Greek Orthodox : Clergymen Study Role for Women

The role of women in the Greek Orthodox Church, from altar girls to priests, will be reconsidered and possibly redefined, an archbishop announced Friday in Anaheim at a national conference of the church’s leaders.

Archbishop Iakovos, leader of the church’s North and South American Archdiocese, appeared at a press conference while more than 50 delegates representing an estimated 2 million members of the North and South American Synod of the Greek Orthodox Church met at the Anaheim Hilton and Towers.

Changing the role of women in the church has been debated increasingly in the Greek Orthodox Church in recent years.

Focus of Meeting

Archbishop Iakovos said that establishing an official position on women will be the focus of an international meeting which will convene in Brooklyn some time before October. The impetus for the meeting came from Dimitrios I, the denomination’s patriarch. A report completed within a month of the conference will be submitted to him and to churches throughout the country.

“I’m surprised, but I’m also glad,” Iakovos said. “The position of women in the church must be defined in very clear terms. We are the most conservative church, more so than the Catholics.”

Some people view the issue as a political one of equal rights for women, he said. Others consider it a spiritual issue and argue that anyone--male or female--who feels called to the priesthood should be allowed to serve.

“There are some women who can preach better than some men,” the archbishop declared.

How the Greek Orthodox view themselves also is changing, Iakovos said. Instead of viewing themselves as Greek Americans, he said, church members are beginning to view themselves as Americans with Greek ancestry.

“I see that day coming, but I don’t know when,” he said. “I have mixed feelings about it.”

Growing in County

In Orange County, the Greek Orthodox community has grown in recent years, according to Father George Stephanides of St. Paul’s Greek Orthodox Church in Irvine.

One of the newer denominations in Orange County, the Greek Orthodox number about 15,000. Aside from St. Paul’s, there are churches in Anaheim, Garden Grove, La Habra and Tustin.

Stephanides said that his church has grown from 57 families eight years ago to 525 families now. Most of the increase was the result of community growth, but the church has seen more converts.

“I feel it is becoming very indigenous, very strong and very outward moving,” Stephanides said. “The potential is there, and hopefully united with other colleagues, we’ll have an impact on the religious and moral life of the community.”

Archbishop Iakovos Friday also discussed Pope John Paul II’s visit to the United States next September. He said he hopes that the Pope’s visit will inspire unity among Christians.

“We’ve inflicted the divisions, and the motives for the splits are not religious, but political,” he said. “I don’t think that church unity can be accomplished unless we direct our interest in religious persuasion that brings us together. Christ is calling from His cross to all of us to accept Him together.”

While he spoke, three Greek Orthodox groups met simultaneously--the delegates of the Archdiocesan Council, the Synod of Bishops, meeting in the West for the first time, and the National Philoptochos, the women’s organization.

“Meeting at the same time gives us a feeling of strength,” said Akrevoe Emmanouilides, a spokeswoman for the church.