Presvytera Dr. Kyriaki Karidoyanes FitzGerald -26/11/16|Saintcatherinesvision
Earlier
this month the Holy Synod of the Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria
decided to proceed with the restoration of the ministry of deaconesses
as an aid in the Orthodox mission field.
In a November 23, 2016
telephone interview, theologian and Emeritus Professor Evangelos
Theodorou of the University of Athens School of Theology, a respected
authority of liturgical theology and the historiography of the
ordination of deaconesses, stated: This is a timely and wonderful
development. No doubt, the Orthodox Church in Africa has been growing
and making profound inroads in many places. We have much to learn from
them. Growth also implies new challenges and opportunities.
We
know through the Church’s history how unforeseen pastoral, educational
and other needs, naturally arise as the Church grows. Inspired by the
grace of the Holy Spirit, through this, as well as other pastoral
decisions, the hierarchs of the Church in Africa are wisely
acknowledging and responding to the needs of the Church.
When
asked about various dissenting opinions that followed this announcement,
the professor stressed that: The ordination of deaconesses has been
witnessed to in three Ecumenical Councils. There has never been an
Ecumenical Council to abolish them. Furthermore, every bishop has the
right to ordain clergy and appoint ministers for his diocese as he
discerns. This has always been the case through history. We know that in
recent memory, Saint Nektarios of Aegina ordained two nuns as
deaconesses and the late Archbishop of Athens, His Beatitude
Christodoulos, ordained a nun as a deaconess in his metropolis while he
was serving as the Metropolitan of Demetrias (Volos).
Over the
past decades, Professor Theodorou spoke on the history, ministry and
ordination of deaconesses in the Orthodox Church in many venues,
including a major presentation at the 1988 Rhodes Inter-Orthodox
Consultation on the topic, The Place of Women in the Orthodox Church and
the Question of the Ordination of Women. This consultation unanimously
advocated for the rejuvenation of the ministry of female deacons.
In
2015, tribute was paid to Professor Theodorou’s academic career at a
conference organized in his honor at the School of Theology of the
Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki, Greece. This conference also
focused particularly on the ordination of deaconesses. Professor
Theodorou has also served as an advisor for the Saint Catherine’s Vision
2014 publication: Call for the Rejuvenation of the Ministry of the
Ordained Deaconess (saintcatherinesvision.org). In this document and
throughout his academic career, he emphasized: The need for the ministry
of deaconesses is not new. The Scriptures, the Fathers and the ancient
liturgical texts in the life of the Church affirm in various ways how
‘the ministry of a woman deacon is especially important and necessary.’
Certainly, this ministry may be needed more in some places than in
others. This has always been the case in history.
Today, the
ministry of women ordained to the diaconate can be of great benefit in
many places within the life of the Church. The deaconess can serve the
ever-expanding needs of the local church under the direction of the
bishop. She can assist in areas such as pastoral care, education,
mission, and philanthropy. She can expand the outreach of the church
particularly through evangelism and witness as well as care for the
sick, destitute and unchurched. She can bear witness to the values of
the Gospel in the wider society. In reflecting on the Patriarchate of
Alexandria’s decision, Professor Theodorou also reminds us of a
statement by Metropolitan Chrysostom of Chalkidos at the 2004 meeting of
the Synod of Bishops of the Church of Greece on The Role of Women in
the Overall Structure of the Church: Rejuvenating the Order of
Deaconesses. Metropolitan Chrysostom affirms: It is certainly possible
to rejuvenate this praiseworthy order, with its many diverse and blessed
activities, as long as the Church decides this is necessary after
careful study and weighing the Church’s needs, being illumined by the
Holy Spirit concerning the “signs of the times”. Saint Catherine’s
Vision invites everyone to join us in prayer that God reveal His holy
will on this important issue for the Church. For further information
about Saint Catherine’s Vision, please visit our website:
www.saintcatherinesvision.org.
Dr. Kyriaki Karidoyanes
FitzGerald is the co-founder and Executive Director of Saint Catherine’s
Vision and the author of Women Deacons in the Orthodox Church: Called
to Holiness and Ministry, published by Holy Cross Orthodox Press. She
also serves as adjunct professor of theology at Holy Cross Greek
Orthodox School of Theology.