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Questionable Vatican Advisor Makes Questionable Claims About "Deaconesses"

Women served in the first millennium as deacons “in sacramental roles,” Phyllis Zagano claimed in front of a gullible AmericaMagazine.org (January 15).

Zagano is a dissident American theologian and advocate for "deaconesses". Nevertheless, Pope Francis appointed her to a commission on female deacons that finished its work in June.

She mentions alleged "sacramental" activities such as anointing ill women and female Catechumens, [allegedly] bringing Holy Communion to ill women, and inspecting the body of women beaten by their husbands.

However, old sources like the “Apostolic Constitution” (4th century) point out that "a deaconess does not bless, nor perform anything belonging to the office of priests or deacons” but has “to minister to the priests in the baptizing of women on account of decency”.

Further, Zagano makes the wrong statement that ordination ceremonies for deaconesses were "identical" to the ordination ceremonies deacons.

But the prayers of the ordination of deacons referred to Saint Stephen, while those of deaconess referred to Phoebe. Only the prayer of the former includes a petition that he may go on to the priesthood and episcopacy.

Deaconess of the first century are comparable to social or administrative helpers in a parish.

Picture: © Episcopal Diocese of Southwest Florida CC BY, #newsEqgevtkdth
Lisi Sterndorfer
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Amdg@bex.net
Lisi Sterndorfer
So we had a Commision on the female diaconate. Why not ones on other archialogical anomalies: Bishopless ordinations? Presbyter lead diocese? Masses without the Consecration?
De Profundis
"Having women in the diaconate will make the Catholic clergy kinder and gentler." How many kind and gentle feminists have you met?
Tesa
Here is an Explanation, why not
dwightlongenecker.com/catholic-women-…
Tesa
There is no evidence of women deacons in Rome but many in the "Nestorian' Church".
Lalanz
Hell is hot, pray for them
Сім'я під Покровом Богородиці
Unless you repent, you will perish! (Lk 13:3) (Open letter to the Bishops of Germany)
January 9, 2019

Dear Bishops of Germany,
at this historic time, make a true diagnosis of the state of German theology and admit the disastrous fruits it has borne for both the Church and the world. We witness mass apostasy from the living faith and the spread of heresies denying the very essence of Christ’s …More
Unless you repent, you will perish! (Lk 13:3) (Open letter to the Bishops of Germany)

January 9, 2019


Dear Bishops of Germany,

at this historic time, make a true diagnosis of the state of German theology and admit the disastrous fruits it has borne for both the Church and the world. We witness mass apostasy from the living faith and the spread of heresies denying the very essence of Christ’s teachings. The consequence is a gross violation of moral principles and God’s commandments. In other words, it is a suicidal process for which the ground was prepared by German theology.

A true prognosis states: Christianity on the territory of Germany will not be preserved without adequate repentance. Especially You, German bishops, must repent on Your own behalf, particularly for having gradually replaced orthodox doctrine by heresies. Only after You repent, there can be a true re-evangelization and re-Christianization of apostate Christianity which has already merged with the spirit of the world.

The true diagnosis must point out again the reality of sin and the source of lies and evil in us – i.e. original sin. Without admitting the reality of sin, a spiritually blind person is unable to see the need of salvation and rejects the Savior.

The biggest obstacle to true repentance and true restoration of the Church today is Francis. He holds the highest office in the Church, but instead of protecting the faith and morals he covers up heresies and homosexual crimes and breaks moral principles (Amoris Laetitia).

Archbishop Viganò, the former US nuncio, courageously pointed out this terrible reality and called on Francis to resign. However, Francis and his adherents are not willing to resign voluntarily.

St. Basil the Great urges the believers not to obey a false shepherd, and he quotes the words of Jesus: “They do not know the voice of a stranger, but will flee from him.” As for heretics, St. Basil says: “They traffic in Christ, and I do not regard such men as bishops. We flee from them – heretics – and declare an anathema on them.

Francis has been called to resign, but unless the whole self-destructive system of the Church is replaced by a new one leading to restoration, the process of spiritual suicide will continue.

Dear bishops of Germany, be aware that in case the process of restoration starts, You cannot be involved in it unless You repent of the spiritual poison of heresies and the promotion of immorality.

A few years ago, Zollitsch, President of the German Bishops’ Conference, uttered a ‘haeresis maxima’ on Holy Saturday, saying that Christ did not die for our sins but rather to show solidarity with those who suffer. How is it possible that Zollitsch was not called to repent in public? If he refused to do so, he should be expelled from the Church.

