WHY DON’T YOU BELIEVE IN WOMEN’S ORDINATION? DON’T YOU LOVE WOMEN?
By Bp. Joseph ( Ancient Church of the West ) Regarding women’s ordination, our Church follows the “Apostolic Constitutions”, the earliest complete canonical and liturgical manual for the Church, compiled in the late 3rd to 4th century, but containing material that reaches back to the 1st and 2nd century Antiochian tradition, attested by the oldest manuscripts and quotations. These texts reflect the early ecclesial order and sacramental discipline of the Apostolic Churches. In Book VIII of the Apostolic Constitutions, it is clearly stated that “Deaconesses were appointed not to serve at the altar, but to assist with the baptism of women, care for the modesty of female catechumens, and minister to the needs of women and children in the congregation.” Their ordination is described not as sacramental in the same sense as the male diaconate, but rather as a “benediction or designation outside the altar area,” without the laying on of hands (χειροτονία), which was reserved for bishops, ...
