WOMEN IN THE CHURCH: SOME CURRENT ISSUES IN PERSPECTIVE
BISHOP CHRYSOSTOMOS OF OREOI
(now Archbishop Chrysostomos of Etna)
Published in The Greek Orthodox Theological Review, Vol. 34, No. 2 (1989)
Dr. Harrison's study begins by noting that the six problems
which she classifies constitute an impediment to women who might
wish to enter the Orthodox Church and, for both potential converts
and women already in the Church, sometimes occasional "mental anguish"
and "spiritual crisis." [2] One must appreciate these matters from a pastoral
standpoint. But they are just that: "pastoral." We must not go "beyond" them.
The ultimate concern in understanding the role of women in the Orthodox
Church is theological. Women enter into the Church for a single purpose:
that of joining themselves to the salvific life of its Mysteries. Any
human being, man or woman, must focus, above all things, as
Father John Romanides has so strikingly noted, on the Christian's
constant, two-sided struggle against evil and for selfless love, in
the course of which we are joined to Christ and to his triumphant
renewal of the human soul and psyche. [3] This applies both to men
and women in the Church and to those about to enter it.
This article by Archbishop Chrysostomos of the Synod in Resistance is worth reading as it counters the liberal feminist agenda, which often pits women against men and vice versa.
Please read and discuss.
