One of the titles given to Mary Magdalene by the Eastern Orthodox Church is Iσαπόστολος, isapostolos in Greek, aequalis apostolis in Latin, which, translates into English as Equal to the Apostles.
Another case is Saint Phoebe (1st century) who was a deaconess of the Church. Phoebe was commended to the congregation of Rome by St. Paul, who praised her for her assistance to him. According to tradition delivered the Epistle to Romans to the congregation, her feast day is 3 September
A third example is Saint Macrina the Younger, the elder sister of Saint Basil who served her community as a deaconess.
Finally, the life of Saint Melania the Younger a contemporary of Macrina founded numerous orphanages, hospices, and served as a deaconess,
I would humbly assert that Mary's designation and the work of these women and many others in the early church are sufficient reasons to warrant the full ordination and participation of women within the Roman Catholic Church. Furthermore, this position is consistent with the Jewish customs and mores that are the foundation for Christianity, traditions that recognized the feminine aspect of the Divine Presence exemplified by the Shekhinah.
The 2010 revisions made to Normae de gravioribus delictis, which ratified and reaffirmed the General Decree: regarding the delict of attempted sacred ordination of a woman, issued by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith on 19 December 2007.
The more grave delict of the attempted sacred ordination of a woman is also reserved to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith:
1° with due regard for can. 1378 of the Code of Canon Law, both the one who attempts to confer sacred ordination on a woman, and she who attempts to receive sacred ordination, incurs a latae sententiae excommunication reserved to the Apostolic See.
2° If the one attempting to confer sacred ordination, or the woman who attempts to receive sacred ordination, is a member of the Christian faithful subject to the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, with due regard for can. 1443 of that Code, he or she is to be punished by major excommunication reserved to the Apostolic See.
3° if the guilty party is a cleric he may be punished by dismissal or deposition
The position adopted by the Roman Catholic Church, flies in the faces of history and contravenes the positions adopted by the earliest communities.
19 July, 2010
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