Eve-Mary typology and women in the Orthodox Church: Reconsidering Rhodes, The

Anglican Theological Review, Summer 2002 by FitzGerald, Kyriaki Karidoyanes

The Rhodes Symposium

It is necessary to establish this Orthodox presentation, which concerns the participation of women in the life of the Orthodox Church, within the context of the most authoritative and official response on this topic thus far, namely the Inter-Orthodox Theological Symposium held in Rhodes, Greece from October 30 to November 7, 1988. Convened by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, this symposium brought together official representatives from all the Orthodox Churches to study the topic: "The Place of Women in the Orthodox Church and the Question of the Ordination of Women." To date, this historic consultation has been our most official response on the subject. Our small group of Orthodox theologians gathered here cannot presume to speak officially beyond Rhodes. We may, however, quite possibly be offering a service to these present bilateral discussions, and perhaps to the church more generally, if we focus our attention on the conclusions of the Rhodes symposium and examine some of the implications for us today.

The symposium was organized by the Ecumenical Patriarchate in response to a request from the Third Pre-Conciliar Conference held October 28-November 6, 1986 at Chambesy, Switzerland. The conference proposed a study of "the issue of the ordination of women in order to promote the relevant Orthodox doctrine in all her dialogues with Christian Churches and confessions proceeding with the ordination of women." The fourteen autocephalous and autonomous churches were invited to send official delegates to this important event. In addition to these, there were nearly fifty other theologians invited to participate in the symposium. Of the total number of official participants, there were eighteen women theologians. Four of these presented major papers. There were also nearly a dozen authorized observers, four of whom were women.1

His Eminence Metropolitan Chrysostom Konstantinidis of Myra (now of Ephesus) adeptly presided at the Symposium in the name of the late Ecumenical Patriarch Dimitrios. As the chairman of the Patriarchate's Synodical Committee for dialogue with Non-Orthodox Churches, Metropolitan Chrysostom had been serving as a highly respected senior spokesperson for the Orthodox Church in ecumenical affairs.

The ultimate purpose of the consultation was to reflect upon a number of issues and to provide the church with a statement which would reflect, in a theological and pastoral manner, the consensus of Orthodox theologians with regard to the place of women in the church and questions associated with the ordination of women. The published report was meant to be a document which could serve the regional Orthodox churches and their theologians. At the same time, the report could provide some guidance for those Orthodox who were involved in multilateral and bilateral dialogues with other Christians.

As might be expected, much attention was paid by the symposium to express the view that the Orthodox Church could not envision the possibility of the ordination of women as presbyters or bishops. According to the official "Conclusions" of the consultation, this position was not the result of cultural and social factors, but rather is reflective of the church's understanding of Christ and of the reality of men and women. The efforts of this consultation certainly did not intend to exhaust all avenues of theological reflection under consideration. Nevertheless, the conclusions of this consultation do provide valuable perspectives and recommendations from a body formally constituted by the church. The recommendations of the symposium therefore cannot be underestimated.2

Regarding the ordination of women, the "Conclusions" of the symposium may be summarized as follows:

All fully initiated members of the church "constitute the People of God" (I: 2). All discussion of priesthood in the church must be directly related to Christ, who is the one and only priest. By virtue of their baptism, all of the faithful share in the priesthood of Christ. This general priesthood of the faithful does not preclude the reality of an ordained priesthood granted by the Lord to lead, nurture, and build up the body of believers. This apostolic ministry of episcope is granted to the Church through the sacramental priesthood. "This sacramental Priesthood, iconically presenting Christ, as the head of the body, is granted to the Church through the grace of the Holy Spirit at the sacrament of Ordination ((chi)(epsilon)(iota)(rho)(omicron)(tau)(omicron)(nu)i(alpha))wporovia) by which those being ordained are made `servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God' (1 Cor. 4:1)" (II: 6). From the very beginning, the consciousness of the Church has excluded women from participating in this "special Priesthood" (II: 7).

While men and women equally share in bearing the "image of God," the distinction which allows a few men and no women to be ordained through cheirotonia to this "special priesthood" is a result of the "order of nature." This understanding flows from the deeper understanding of the relation of men and women in the plan of salvation in Christ. This understanding is not viewed "in any case ... as a diminution of the role of women in the Church" (III: 8). Women are 11 of equal honor with men." "As such, women in the Church assume their own rules for the restoration of the distorted image of God, which are a consequence of sin" (III: 8).