Sr. Vassa: There's no ontological impediment to priestesses
Is the male-only priesthood a discipline or essential to the nature of being a priest? Sr. Vassa (again unflinchingly taking up a contentious topic by climbing up the ladder to the highest platform and then jumping into the deep end head first) dives right in and says there is no reason beyond personal preference to not have female clergy. You know, when people ask me about women in priesthood, they say, 'Sister, why can't women be priests?' And I say, 'Women CAN be priests. We don't WANT them to be priests.' Because you see, God can do anything, and the Church, by divine authority, uh, can do anything, but, the Church doesn't want to - and that's a legitimate reason. What I don't like is when we TRY to pretend that there are other reasons for this, because it's legitimate not to want something, and there are reasons not to want this - right? - but, we shouldn't pretent that there's some... reason, that, for example, the maleness...
That must be a Russian practice. I was ordained, or more correctly, blessed a Reader by Archbishop Iakovos at Holy Cross seminary and he did not place a short pholonion one me. He did make all seminarians rassophors by giving them the right to wear a exofrasso or jibby. I have seen Readers blessed in the Antiochian Archdiocese and we do not use them.
ReplyDeleteFr. John W. Morris
I was set aside as a reader with a short phelonion in the OCA.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if this has any common roots with the “folded chasubles” used by the deacon and subdeacon in penitential seasons in the West.
ReplyDelete