Folk Deaconate. Reflection on the Liturgical Emancipation of Women in the Catholic Church

The article constitutes a reflection on the issue of the ordination of women, in the context of a different interpretation of the role of a priest in the liturgy of the Roman Catholic Church, with a simultaneous reference of this issue to the practice of the Old Catholic Churches. A gradual widening of the scope of the liturgical competence of the laity (first of men, and subsequently women) and the reinterpretation of the concept of ordination of the presbyterate made it possible to entrust women with certain liturgical functions which up until recently were performed by the deacons. In this way, besides the hierarchical deaconate (traditionally reserved for men, due to ordination), there emerges a de facto non-hierarchical (folk) deaconate which is accessible also to women.

The article constitutes a reflection on the issue of the ordination of women, in the context of a different interpretation of the role of a priest in the liturgy of the Roman Catholic Church, with a simultaneous reference of this issue to the practice of the Old Catholic Churches. A gradual widening of the scope of the liturgical competence of the laity (first of men, and subsequently women) and the reinterpretation of the concept of ordination of the presbyterate made it possible to entrust women with certain liturgical functions which up until recently were performed by the deacons. In this way, besides the hierarchical deaconate (traditionally reserved for men, due to ordination), there emerges a de facto non-hierarchical (folk) deaconate which is accessible also to women.