Source: St. Catherine’s Vision In cooperation with the World Council of Churches’ Faith and Order Commission, Saint Catherine’s Vision (SCV) recently developed and inaugurated a Survey for Orthodox Christian Faithful. The survey sought participants’ input regarding “Challenges and Opportunities of the Role of Women in the Church” for the Consultation on “Ecumenical Perspectives on the Role of Women in the Churches,” held at the Monastery of Bose in Mangano, Italy on October 3-7, 2017. Please CLICK HERE for a report of the results. We pray these findings will be helpful toward the discernment of future initiatives for the sake of “building up the body of Christ”…
Browsing: Women
Source: Ekklesia A consultation with the theme ‘Ecumenical Perspective on the Role of Women in the Churches’ brought together 28 women and men to the Monastero di Bose in northern Italy from 3-7 October 2017. Participants came from major Christian traditions including Anglican, Baptist, Disciples of Christ, Lutheran, Mennonite, Methodist, Orthodox (Eastern and Oriental), Pentecostal, Reformed and Roman Catholic. There were also representatives of regional ecumenical organisations including the All Africa Conference of Churches, Caribbean Conference of Churches, Consejo Latinoamericano de Iglesias, Middle East Council of Churches, National Council of Churches in India, and Conference of European Churches. The event…
Source: Saint Catherine’s Vision Saint Catherine’s Vision is pleased to announce its Executive Director, Dr. Kyriaki Karidoyanes FitzGerald, has been invited to serve as a representative of the Orthodox Church at an international conference hosted by the World Council of Churches: “Consultation on the Role of Women in the Churches” to be held October 3-7th, 2017 at the Monastery of Bose, in Bose, Italy. Dr. Fitzgerald will speak on the “Challenges and Opportunities of the Role of Women in the Church from a Theological Perspective”. This international conference (and certainly, Dr. FitzGerald’s topic) is of extraordinary significance. Its impact depends…
Source: America – The National Catholic Review A special web round-table discussion sponsored by America Media and the Fordham Center on Religion and Culture. The current Vatican commission exploring the possibility of women deacons has raised a number of questions about their role in the church. As ordained ministers who are neither priests nor lay people, the actual role of deacons in the parishes where they minister remains unclear to many Catholics. What are deacons, and how has their role changed over history? Could women deacons revolutionize pastoral ministry and transform the church? How can the diaconate better meet the…
Source: Christian Today Ruth Gledhill CHRISTIAN TODAY CONTRIBUTING EDITOR The Roman Catholic Church took the first tentative steps towards women’s ordination today when Pope Francis announced a new commission to look at the possibility of women deacons. However, there are concerns among campaigners for women priests in the Catholic Church that women deacons will be ordained in an attempt to fob them off from expecting any further moves towards equality. In an indication that the Pope is serious about moving forward on this issue, half of the commission’s members are themselves women, all highly regarded as intellectuals and academics from…
Source: Pravoslavie.ru Moscow – Thousands of women in Ukraine, Russia and Belarus have taken to social media to share their experiences of sexual violence in an online flash mob under the hashtags #янебоюсьсказати and #янебоюсьсказать (I am not afraid to speak) started by Ukrainian social activist Anastasia Melnichenko. Russia has responded, with the Russian Orthodox Church at the forefront. Archpriest Dmitry Roschin, head of the synodal department for church governance with the public and the media, advised women participating in the online flash mob to turn to priests instead of posting their stories on Facebook. According to Roschin, the sexual harassment…
Source: BBC News Magazine If you want to visit Mount Athos the first step is to submit a copy of your passport to the Mount Athos Pilgrims’ Bureau. Each day, 100 Orthodox and 10 non-Orthodox male pilgrims are admitted for a three-night stay in one of the peninsula’s 20 monasteries. Women will not be granted a permit and must stay behind as their male friends board the ferry at one of the two closest ports. Mount Athos has barred women for more than 1,000 years – they are not allowed within 500m of the coast. According to Dr Graham Speake,…
Source: First Things by Charlotte Allen When Pope Francis announced his willingness to appoint a commission to study whether women can serve as deacons in the Catholic Church, my first thought was: Here we go! And sure enough, FutureChurch, the liberal Catholic organization that has subtly pushed for the ordination of women to the hitherto all-male Catholic priesthood, not only praised Francis for his statement but announced its intention to set up a CatholicWomenDeacons.org website, sponsor a retreat for women feeling the “call” to become deacons, and, clearly most important of all, lobby the U.S. bishops to start pestering Rome…
Source: Change.org Petitioning Secretariat for the Preparation of the Great and Holy Council Centre Orthodoxe, Chambesy The Pan-Orthodox Council will meet in Crete at Pentecost. Its voting members will consist of hierarchs from each of the fourteen autocephalous churches. Those delegates will be accompanied by non-voting consultants that may include clergy, monastic, and/or lay participants, with no guarantee that any of them will be female. As a result, the Council is structured in such a way that women—who comprise at least 50% of Orthodox congregations—will have virtually no opportunity to make a substantive contribution on matters that affect the entire body…
Source: Chicago Tribune By Tribune news services Contact Reporter VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis said Thursday he is willing to create a commission to study whether women can be deacons in the Catholic Church, signaling an openness to letting women serve in ordained ministry currently reserved to men. Francis agreed to the proposal during a closed-door meeting with some 900 superiors of women’s religious orders. Deacons are ordained ministers but are not priests, though they can perform many of the same functions as priests: preside at weddings, baptisms and funerals, and preach. They cannot, however, celebrate Mass. Currently, married men — who…
Source: Patheos Orthodox Christian Concerns: A Lament for Our Millennial Daughters By Jennifer Nahas Originally posted on January 16, 2015 What is best about the Orthodox Church—holding true to early teachings and traditions—also presents its greatest challenge: making sure tradition doesn’t trump appropriate treatment of others. While many prize the richness of the Orthodox Church, our traditions can lead to exclusion of some from fully participating in the community of Christ. It’s a fine line, preserving ancient rites without marginalizing particular groups, within a patriarchal structure, and is ripe for discussion, particularly as it pertains to women. Many Orthodox Christians immigrated…
Source: Patheos By Jennifer Nahas What is best about the Orthodox Church—holding true to early teachings and traditions—also presents its greatest challenge: making sure tradition doesn’t trump appropriate treatment of others. While many prize the richness of the Orthodox Church, our traditions can lead to exclusion of some from fully participating in the community of Christ. It’s a fine line, preserving ancient rites without marginalizing particular groups, within a patriarchal structure, and is ripe for discussion, particularly as it pertains to women. Orthodoxy arrived in the early 20th century, at a time when the United States experienced unprecedented social, economic,…