This Page Last Updated September 2nd, 2009 (new style reckoning)
Orthodox Ordination of
Women
A few references of “emerging” thought
It
was over 10 years ago that I began recording an official Greek Orthodox
television program called Illuminations. Early on I heard Bishop Ware state that
he sees “no reason why a woman could not be a priest” and then he went on to explain exactly why.
I was not the only person to see this very public
proclamation, as Ware has been questioned about this since by other poeple. He now does a song and dance around it. Even Orthodox theologian Behr-Siegel mentions it. Not only that, but the Orthodox president of the Protestant Council of
Churches also works toward the goal of women’s ordination. The issue is
not settled. People often do not believe me and ask if there is an online
reference, so here are a few to the positions that are being taken.
Possible Orthodox Women Ordination
That
last link presents a list of responses to a past GOA action. One response suggests that
readers are not clergy. The Apostolic Canons at XXXVI we are told that
not only readers but even singers are clergy. Of course this would be with
tonsure. Furthermore, all the rules of the clerical office of reader are always
expressed in the masculine, so that we have no good ground to have women readers.
There is no precedence. Also, I have found that the Apostolic Constitutions,
though they allow clergy to be married, deaconesses on the other hand were only
to “be a pure virgin, or, at the least a widow” highly esteemed by but having only one
husband (vi.17). The GOA violates all these rules with what they
have done. The primary role of a deaconess would be to help in female baptisms.
St. Epiphanius speaking of deaconesses tells us, “they were only women-elders,
not priestesses in any sense, that
their mission was not to interfere in any way with Sacerdotal functions, but simply to perform certain offices
in the care of women.” There really are many more references to this topic that
I simply do not have time to list. At a future time I hope to add
more.
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