The so-called deaconesses of the Patristic Church were just the wives of Deacons. It wasn’t an ordained position, in the liturgical sense, but merely one of service. Thus, the lesbian womenpriests of some “Catholic” communities, would not be satisfied, because they want to be front and center on the altar.
“The so-called deaconesses of the Patristic Church were just the wives of Deacons. It wasnt an ordained position, in the liturgical sense, but merely one of service.”
Well, yes and no. The deaconesses in the East were either unmarried virgins over 40 or 45 or widows. They were “ordained” in a service but never taken inside the altar and had no liturgical role whatsoever. What they did was minister to sick women and children and catechise and prepare women for baptism. It seems to me that they also acted as cleaning ladies in the temples. In many senses they were like nuns but out in the world, nuns being properly in monasteries.