The petition has been circulating around St. Anthony of Padua Church in Kailua for months: Do you support the idea of women as deacons?

The diaconate is a leadership position within the Roman Catholic church that allows for many of the glories without some of its trappings, such as celibacy.

While deacons can celebrate ceremonies and administer several sacraments such as baptism and weddings, they do not have the ability to consecrate the Eucharist, an integral part of Mass.

When it comes to the question of women in the role, many — around Kailua anyway — are responding, "Yes."

And they're not alone. FutureChurch and Call to Action, two national church reform groups, have put together 30,000 petition signatures for the U.S. bishops, who will meet in Rome next month as part of the 11th General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops.

The petitions include wording that urges discussions of women deacons, as well as consideration of an end to mandatory priest celibacy. It notes that 1st Century deaconesses such as Phoebe lay the groundwork for such discussion.

"Opening the diaconate to women could give us a huge new pool of ministers to preach, baptize and witness marriages," Call to Action's national spokeswoman Linda Pieczynski said in a statement. "Women ministers are holding the church together. Eighty-two percent of an estimated 65,000 lay ministers in the U.S. are women. Worldwide, there are only 405,000 priests but we have 783,000 nuns and over 1.5 million female lay ministers."

Will Rich, a parishioner at the Roman Catholic church who drafted the petition with his Bible study compatriot, Larry Connors, said their numbers are overwhelmingly in favor of women deacons.

So far, about 100 people responded to the draft petition, which was not commissioned by the church, but by a group of parishioners. He reports that 63 were in support, 19 were not and 17 returned surveys without indicating their preference.

"I expect the unmarked responses will turn out to be support, but we must call each of them to confirm their intentions," said Rich, editor of We the Parishioners quarterly newsletter. "If, as expected, the unmarked responses prove to be support ... 80 percent support the petition, while ... 20 percent do not."

Connors is a familiar face to some in the Catholic community: His family was among those who presented gifts to Bishop Larry Silva during his recent ordination/installation. The retired chiropractor and his family chose to give Silva a Bible and a book, Peter Steinfels' "A People Adrift: The Crisis of the Roman Catholic Church in America."

This was precisely the book that led Connors on the path to suggest ways to address looming crises in the church, especially the shortage of priests, when his men's group took up the tome earlier this year.

His gift "was not meant to be controversial," said Connors, adding, "The book had a big impact on me. ... (It showed) the need for an action step. I read about problems going on, and his final chapter urged us to take an action step, not just moan and groan."

Connors said he sees an untapped resource in church women.

"With all this talent in the church — educated doctors, lawyers — we're so limited in clergy," said the father of four, three daughters and a son.

Connors remembers hearing a sermon on the rules and regulations of taking the Eucharist, also known as communion. His wife leaned over, gave him a poke and said, "I would've loved to give this sermon."

It was then Connors felt the burning impression that perhaps it's time for laity to offer greater access to the pulpit.

"I bet you would've," he replied.

Instead of envisioning her in the priest robes, however, Connors set his sights on something he considers to be within reason.

"They say the priesthood is remote for women — why challenge something futile?" Connors said. "(For the diaconate,) it's just custom, just church law. You challenge the church where you can get some modification."

The We the Parishioners survey poses this question: "In our present system, the wives of men studying to be deacons are asked to fully participate in the journey of their husbands. Why not the same role for those women who are qualified and have a calling for the diaconate?"

Once the survey responses are tallied, they will submit the petition signatures to Silva, Rich and Connors said.

How do wives of O'ahu deacons weigh in? Two gave mixed responses.

"I'm not for women deacons," said Lana Vargas, who had to attend mandatory classes with her husband, Edward. "I don't know why. ... I don't think it's necessary at this point. I know there's lots of ladies who do. There are lots of men out there and other avenues women are called to in the Catholic church. For me, personally, no, not at this point, but in the future, maybe."

That's not how Donna Carlbom feels, however. Her husband was ordained in 1987.

"It's not an issue with me, because I didn't feel called to be a deacon," said Carlbom, who then cites the biblical references to women who were early disciples of Christ. "I don't see anything wrong with women being ordained — if they feel they've been called."

However, she cautions, some people may view deacons as "mini-priests."

"That's not it," said Carlbom. "The priest represents the place of Christ, the deacon does not. The deacon represents Christ's servant of the people."

But some say the prospect of women deacons, for now, is a futile battle.

"The late pope has said this will not be considered, so those of us in leadership have to go along with what the hierarchy says," Bill McPeek, co-director with his wife, Florence, of deacon formation for the Diocese of Honolulu.

While he noted that early church history referred to deaconesses, "that was in the past. ... In history, it has happened, but what's in future, I don't know, other than what the late pope has said, (that) it's something we won't talk about. With the new pope, we'll have to wait and see what direction it has to go."