Let us ask You an essential question: If You fail to lead the believers to salvation, what is the point of Your whole Bishops’ Conference? You have no right to call Yourselves Christians or the Church because You are spiritual criminals and spiritual murderers! And the greatest tragedy is that You are spiritually blind so much that You are no longer able to see it.

As things stand at present, You are excluded from the Church, with honorable exceptions, in accordance with Gal 1:8-9 and the Papal Bull of Paul IV Cum Ex Apostolatus Officio. If anyone of You, Bishops of Germany, does not show true repentance before the Lord, he will be eternally condemned in the hour of death!

If in this state of spiritual death the German Bishops’ Conference wanted to introduce any “restoration” systems (e.g. to abolish the papacy or to promote their candidates), it would only be to Your own spiritual detriment and to the detriment of the Church. The words of Jesus are entirely addressed to You: “Unless you repent, you will all perish!” (Lk 13:3)

(Continued in Appendix 1 and 2)

Open letter to the Bishops of Germany

Appendix 1: The essence of liberal theology

Fifty years ago, a spiritual adviser in a theological seminary compared German theology and its speculation to a dissecting room where doctors mess about with corpses. They dissect every detail but there is no life there anymore. Fifty years later, we can see that the spiritual adviser from Litomerice gave a true assessment of German theology. Its fruits concerning the faith and morals are gradual disintegration of the whole Church and, in addition, total loss of common sense. Today, an ordinary citizen of Germany knows that Islamization is the suicide of Europe, but the members of the German Bishops’ Conference are so blind that they cannot see it. Moreover, they support Islamization both by agitation and financially. Even treacherous politicians have already started to restrict this suicidal policy to some extent; however, the members of the German Bishops’ Conference, following the example of Francis, stop at nothing and continue to promote it.

It is a crime crying out to heaven that Card. Marx promotes same-sex marriages in churches! Under communist regime in Germany, the communists would have him placed in a madhouse along with the whole current Bishops’ Conference of Germany. This Bishops’ Conference does not have the Spirit of Christ but the spirit of antichrist, and the fruits testify to it.

First of all, ask Yourselves if You have the saving faith at all. If You only believe in some higher power like the Illuminati, pagans or Satanists and You think it is enough, be aware that “even the demons believe – and tremble”(Jam 2:19). Such faith or academic Christianity, i.e. speculation about various theological formulas or intellectual disputes which do not lead to repentance, is not sufficient for salvation.

Your theology is a spiritual poison which poisons even the souls of those who have been sincerely converted, abandoned the world and decided to follow Christ. A student of Bultmann, Prof. Eta Linnemann, speaks about a shocking assumption which forms the basis of Your theological science: “the reality of God is excluded from consideration from the start” – “ut si Deus non daretur”.

“We have put generation after generation of believing Christian young people, who were willing and eager to serve God, through this fire, sacrificing them to the Moloch of an atheistic theology. The result has been generation after generation of misguided guides. When will we become converted at last and leave this idolatry? … If anyone follows this way of godlessness, he is no longer free in his decisions; there is something or someone that forces him. One has to do with demonic powers which hold sway over everyone who follows this way.

Human pride refuses to bow before the mystery of God; therefore all heresies attack the mystery of the hypostatic union, i.e. the mystery of the Son of God who became man to deliver us from sin.

How do liberal heretics hatch?

A simple boy joins the seminary. If he had received his faith from his parents or from a Christian community, now during theological study his faith is ridiculed, labeled as primitive, and he has it instilled in his mind that from now on he must keep abreast of theological thinking. Human pride is exploited and becomes the basis for the whole of this “theology”. The saving faith is completely removed by ridicule. The student is then trained in applying methods which make him immune to truth, develop a self-defense system in the soul against the Holy Spirit and, on the contrary, fully open it to the spirit of pride and lies.

Who specifically are the famous German theologians? What are the fruits of their speculations? Mass conversions of unbelievers? No! Defense of the fundamental truths of faith? No! So what is their fruit? Deep internal decay, undermined Christian beliefs and corrupted morals. However, they see to it that they give an air of erudition, or even profound spirituality. In fact, they have the spirit of lies and death. The more famous a liberal theologian, the greater an atheist or heretic he is, in fact!

Liberal theologians and liberal bishops are people who have cast aside the foundation of a personal relationship to God, namely interior prayer! They do not love the truth; on the contrary, they hate it. They do not have a shred of true self-criticism, i.e. true repentance, because of their pride. They have no experience of spiritual battle against sin which takes place in us and around us. They do not follow Christ, for they regard it as foolishness. “They live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things (aggiornamento).” (Phi 3:18-19) Dear German bishops, Your concern is neither Christ nor the salvation of souls but Your own career and glory.

