LET'S MAKE HISTORY: ORDAIN DEACONESSES IN THE ORTHODOX CHURCH TODAY

               

by Carrie Frederick Frost | ελληνικά | Русский

March is Women’s History Month, when we particularly witness women’s vital roles in our past, including in the Orthodox Church. These stories deserve our attention and appreciation, but let’s not just look to the past, let’s also look to the future. Let’s make history. 

THE ORDINATION OF WOMEN IN THE ORTHODOX CHURCH: REVEALING THE TRUTH BY

 

Dr Vassilis Adrahtas holds a PhD in Studies in Religion (USyd) and a PhD in the Sociology of Religion (Panteion), greek city times

Some days ago, I friend of mine asked me in all sincerity: “Do you believe we will see a female priest in our lifetime within the Orthodox Church?” In a very natural way, so to speak, and rather instinctively I replied: ‘I don’t know about female priests, but I am pretty sure that we will see female deacons. We will definitely witness deaconesses in the Orthodox Church as it has been part of our tradition for centuries. It was never abolished but the practice ceased around the 12th century or so. Now is the time for its revival.’

FORDHAM UNIVERSITY:WOMEN AND ORDINATION IN THE ORTHODOX CHURCH

 

Fordham University, The Orthodox Christian Studies Center

Women and Ordination in the Orthodox Church: A Conversation with Gabrielle Thomas & Elena Narinskaya

THE AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE FOR ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN STUDIES:WOMEN IN THE ORTHODOX CHURCH

               

THE FEMALE DIACONATE IN A TIME OF PANDEMIC

St. Phoebe Center for the Deaconess

GREEK ORTHODOX METROPOLIS OF CHICAGO:THE MYRRH-BEARING WOMEN: YESTERDAY, TODAY AND TOMORROW

Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Chicago

Join Metropolitan Nathanael and a panel of professional Orthodox Christians for a discussion on the Myrrh-bearing Women and their impact on the special ministry of women in the Church for the past two millennia.

CATHOLIC OBJECTIONS TO WOMEN’S ALTAR SERVICE: BARRED FROM THE SACRED

by Phyllis Zagano

The question of women deacons continues to be discussed in the Catholic Church, and questions about women are again in the news. Whether the discussion is about priestly celibacy or about ordaining women to the diaconate, the common denominator is that women are unclean. In the Roman Catholic Church, marriage is a diriment impediment for priestly orders and women cannot be ordained as deacons. The below is excerpted from Chapter 3, “Altar Service” in Phyllis Zagano’s forthcoming Paulist Press book Women: Icons of Christ, which traces the development of the diaconal ministries performed by women, ordained and not ordained as deacons.

FORDHAM SYMPOSIUM DISCUSSES POSSIBILITIES OF WOMEN DEACONS

by Sarah Salvadore PeopleVatican,                National Catholic Reporter

Womendeacons CROP.jpgJ. Patrick Hornbeck II, chair of the Theology Department at Fordham University, introduces (from left) Phyllis Zagano, Meghan Clark and George Demacopoulos, panelists for the symposium on women deacons Oct. 22 in New York. (NCR photo/Sarah Salvadore)

AMAZON SYNOD CALLS FOR MARRIED PRIESTS, POPE TO REOPEN WOMEN DEACONS COMMISSION

by Joshua J. McElwee, Brian Roewe,
National Catholic Reporter

Pope Francis attends the final session of the Synod of Bishops for the Amazon Oct. 26 at the Vatican. Also pictured are Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri, secretary-general of the Synod of Bishops, and Cardinal Claudio Hummes, relator general of the synod. (CNS/Paul Haring)

CHRIST AND WOMEN

With the appearance of Axia Women on the US Orthodox scene, it’s a good moment to consider the distinctive ways our Lord interacted with the women he encountered in his ministry.

SCHOLARS NOT PRIESTS

by George Demacopoulos

In a seminal essay in 1990, the eminent scholar of early Christianity, Elizabeth Clark, demonstrated that Christianity grew rapidly, in large part, because women served as the community’s earliest financial benefactors—they were “Patrons not Priests.”^[1]

WOMEN AND THE DIACONATE A DEBATE THAT WON'T GO AWAY

Pope Francis greets Sister Carmen Sammut, president of the International Union of Superiors General, in 2016 (CNS photo/L'Osservatore Romano)

Massimo Faggioli professor of theology and religious studies at Villanova University.

ARCHON SYMPOSIUM FOCUSES ON 'REVIVING THE FEMALE DIACONATE IN THE ORTHODOX CHURCH: HAS THE TIME COME?'

 

 ARCHON SYMPOSIUM FOCUSES ON 'REVIVING THE FEMALE DIACONATE IN THE ORTHODOX CHURCH: HAS THE TIME COME?'

THEOLOGY ROOTED IN PATRIARCHY DELAYS RESTORATION OF FEMALE DIACONATE

 Detail of 12th-century stained glass fragment depicting an angel appearing to a deacon saint, Clermont-Ferrand, France (Metropolitan Museum of Art) 

 Christine Schenk

Overall I was more encouraged than discouraged by Pope Francis's May 10 discussion about women deacons at the triennial meeting of the Union of International Superiors General.

ORDINATION OF WOMEN DEACONS

 Arnaud Join-Lambert is professor of theology at the Catholic University of Louvain, international.la-croix.com

Pope Francis has announced that the Commission on women deacons has not reached an agreement. This comes as no great surprise.

PATRICIA BOUTENEFF: LETTER FROM PHILADELPHIA

Patricia Bouteneff reports on the Symposium on Reviving the Female Diaconate in the Orthodox Church: Has the Time Come? that took place at St. Sophia, Sts. Faith, Hope & Agape Greek Orthodox Church, Jeffersonville (Norristown), PA, on Saturday, March 30, 2019., The wheel

FATHER ALEXANDER SCHMEMANN, THE VIRGIN MARY, AND THE ORDINATION OF WOMEN

Miriam DeCock, The Wheel 16 (Winter 2019)

THE DISAPPEARING DEACONESS: HOW THE HIERARCHICAL ORDERING OF THE CHURCH DOOMED THE FEMALE DIACONATE

Brian Patrick Mitchell

THE ORDINATION OF WOMEN TO THE PRIESTHOOD: A PASTORAL QUESTION

PAUL LADOUCEUR

THE ORDINATION OF WOMEN TO THE PRIESTHOOD: A PASTORAL QUESTION

ORTHODOX THEOLOGICAL SOCIETY IN AMERICA OCTOBER 20, 2018

HUMAN SEXUALITY IN THE LATIN TRADITION

HUMAN SEXUALITY IN THE LATIN TRADITION

FOTIOS IOANNIDIS