ORDINATION OF WOMEN DEACONS

Authors

  • Norman Tanner Professor Emeritus, Gregorian University, Rome

Keywords:

Gender, Catholic Church, Council of Chalcedon, Deacons, History, Language

Abstract

Pope Francis reopened the issue of women deacons in the Catholic church in his remarks to the meeting of heads of religious orders of women which was held in the Vatican in May this year 2016. Following this initiative, on 2 August he appointed Archbishop Luis Ladaria to head a commission of six men and six women to examine the topic “especially in the early church” and to report back to him. This short article seeks to contribute to the discussion by outlining the history of women deacons in the early church, highlighting their ordination described in canon 15 of the council of Chalcedon in 451, and looking at the historical developments following the schism between the Orthodox and Catholic churches in 1054, through the Middle Ages and down to today. The conclusion is that the Catholic church has been careful not to exclude women from one of the three grades of the sacrament of Orders, namely the diaconate.

Author Biography

Norman Tanner, Professor Emeritus, Gregorian University, Rome

Fr Norman Tanner, S.J. was member of History Faculty (1986-2003), member of Theology Faculty (1989-2003) and University Research Lecturer (1997-2003) of Oxford University, and Tutor in Church History (1978-2003), Prefect of Studies/Senior Tutor (1981-97) and Librarian (1981-2003) at Campion Hall (Hall of Oxford University). He was Lecturer (part-time) in Church History (1982-2003) at Heythrop College, London University. From 2003 to 2013 he was Professor (Ordinarius) at the Gregorian University, Rome, from 2009 to 2012 the dean of the Faculty of Church History. In 2015 he moved from Rome to become a member of the Jesuit community in Bournemouth, England. He is a leading authority on the ecumenical/general councils of the Church (Nicea I, 325, to Vatican II, 1962-5), scholar of the medieval Church and scholar in various other topics, mainly in Church History. His main publications include Heresy Trials in the Diocese of Norwich, 1428-31 (1977), The Church in Late Medieval Norwich 1370-1532 (1984), Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils, ed. (1990), The Councils of the Church: A Short History (2001), Is the Church too Asian? Reflections on the Ecumenical Councils (2002), Was the Church too Democratic? Councils, Collegiality and the Church’s Future (2003), The Church in Council: Conciliar
Movements, Religious Practice and the Papacy from Nicaea to Vatican II (2011) and New Short History of the Catholic Church (2011) and many research articles. Email: tanner@unigre.it

References

J. Neuner and J. Dupuis, ed., The Christian Faith, Bangalore: Theological Publications in India, 2004.

N. Tanner, The Councils of the Church: A Short History, New York: Herder and Crossroad, 2001.

Norman Tanner, ed., Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils, London and New York: Sheed & Ward and Georgetown University Press, 1990.

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Published

2016-06-30

How to Cite

Tanner, N. (2016). ORDINATION OF WOMEN DEACONS. Asian Horizons, 10(02), 374–377. Retrieved from https://dvkjournals.in/index.php/ah/article/view/2086

Issue

Vol. 10 No. 02 (2016): ASIAN HORIZONS

Section

Articles