You, so-called religious professionals, have nothing in common with the program of a normal Christian life. Your predecessors in the time of Christ had the same spirit; they were divided into Sadducees, Pharisees, scribes and a caste of high priests. In the end, they all crucified Christ together. Today, the members of Your ‘conference caste’ likewise are going to hell, dragging the believers along with them and crucifying Christ in human souls.

Your theological philosophizing will not prepare anyone for a happy hour of death, God’s judgment and eternity. On the contrary, it robs the soul of faith and salvation.

The advancement of liberalism is the fruit of Vatican II.

Liberal theologians take seriously the old self and ego rather than God. What does St. Paul say about the old self? We know that our old self was crucified with Christ so that the body of sin (soma tés hamartias) might be done away with. (Rom 6:6) Liberal theologians, however, neither preach nor understand this biblical attitude and this truth, because they do not have the light of God. The Gospel does not fit their requirements and the New Testament is much to their disgust because they refuse to accept deliverance in the crucifixion of the old self. They themselves crucify God anew.

Those who have the saving faith have an incentive to deny their pride and unchastity, and to present their members to God in total self-surrender as instruments of righteousness (Rom 6). This is the essence of deliverance in Christ. Abraham is the model for us; the Scripture points to his faith. He was ready to sacrifice his son Isaac. He was ready to completely renounce his own will, and this faith is set as an example to us in the Epistle to the Romans. True deliverance lies in spiritual crucifixion with Christ. The source of evil – original sin or the old self – was and through an actual faith is crucified in me, and thus the body of sin is paralyzed (cf. Rom 6:6). This is related to the words of Christ: “Whoever loses his soul for My sake and the Gospel’s will save it.” (Mk 8:35)

Liberal theology practically excludes the living God, and hence also the relationship to Him. Moreover, it excludes the reality of original sin in us, the reality that we are its slaves (Rom 6:18-21).

Liberalism is centered on the idol of false humanism. The focus is on adoring the old self. Liberals worship human ego with its pride and tendency to moral degradation. They kill Christ in the souls.

This theology shapes public opinion in the Church in such a way that the reality of the old self in us, or the reality of sin in general, must not even be mentioned. It is completely one with the old self. In line with this theology, even the Law of God must submit to the old self (e.g. Francis has called on the Church to apologize to homosexuals). What place does the Lord Jesus have in this theology? He has no place there! This is no theology but demonology.

Open letter to the Bishops of Germany

Appendix 2: The post-conciliar spirit and spiritual schizophrenia

The post-conciliar spirit

100 years ago, St. Pius X radically opposed Modernism in the Church. About a third of professors and students had to be expelled from seminaries because their minds were poisoned by this spirit. It led to a healthy revival under the motto: “To restore all things in Christ!” Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus through the so-called First Fridays helped restore the Spirit of truth and repentance. However, during the interwar period, Neomodernism spread through the Protestant theologian R. Bultmann and his followers. The spirit of heresy was eagerly adopted even by Catholic theologians in Germany (Tübingen). World War II broke out and soon after, one of the adherents of Modernism, Angelo Roncalli, was elected, or rather strings were pulled for him to be elected Pope. He promptly summoned a Council and appointed like-spirited theologians its moderators. The Council’s motto and program was so-called aggiornamento (adaptation to the world). John XXIII was shown the third Fatima secret which warned against the terrible decay of the Church. John XXIII ridiculed it.

Though John XXIII coined a phrase a new Pentecost at the Council, his actions showed the opposite. The spirit of the world (aggiornamento) gradually expelled the Holy Spirit from the Church. If the Council had introduced a program of true repentance – which is a prerequisite for the receiving of the Holy Spirit in fullness as the Apostles received Him on the Day of Pentecost – it would have resulted in worldwide mission aimed at converting Buddhists, Hindus and Muslims to Christ. The agenda of the Council – aggiornamento and the Nostra Aetate declaration – did the opposite: it launched a process of self-destruction and paved the way for pagan mission in the Church and in the Christian territories (yoga, Zen, oriental meditation, inter-religious dialogue instead of mission…).

Instead of condemning heresies, the Council was silent on them, and thus approved them! That was why after the Council heresies penetrated into all faculties of theology as a new teaching! Silent legalization of Neomodernism is the greatest crime of the Council! Another crime is the promotion of syncretism with paganismthrough the Nostra Aetate declaration! Christ’s redemptive death on the cross was placed on a level with the pagan worship of demons! This marked a historical and tragic turning point in the Church.

