The priesthood of women and the ecumenical movement

This article by Vladimir Zelinsky examines the decision of the Anglican Synod to open priestly ordination to women and its repercussions on the ecumenical movement. Adopting an analytical and theological approach, the author situates this decision within a twofold process of secularisation and traditionalist retrenchment running through all Christian communities. The central idea is that the ordination of women, far from being an internal matter for Anglicanism, undermines the achievements of interconfessional dialogue, notably a century of Anglo-Orthodox rapprochement. On the theological level, Zelinsky develops an Orthodox ecclesiology founded on the complementarity of the Petrine and Marian vocations, distinguishing between priesthood and feminine dignity. He proposes the restoration of the female diaconate as a preventive response to the feminist challenge, and concludes that only dialogue between Rome and Orthodoxy can offer a way forward for the contemporary ecumenical movement.