ALEXANDRIA, Greece — Patriarch Theodoros II, pope and patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa, and the Greek Orthodox Holy Synod of the Patriarchate of Alexandria have decided to reinstate the order of deaconesses.
Modern Orthodox scholarship acknowledges the existence of a female diaconate in the early church, with many tracing it back to a woman named Phoebe mentioned by the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Romans. However, female deaconesses, for the most part, fell out of existence in the late Byzantine period.
The move to bring the order back began in February when Theodoros consecrated five women to the diaconate in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, primarily to assist in missionary churches in Africa where there aren’t enough priests to lead the growing church population. (TAB)
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