The post-conciliar reforms did not turn people’s hearts to God. They did turn the altars along with the celebrants but instead of facing God they now stand with their backs to Him. The process of secularization intensified. Heresies created a new sentire cum ecclesia. In that period of slipping down the slope into self-destruction, German theology played a major role as it de facto created unity with Bultmann’s heresies. The saving faith and a living relationship to God were eliminated under the guise of historical-critical science. God’s commandments were relativized.

Spiritual schizophrenia

Before the Council, the Mystical Body of Christ and the external structure of the Church were one. But not so after the Council. What is the root of this post-conciliar schizophrenia? Liberal theologians with their heresies denying Christ’s Divinity, His redemptive death on the cross, His real and historical resurrection, and Divine inspiration of the Scriptures made their way to the highest positions in the Church structure.

The Mystical Body of Christ is made up of the believers united in the orthodox teaching and in the saving faith in Christ. When heresies disturb this unity, the result is spiritual schizophrenia. When the external Church structure adopts a spirit of heresy, it abuses Church authority against Christ and His Mystical Body. It no longer provides the means of salvation for the souls, but rather does the opposite. Church authority no longer defends but rather destroys dogmatic and moral truths.

The uniqueness of salvation in Christ has ceased to be the center of orthodoxy. Theories of anonymous Christianity, reverence for paganism, universal brotherhood, so-called interreligious peace meetings in the spirit of Assisi (1986) … these are methods for the destruction of Christianity. The true saving faith consists only in receiving the God-given Savior, Jesus Christ, through conversion and repentance.

Heretical theology has excluded the living God and put the idol of ego or the so-called old self at its center. Apostate Christianity readily establishes unity with paganism in the spirit of Assisi. The consequence is, among other things, a vindication of sodomy (Card. Marx promotes gay marriages; Bergoglio kisses the feet of transsexuals; the 2018 Synod of Bishops on Youth covertly legalized LGBTQ…).

The new sentire cum ecclesia eliminates conscience and leads the believers to hell by virtue of obedience!

This process of self-destruction in the present-day Church escalates and assumes a monstrous form under Francis. The German Bishops’ Conference is in unity with Bergoglio and his program. This is a heretical body in the Church! This spirit manifested itself already during the visit of Benedict XVI to Germany. Most of the members of the heretical body of bishops did not shake the Pope’s hand, which they could have done at least for decency’s sake. If by the intervention of God the Church went through a process of restoration, the German Bishops’ Conference is ready to provoke a schism and to stand at the forefront! Is that true or not? Hand on your heart!

Mass spread of heresies at all theological schools can be likened to madness. It is as if agricultural production is reduced to growing pests. The result will be famine! This is the exact picture of the heretical teachings of German theology.

May the following event from post-revolutionary Russia be a reproach to Bergoglio and the homosexual network: Revolutionaries with an angry mob broke into a monastery. Raging and shouting, they blamed the monks for treason. They called them drunkards and bourgeois who lived like parasites at the expense of the working people. They told them to make a choice: they would either renounce Christ or be cut to pieces on the spot. After hearing those words, the superior of the monastery, with a swollen face and a red nose, said: “Well, brothers, we lived like pigs, so let us at least die as Christians.” And all of them died martyrs that day. A simple way of repentance – the superior did not try to justify himself; on the contrary, he admitted his sin of alcoholism and said: we lived like pigs. What should Bergoglio and the hierarchs in the homosexual network say? “We lived a worse life than pigs; we lived like demons, so let us at least now honestly resign from the highest church positions and repent, lest death should throw us into hell.”

In August 2018, thanks to a heroic step of Archbishop Viganò, Francis was called to resign along with the entire homosexual network in the highest places in the Church. God Himself intervened through Viganò; however, Francis referred to him as the devil.

The Byzantine Catholic Patriarchate, before God and before the Church, calls on all bishops and cardinals emeriti: Become aware of the reality of imminent death and God’s judgment, and make at least a minimal effort to save the Church. You have been cowardly silent so far; so now do publicly take sides with Archbishop Viganò. You have nothing to lose on earth, but You can lose eternal life because of Your cowardice!

The Patriarchate hereby also addresses the German bishops: Dear members of the Bishops’ Conference, You promote heresies and immorality under the leadership of the heretic Card. Marx. Since You are apostates, Your celebration of the Liturgy and administration of the sacraments is without force, and being spiritually blind You are heading for hell and dragging masses of deceived souls along with You! Repent of Your devilish pride!

+ Elijah

Patriarch of the Byzantine Catholic Patriarchate

+ Methodius OSBMr + Timothy OSBMr

Secretary Bishops

vkpatriarhat.org/en/