The ministry of women from an orthodox point of view
Article summary proposed by the Contacts review with LLM assistance
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 has not been translated yet — it is available in its French version here.
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