UNITED STATES
Religion Dispatch
By PHYLLIS ZAGANO
Ordination of Women to the Diaconate in the Eastern Churches: Essays by Cipriano Vagaggini
by Phyllis Zagano
Liturgical Press , 2013
What inspired you to produce Ordination of Women to the Diaconate in the Eastern Churches?
For many years, my academic research has centered on the restoration of women to the ordained diaconate in the Catholic Churches. One of the best-known scholarly essays regarding the historical reality of women ordained as deacons is by Cipriano Vagaggini, published in Orentialia Christiana Periodica.
Reportedly Pope Paul VI asked Vagaggini, in the early 1970s, about women deacons. The Catholic Church was restoring the diaconate as a permanent vocation for men, and the pope asked the logical question: could women be ordained to this sacred order as well? Vagaggini gave the long form—15,000 words—of the short answer: “yes.” But, he gave it in very difficult Italian. So while scholars knew about the essay, Vatican officialdom could basically ignore it.
I often mentioned it when I spoke, and a few years ago a woman wrote a diocesan bishop and included the essay in Italian. He wrote back to say that he read Italian and the essay did not support the ordination of women as deacons.
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