Source: Academia
by Christine Chaillot
The topic of deaconesses and female diaconate is being debated today in different Churches, Protestant, Anglican and Roman Catholic Churches. It is a reflection based on the fact that deaconesses are mentioned in the New Testament and in other documents of the Early Church. Today the topic of deaconesses is also studied, discussed and experienced in the Eastern Orthodox of Byzantine tradition which accepted the Council of Chalcedon in 451 and the Oriental Orthodox Churches which include the Coptic Church in Egypt, the Ethiopian Church, the Armenian Church (with two catholicoses with seats in Etchmiadzin (Armenia) and Antelias (Lebanon) as well as two patriarchs in Jerusalem and Istanbul), the Syrian OrthodoxChurch as well as related Churches in Eritrea, India and around the world…
