Phyllis Zagano (born August 25, 1947) Archived 23 June 2015. is an American author and academic. She has written and spoken on the role of women in the Roman

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

and is an advocate for the ordination of women as

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Chur ...

s. Her writings have been variously translated into Indonesian, Czech, French, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish.

Early life and education

Zagano was born in

Queens, New York Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

in 1947. She graduated from Sacred Heart Academy in 1965. She has a BA from Marymount College in

Tarrytown, New York Tarrytown is a village in the town of Greenburgh in Westchester County, New York. It is located on the eastern bank of the Hudson River, approximately north of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, and is served by a stop on the Metro-North ...

(1969);

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

s in communications from

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with ...

(1970), in literature from Long Island University (1972), and in theology from St. John's University (1991); and a PhD from the State University of New York at Stony Brook in 1979.

Career

Zagano was program officer at the

National Humanities Center The National Humanities Center (NHC) is an independent institute for advanced study in the humanities. The NHC operates as a privately incorporated nonprofit and is not part of any university or federal agency. The center was planned under the auspi ...

from 1979 to 1980, and taught at Fordham University from 1980 to 1984. She was a researcher at the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York The Archdiocese of New York ( la, Archidiœcesis Neo-Eboracensis) is an ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church ( particularly the Roman Catholic or Latin Church) located in the New York (state), State of New York. It encom ...

from 1984 to 1986 and a Coolidge Fellow at the

Episcopal Divinity School The Episcopal Divinity School (EDS) is a theological school in New York City that trains students for service with the Episcopal Church. It is affiliated with the Union Theological Seminary. Students who enroll in the EDS at Union Anglican st ...

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston ...

in 1987. She taught at Boston University from 1988 to 1999. Since 2002, Zagano has taught at Hofstra University in

Hempstead, New York The Town of Hempstead (also known historically as South Hempstead) is the largest of the three towns in Nassau County (alongside North Hempstead and Oyster Bay) in the U.S. state of New York. It occupies the southwestern part of the county, on ...

, where she is senior research associate-in-residence and adjunct professor of religion. In 2005 she held a visiting professorship at the

Yale Divinity School Yale Divinity School (YDS) is one of the twelve graduate and professional schools of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Congregationalist theological education was the motivation at the founding of Yale, and the professional school has ...

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134 ...

. In 2009, she was a

Fulbright Fellow The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...

at the

University of Limerick The University of Limerick (UL) ( ga, Ollscoil Luimnigh) is a public research university institution in Limerick, Ireland. Founded in 1972 as the National Institute for Higher Education, Limerick, it became a university in 1989 in accordance w ...

Mary Immaculate College Mary Immaculate College (Coláiste Mhuire gan Smál), also known as MIC and Mary I, is a College of Education and Liberal Arts. Founded in 1898, the university level College of Education and the Liberal Arts is academically linked with the Univ ...

Limerick Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...

, Ireland, where she was a lecturer. In 2015 she was a Fulbright Senior Specialist at the

Waterford Institute of Technology The Waterford Institute of Technology (WIT; ga, Institiúid Teicneolaíochta Phort Láirge) was an institute of technology, located in Waterford, Ireland. The institute had six constituent schools and offered programmes in business, engineerin ...

, in

Waterford "Waterford remains the untaken city" , mapsize = 220px , pushpin_map = Ireland#Europe , pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ireland##Location within Europe , pushpin_relief = 1 , coordinates ...

, Ireland. Zagano's scholarship and work as a theologian has been recognized by both awards and critical engagement. She received "Layperson of the Year" award from

Voice of the Faithful Voice of the Faithful (VOTF) is a movement of practicing Catholics, founded in Boston, Massachusetts, in 2002 in the wake of allegations regarding child abuse by Catholic clergy, perceived mishandling of cases of known or suspected abuse, and pas ...

in 2012. She received the Isaac Hecker Award for Social Justice from the Paulist Center of Boston in 2014. Two years later, in 2016,

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

appointed Zagano to the Papal Study Commission on the Women's Diaconate. Prior to disputing with her ideas, ''Crisis Magazine'' described Zagano as "one of the most high-ranking feminists in the Catholic Church" in 2019. Zagano's career also includes over 30 years as public affairs office in the

U.S. Navy Reserve The United States Navy Reserve (USNR), known as the United States Naval Reserve from 1915 to 2005, is the Reserve components of the United States Armed Forces, Reserve Component (RC) of the United States Navy. Members of the Navy Reserve, called R ...

. She retired from the Navy Reserve at the rank of Commander. Beginning in 2008, she has regularly donated her papers to the Women and Leadership Archives of Loyola University Chicago.

Publications

Zagano's publications include: *''Woman to Woman: An Anthology of Women's Spiritualities'', 1993, editor. . *''On Prayer: A Letter to My Godson'', 1994. . *''Ita Ford: Missionary Martyr'', 1996. . *''The Exercise of the Primacy: Continuing the Dialogue'', 1998, co-editor. . *''Things New and Old: Essays on the Theology of Elizabeth A. Johnson'', 1999, co-editor. *''Twentieth-Century Apostles: Christian Spirituality in Action'', 1999. *''Holy Saturday: An Argument for the Restoration of the Female Diaconate in the Catholic Church'', 2000;

Catholic Press Association The Catholic Media Association, formerly the Catholic Press Association of the United States and Canada, is an association of American and Canadian newspaper and media specialists specialized on reporting on the Catholic Church. Founded in 1911, it ...

Book Award; 2002 College Theology Society Book Award. *''Dorothy Day'', 2003, editor. *''Called to Serve: A Spirituality for Deacons'', 2004. *''The Dominican Tradition: Spirituality in History'', 2006, co-editor. *''Women & Catholicism: Gender, Communion, and Authority'', 2011;

Book Award in category B15, "Gender issues". *''Women Deacons: Past, Present, Future'', 2011, with Gary Macy and William T. Ditewig. *''Women in Ministry: Emerging Questions about the Diaconate'', 2012. *''Mysticism and the Spiritual Quest: A Crosscultural Anthology'', 2013. *''Ordination of Women to the Diaconate in the Eastern Churches: Essays by Cipriano Vagaggini'', 2013, editor and translator. *''Sacred Silence: Daily Meditations for Lent'', 2014. *''In the Image of Christ: Essays on Being Catholic and Female'', 2015. *''Women Deacons? Essays with Answers'', 2016, editor and translator.

Book Award in category B15, "Gender issues". *''The Light of the World: Daily Meditations for Advent'', 2016. *''Women: Icons of Christ'', 2020, Catholic Media Association Book Award for 2021 in Gender Issues-Inclusion in the Church category *''Elizabeth Visits the Abbey", 2022

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zagano, Phyllis 1947 births Boston University College of Communication alumni Ordination of women and the Catholic Church Hofstra University faculty Living people Long Island University alumni Marymount College, Tarrytown alumni People from Queens, New York St. John's University (New York City) alumni Stony Brook University alumni People associated with Waterford Institute of Technology