Cover
story Out
of the past, women deacons point the way
By GERALD LADOUCEUR
It would appear the 1995 statement from the Congregation for the
Doctrine of the Faith on women's ordination ended all hope for women priests.
Yet all the statement did was heat up the issue and thrust it to the forefront
of Catholic debate.
As much as we would like to forget the past and look to the
future, we cannot ignore our collective history, which has shaped and defined
who we are today. As a traditionalist, I believe we should look to our early
history to see how our "church fathers" regarded women in ministry.
Many people might be surprised to learn that there exists a rich,
apostolic tradition of an ordained female clergy that endured until the Middle
Ages. The women clergy to whom I am referring were deacons. They served as part
of the church's ecclesiastical community for almost half of our 2,000 year
history.
When the modern diaconate was restored 25 years ago, married men
were ordained deacons for the first time in this millennium. At that time the
ordination of women deacons was also considered. However, it was not certain
how married male deacons would be accepted after a thousand years of celibate
priests, and there was reluctance to implement too many changes too quickly.
The decision on female deacons was postponed until the married male diaconate
was more established and could be evaluated. The answer to women who aspired to
diaconate was never a definitive no, but a cautious wait and
see.
There was hope that the waiting was finally over when the Vatican
again considered the diaconate for women at its Plenary Sessions on Clergy in
the fall of 1995. The Canon Law Society of America provided further hope by
issuing a report concluding that canon law posed no impediment to women
deacons. Sadly, the plenarium ended by denying the diaconate to women. The
people of the church still wait.
The New Testament and the patristic writings of the early church
clearly demonstrate that the order of deacon was not an ordained ministry
restricted to men in the early church. Romans 16:1-3 provides scriptural
recognition of women deacons, where Paul describes Phoebe as "our sister who is
a servant" and asks the faithful to receive her as they would anyone set apart
by God. The word Paul uses for "servant" is the Greek word diakonos or
"deacon." In verse 3, Paul also refers to Priscilla and Aquilla as coworkers,
indicating they were probably deacons as well.
The use of the Greek masculine word diakonos indicates Paul
did not exclude women from ministry or positions of authority, a posture that
was countercultural to 1st century Judaism. Additionally, Paul applies
diakonos to people who looked after the needs of others and assisted at
liturgy. Paul's writings, which are the earliest works of the New Testament,
make it quite obvious that diaconal functions for women were already
established in the first generation church.
A scriptural basis for a female diaconate originates even before
Paul in the actions of Christ himself. Jesus may have applied the diaconate
specifically to women who accompanied the Twelve. Luke 8:1-3 identifies
Magdalene, Joanna, Susanna and others who provided for the Twelve "out of their
own resources."
There is little doubt women were ordained deacons in early
Christianity. The Apostolic Constitutions provide a detailed rite of ordination
for deaconess, referring to Old Testament women and the Theotokos (Mary,
the mother of Jesus). The Apostolic Constitutions also discuss the office of
widow and virgin, but neither have the same status as deaconess. The former
were considered laity, while the latter were clergy. Byzantine writings
evidence the ordination of women well into the Middle Ages, with some
deaconesses serving in monasteries as late as the 11th century
There is some ambiguity over what role these women deacons played.
Deaconesses appeared to hold an official office and were valuable coworkers
with the episcopate and presbyterate in spreading the Christian faith. It is
unclear what sacramental duties, if any, they were given, and there is little
evidence they performed any of the more cultic functions of the presbyterate
and male diaconate. In the early church document Didascalia Apostolorum,
a deaconess' duties appeared commensurate with those of a deacon. However, in
another early church document, the Apostolic Constitutions, the duties of a
woman deacon were equated to that of a male subdeacon, although they officially
ranked as deacons. Both documents included the deaconess as clergy, not
laity.
Due to the socio-gender restrictions of society, deaconesses most
likely provided pastoral care to other women. There was a dichotomy of
functions where deaconesses ministered to women and deacons to men. Male and
female deacons had many of the same responsibilities, but they were not
interchangeable. At liturgy, women deacons exchanged the sign of peace with
other women and distributed the Eucharist to female worshipers. Women deacons
also carried the Blessed Sacrament to infirm women, and they received female
visitors into the community as the male deacons did for the men. A deaconess
was also sent to minister in situations where existing cultural mores
prohibited men, such as those requiring touching or laying on of hands.
Despite the ordained status of the deaconess, women remained
subordinate to a male diaconate. Although deaconesses were clergy, they were in
a special class that was not called to ordained priesthood as were male
deacons. In the second century hierarchy deaconsesses were below deacons yet
above subdeacons. At liturgical celebrations deaconesses would partake of the
Eucharist before the congregation but only after the three male orders.
Deaconesses were also barred from assisting the presider at the eucharistic
table.
Although the Apostolic Constitutions did not permit women to
assist at the Eucharist, it is conceivable that some deaconesses may have
actually presided at the Eucharist in isolated areas where there were no
presbyters. The Council of Nicea in 325 prohibited deacons from presiding at
the Eucharist, indicating that some deacons must have been presiding at
Eucharist, or there would have been no need to prohibit it. Nicea makes no
distinction between male and female deacons. It is therefore not implausible
that some of these presiding deacons may have been women.
The order of deaconess was more readily accepted in the Eastern
churches than in the West, with Orthodox and Byzantine Rite churches
celebrating the feast days of many women deacons including Phoebe, Macrina,
Nonn, Melania, Thesebia, Goronia, Olympias and Apollonia. The authority and
acceptance of women deacons slowly diminished as the church became more
hierarchical and patriarchal.
Furthermore, when the church began baptizing infants, there was no
longer a need for female deacons to accompany adult women catechumens. Despite
their innumerable contributions to the church, the order of deaconess
eventually disappeared by the Middle Ages.
Women deacons served the early church in the true spirit of
diaconal service, and the order of deaconess was an ecclesiastical office of
importance that was widely accepted for many centuries. The diaconate for women
has validity based on its Christological roots (in all four gospels), and the
apostolic and patristic churches' recognition of the female diaconate. There
are no scriptural, theological or historical barriers that obstruct the
ordination of women to diaconate as a full and equal office.
We cannot disregard our history as people of God. Our knowledge of
history shows us that church doctrine has never been static. Doctrinal changes
occurred in places such as Nicea and Trent. Vatican II would never have
happened if the church had neglected its history and the socio-theological
developments that influenced changes in church teaching.
Ordained women disappeared not because of any actions by Christ or
the apostles but because of changes in society that subordinated women. Today
the cultural pendulum has reversed itself and the time is ripe to again make
ordained women a viable part of the church. If we as people of tradition reject
our history, our future has no hope.
Gerald Ladouceur is a deacon in New Yorks Albany
diocese.
National Catholic Reporter, February 21,
1997
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