Véronique Lossky

This article reports on two workshops devoted to the place of women in the Orthodox Church, organized during a congress of the Orthodox Brotherhood. It is an account of debates bringing together some twenty to thirty participants of various backgrounds. The central figure is Elisabeth Behr-Sigel, whose work on the female diaconate structures the discussions. The main idea is that the restoration of the female diaconate faces no fundamental theological obstacle, but encounters persistent cultural and clerical resistance. The article also documents testimonies from Bulgaria and Lebanon, illustrating the diversity of situations in the Orthodox world. On the theological level, it highlights the notion of the person, grounded in the Trinitarian model, as a framework that transcends the logic of power and allows for a rethinking of relations between men and women in the Church.

This article by Véronique Lossky examines the question of the priestly ministry of women in the Orthodox tradition, drawing on the World Council of Churches conference held in Bangkok in January 1996. Taking an analytical and panoramic approach, the author surveys Orthodox positions on the ordination of women, bringing together biblical sources, patristic arguments, and contemporary theological debates. She traces the institutional stages of the debate — the conferences of Agapia, Sheffield, and Rhodes — and highlights their internal contradictions. The article shows that Orthodox attitudes vary considerably depending on geographical and ecclesial contexts, ranging from fundamentalism to cautious openness. Its main contribution lies in bringing to light an Orthodox reflection that is still unfinished yet genuine, one that tends to dissociate the rejection of female priesthood from any assertion of women's inferiority, thereby opening the way for a deeper theological inquiry into the very nature of ministry.

This article by Véronique Lossky addresses the question of the place of women in the Orthodox Church through personal and theological reflection informed by informal discussions, readings, and ecumenical exchanges. The author adopts a meditative and analytical approach, deliberately setting aside the question of female priesthood as a prerequisite in order to explore more fundamental issues. She successively examines Pauline readings, the Christological and Marian role, iconographic symbolism, and liturgical typology. The article shows that the arguments invoked to maintain the status quo are more sociological and historical in nature than properly theological. Its main contribution lies in the invitation to distinguish between what belongs to historical contingency and what belongs to the theology of salvation, thus opening a space for Orthodox reflection on liturgical symbolism and the representation of the incarnate Christ.