This paper will examine the coincidence between the emergence of questions about the diaconate, prior to Vatican II, and the growing importance of questions about the place of women in the Catholic Church in France. Access to sources and work on women's voices are two elements necessary to understand how certain theologians (both men and women) were able to publicly raise the question of access to the diaconate, such as Donna Singles (1928-2005), an American nun and professor of theology in Lyon (France).