Tens of thousands of women served as fully ordained deacons in Catholic parishes during ten long centuries. Some of them ministered in Italy and Gaul, but the vast majority lived and worked in Greece, Asia Minor, Syria, Palestine and Egypt. At that time the Orthodox East was still part of the Catholic Church.
INTRODUCTION |
HISTORY |
ORDINATION EAST |
ORDINATION WEST |
DISCUSSION |
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Evidence for women deacons and the tasks they undertook | Records of women deacons and their names | Manuscripts of ordination rites in Greek/Byzantine tradition | Manuscripts from western Europe and evidence for the existence of women deacons | Recent articles and news items | ||||
Video Presentations |
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Ordained women deaconsTens of thousands of ordained women deacons served in parishes during the first millennium. |
Ministries in the WestWomen exercised a variety of ministries in North Africa and in different regions of Western Europe. |
The Tasks of Women DeaconsWomen deacons fulfilled pastoral functions at baptism, communion and anointing of the sick. |