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Article: Some amazing ideas in those old canons. (influence of deacons; ordination of women deacons)(Column)
- Article from:
- National Catholic Reporter
- Article date:
- November 15, 1996
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1996 National Catholic Reporter. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Recently in a college course on the 21 ecumenical councils, my students and I were perusing the canons of the first seven councils of the Great Church, the only ones mutually recognized by both the Greek East and Latin West. We were looking for canonical regulations that might be of interest to Christians today.
What my students first found interesting was canon 18 of the Council of Nicaea, the church's first ecumenical council, in 325:
It has come to the attention of this holy and great synod that in some places and cities deacons give communion to presbyters, although neither canon nor custom allows this, namely that those who have no authority to ...