Posted on 09/29/2016 6:39:18 PM PDT by marshmallow
Nearly two months after Pope Francis instituted a commission to study women and the diaconate, L’Osservatore Romano has published an article on deaconesses and the early Church.
Carlo Carletti, an archaeology professor at the University of Bari, said that the starting point for any examination of the topic is Romans 16:1, in which St. Paul refers to “our sister Phoebe, a deaconess.”
Of the 30 inscriptions that refer to deaconesses, said Carletti, 25 have been found in Asia Minor (in modern-day Turkey).
Carletti attributes this geopraphical concentration to the legacy of St. Paul, who included women in his missionary activity. In the West, on the other hand, “the diaconal ministry … remained constantly a male prerogative.”
Sulle tracce delle diaconesse (L’Osservatore Romano, p. 4)
Back to the apostolic church as recorded in the New Testament?
Sadly you are correct these things do not happen in isolation to inform and then act accordingly (or not). Rather they are done in an attempt to lay the groundwork for the type of change that will alienate a lot of people. The groundwork is done in the hope of minimizing the damage and garnering support from outside sources like the media to put pressure on the faithful to accept what might have been seen as unacceptable not many years back. We are not being reminded by James 4:4 “You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.”
This is not going to end well.
Prayers up for holy Mother Church. I pray that souls are not lost because of this stuff.
Trial balloon for female priests?
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