The question of restoring women to the ordained diaconate surfaced during the Second Vatican Council and continued to resound in academic and pastoral circles well after the diaconate was restored as a permanent order in the church in the West. This volume contains twelve essays—five translated from Italian, three translated from French, and four in their original English—that answer the questions about the history and possible future of women deacons. Essays by: Yves Congar, OP Philippe Delhaye Peter Hünermann Valerie A. Karras Corrado Marucci, SJ Pietro Sorci, OFM Jennifer H. Stiefel Cipriano Vagaggini, OSB Cam Phyllis Zagano Ugo Zanetti, OSB

This booklet, comprising five essays, each with questions for discussion, is for anyone interested in the question of women religious and women deacons.

Three related essays by experts on the diaconate that examine the concept of women deacons in the Catholic Church from Thistorical, contemporary, and future perspectives.

Wisdom is personified in the Bible as a female figure inviting us to a banquet. Those who yearn most for the message are the hungriest: women and children, especially those of color. Barbara Reid explores how feminist liberationist biblical interpretation is an essential tool to alleviate this hunger, extending the banquet metaphor.

All over the world there is the move towards just gender relations – even if the odds seem to be less hopeful than a decade ago. This poses a special task for Christians and Churches in service of the marginalised who engage in the fight for justice. The articles collected in this volume provide insights from two intercultural theological conferences. The topic for the European-Asian dialogue focuses on "Gender and Ecclesiology". The European dialogue between western and eastern Central European countries has a special aim for gender theories and their theological and political implications. The book presents contributions from different perspectives and shows how the Christian churches can contribute to gender justice.

Women: Icons of Christ traces the history of ministry by women, especially those ordained as deacons. The author demonstrates how women were removed from leadership, prevented from using their voices, and eliminated from official ministries in the life of the Church. And she refutes arguments against restoring women to the ordained diaconate.

Regarding the question of office in the Christian churches, this volume illuminates with heightened ecumenical sensitivity the arguments for the participation of women in all church offices and ministries, without which there will be no way to the visible unity of the churches. It documents the ecumenical congress that took place in Osnabrück in December 2017 and the “Osnabrück theses”—meant to serve the future international and ecumenical conversation and further discussion about the questions of women in church offices—passed by the congress. The editors hope that this publication will help to set into motion a debate about ministries and services in the Church, which has been stagnant for a long time, and that it will become clear that these questions can only be answered together—by men and women—from now on.