priests movement witnesses publicly that the Spirit continues to call women to ordained ministry today. Like Phoebe, women priests and deacons carry the Gospel across boundaries of exclusion and injustice. We serve inclusive communities where all are welcome—married or single, LGBTQ+, divorced and remarried, believers and seekers. Around our Eucharistic tables, leadership is shared and the community prays together as a people of equals. In these communities, we experience what the Church can become when hierarchy gives way to partnership and domination yields to mutual service.
Phoebe’s ministry is not an isolated historical footnote hidden in Scripture. She is a prophetic sign for our time. As the Synod calls the Church to become more synodal, participatory, and inclusive, Phoebe reminds us that the future of the Church may actually be a return to the Spirit-filled inclusivity of its beginnings. For the fullness of Gospel equality to flourish, women must be ordained and welcomed fully into every dimension of ecclesial life and sacramental ministry. Only then can the Church truly become the community of equals envisioned by Jesus—rooted in justice, mutual service, compassion, and the liberating love of Christ.
¹ Synod on Synodality, Final Document, Paragraph 60, 2024.
² Romans 16:1-2, inclusive translation.
³ See Gary Macy, The Hidden History of Women’s Ordination; Phyllis Zagano, Women Deacons: Past, Present, Future.
