Hierarch wants female ordination discussed at Pan-Orthodox meeting

ATHENS, Greece (Orthodox News) – The views expressed by Metropolitan Seraphim of Johannesburg and Praetoria in a recently published article has brought the issue of the ordination of women to the forefront of the Orthodox Church. Metropolitan Seraphim, a Bishop of the Patriarchate of Alexandria, recently wrote that this hot topic affecting the whole of Christianity should be discussed at a Pan-Orthodox Council, when members of Orthodox Churches from all over the world will participate, so that the Orthodox Church can adopt an official position on the ordination of women, as other churches and many Protestant denominations have already done.

In the article, which first appeared in the website “Romfea,” and was reprinted in the Greek daily newspaper “To Vima”, the Cyprus-born prelate posed the question “what are the theological reasons that prohibit us from supporting the ordination of women?”

Metropolitan Seraphim also conveyed the willingness expressed by the leadership of the Patriarchate of Alexandria to discuss the revival of the ancient tradition of “deaconess,” after pointing out that “in Orthodox missionary work, where adult women are receive catechism and being baptized, the pastoral need for the service of deaconesses has begun to reappear.” The Metropolitan was referring to a position in the lower clergy that peaked during the early Christian centuries, when women stood apart from men in the church balcony or on one side of the church, and priests could not approach them.

Meanwhile, in a related development, Bishops from the Church of Greece received an encyclical from the Standing Holy Synod which advises them that the registration of girls at ecclesiastical schools of secondary education is prohibited. The decision has already been met with opposition. Below is an excerpt of the two-page document, which is signed by Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens, the Bishops sitting on the Standing Holy Synod, and the Chief Secretary.

“Having taken account of the current state of affairs in the area of ecclesiastical education....and in order to uphold the nature of these educational institutions – Ecclesiastical Junior High and High Schools – as productive schools of the Orthodox Church in Greece, the Holy Synod has decided that the registration of female students in Ecclesiastical Junior High and High Schools runs contrary to their productive nature, on the one hand, and will cause such problems as to constitute their operation problematic, on the other hand. Thus, it has been led to the unanimous decision of prohibiting the registration of female students in ecclesiastical institutions of secondary education.”

A loophole for the entry and registration of girls into ecclesiastical junior high and high schools existed by virtue of an encyclical issued by the Ministry of Education, which was sent to all schools in June, but the immediate response of the Holy Synod led the Ministry of Education to back down on the issue.

On Friday July 24, the Ministry of Education issued a statement clarifying that girls wishing to register in secondary ecclesiastical schools were first required to obtain permission from the local Bishop in whose Metropolis the ecclesiastical junior high or high schools are operating. The decision issued by the Holy Synod and the Ministry of Education's reversal of position were met with surprise and have already created problems. In fact, it is considered a foregone conclusion that the Director of the Ecclesiastical Junior High and High School of Northern Greece – who has already received applications from five female students – will reject them, because neither he nor the local Bishop wish to break ranks with the Holy Synod.

The education issue has prompted discussion on the role of women in the church. The matter of the ordination of women has arisen, which will stir controversy in the Orthodox Church just as it has in other denominations.

Like the Roman Catholic Church, the Orthodox Church has stated that the issue of the ordination of women is non-existent. On the other hand, the Anglican Church has proceeded with the ordination of women to the priesthood and has even elevated some of them to the rank of bishop – a decision which has created a rift within the Anglican Church.

As is noted in his article, when Metropolitan Seraphim was still a deacon in 1989, he attended the Council of York, where the Anglican Church first decided to allow the ordination of women. At the time, the Orthodox Church had sent him there as an observer, since he was serving as a deacon in the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Great Britain – an eparchy of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. There, the Metropolitan had an opportunity to follow the entire discussion as it took place.

Metropolitan Seraphim declares that the issue ought to be on the agenda of the Great and Holy Council, the Pan-Orthodox gathering which potentially can address all the major issues affecting the Church that have accumulated since the Great Schism of 1054. “My goal is for there to be a true and genuine dialogue prior to the Council, which will make all the final decisions,” Metropolitan Seraphim said.