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The ministry of a deaconess is, in modern times, a non-ordained ministry for women in some Christian churches to provide pastoral care, especially for other women. The term is also applied to some women in the early church. The word comes from a Greek word, ''diakonos'' (), for "deacon", which means a servant or helper and occurs frequently in the Christian New Testament of the Bible. Deaconesses trace their roots from the time of Jesus Christ through to the 13th century. They existed from the early through the middle Byzantine periods in Constantinople and Jerusalem; the office may also have existed in Western European churches. There is some circumstantial evidence to support the idea that the diaconate including women in the Byzantine Church of the early and middle Byzantine periods was recognized as one of the major orders of clergy. A modern resurgence of the office began among Protestants in Germany in the 1840s and spread through Scandinavia, the Netherlands, Britain and the United States. Lutherans were especially active. The modern movement reached a peak about 1910, then slowly declined as secularization undercut religiosity in Europe and the professionalization of nursing and social work offered better career opportunities for young women. A small movement still exists and its legacy is seen in numerous hospitals. Non-clerical deaconesses should not be confused with women ordained deacons such as in the Anglican churches and the Protestant Church in the Netherlands. ==Early Christian period== The oldest reference to women as deacons occurs in Paul’s letters (c. AD 55–58). Their ministry is mentioned by early Christian writers such as Clement of Alexandria.〔Commentary on 1 Corinthians 9:5, ''Stromata'' 3,6,53.3-4.〕 and Origen.〔Commentary on Romans 10:17; Migne PG XIV col. 1278 A–C.〕 Secular evidence from the early 2nd century confirms this. In a letter Pliny the Yonger attests to the role of the deaconesses. Pliny refers to "two maid-servants" as deaconesses whom he tortures to find out more about the Christians. This establishes the existence of the office of the deaconesses in parts of the eastern Roman Empire from the earliest times. Fourth-century Fathers of the Church, such as Epiphanius of Salamis,〔Migne PG 42, cols 744–745 & 824–825〕 Basil of Caesarea,〔I. Defarrari (ed.), ''Saint Basil: the Letters'', London 1930, Letter 199.〕 John Chrysostom〔Migne ''PG'' 62, col. 553.〕 and Gregory of Nyssa〔Migne PL 62, cols 988–990.〕 accept the ministry of women ordained deacons as a fact. The Didascalia of the Apostles is the earliest document that specifically discusses the role of the deacons and the deaconesses more at length. It originated in Aramaic speaking Syria during the 3rd century, but soon spread in Greek and Latin versions. In it the author urges the bishop: "Appoint a woman for the ministry of women. For there are homes to which you cannot send a male deacon to their women, on account of the heathen, but you may send a deaconess ... Also in many other matters the office of a woman deacon is required."〔Didascalia 16 § 1; G. Homer, ‘’The Didascalia Apostolorum’’, London 1929; http://www.womenpriests.org/minwest/didascalia.asp〕 The bishop should look on the man who is a deacon as Christ and the woman who is a deacon as the Holy Spirit, denoting their prominent place in the church hierarchy. The deaconesses are also mentioned in a controversial passage〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Canons of the Council of Nicea )〕 of the Council of Nicea in 325 which seems to imply their hierarchal, consecrated status; then more clearly at the Council of Chalcedon of 451 which decreed that women should not be ordained deacons until they were 40 years old. The oldest ordination rite for deaconesses is found in the 5th-century Apostolic Constitutions.〔Apostolic Constitutions VIII, 19-20; F. X. Funk, ''Didascalia et Constitutiones Apostolorum'', Paderborn 1905, 1:530.〕 It describes the laying on of hands on the woman by the bishop with the calling down of the Holy Spirit for the ministry of the diaconate. A full version of the rite, with rubrics and prayers, has been found in the Barberini Codex of 780 AD. This liturgical manual provides an ordination rite for women as deacons which is virtually identical to the ordination rite for men as deacons.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=The Ordination of Women Deacons/ Barberini gr. 336 )〕 Other ancient manuscripts confirm the same rite.〔Many texts are now online: (【引用サイトリンク】title= Grottaferrata GR Gb1 (1020 AD) ); (【引用サイトリンク】title= Vatican GR 1872 (1050 AD) ); and (【引用サイトリンク】title= Coislin GR 213 (1050 AD) )〕 A careful study of the rite has persuaded most modern scholars that the rite was fully a sacrament in present-day terms.〔R. Gryson, ''The Ministry of Women in the Early Church'', Collegeville 1976; originally ''Le ministère des femmes dans l’Église ancienne'', Gembloux 1972, esp. pp. 117–118; Y. Congar, ‘Gutachten zum Diakonat der Frau’, ''Amtliche Mitteilungen der Gemeinsamen Synode der Bistümer der Bundesrepublik Deutschlands'', Munich 1973, no 7, p. 37–41; C. Vaggagini, ‘L'Ordinazione delle diaconesse nella tradizione greca e bizantina’, ''Orientalia Christiana Periodica'' 40 (1974) 145–189 ; H. Frohnhofen, ‘Weibliche Diakone in der frühen Kirche’, ''Studien zur Zeit'' 204 (1986) 269–278; M-J. Aubert, ''Des Femmes Diacres. Un nouveau chemin pour l’Église'', Paris 1987, esp. p. 105; D. Ansorge, ‘Der Diakonat der Frau. Zum gegenwärtigen Forschungsstand’, in T.Berger/A.Gerhards (ed.), ''Liturgie und Frauenfrage'', St. Odilien 1990, pp. 46–47; A. Thiermeyer, ‘Der Diakonat der Frau’, ''Theologisch Quartalschrift'' 173 (1993) 3, 226–236; also in ''Frauenordination'', W. Gross (ed.), Munich 1966, pp. 53–63; Ch. Böttigheimer, , ‘Der Diakonat der Frau’, ''Münchener Theologische Zeitschrift'' 47 (1996) 3, 253–266; P. Hofrichter, ‘Diakonat und Frauen im kirchlichen Amt’, ''Heiliger Dienst'' 50 (1996) 3, 140–158; P. Hünermann, ‘Theologische Argumente für die Diakonatsweihe van Frauen’, in ''Diakonat. Ein Amt für Frauen in der Kirche – Ein frauengerechtes Amt?'', Ostfildern 1997, pp. 98–128, esp. p. 104; A. Jensen, ‘Das Amt der Diakonin in der kirchlichen Tradition der ersten Jahrtausend’, in ''Diakonat. Ein Amt für Frauen in der Kirche – Ein frauengerechtes Amt?'', Ostfildern 1997, pp. 33–52, esp. p. 59; D. Reininger, ''Diakonat der Frau in der einen Kirche'', Ostfildern 1999 pp. 97–98; P. Zagano, ''Holy Saturday. An Argument for the Restoration of the Female Diaconate in the Catholic Church'', New York 2000; J. Wijngaards, ''Women Deacons in the Early Church'', New York 2002, pp. 99–107.〕 Olympias, one of the closest friends and supporters of the Archbishop of Constantinople, John Chrysostom, was known as a wealthy and influential deaconess during the 5th century.〔 Justinian's legislation in the mid-6th century regarding clergy throughout his territories in the East and the West mentioned men and women as deacons in parallel. He also included women as deacons among those whose numbers he regulated for service at the Great Church of Hagia Sophia, listing men and women as deacons together, and later specifying one hundred deacons who were men and forty who were women. Evidence of continuing liturgical and pastoral roles is provided by Constantine Porphyrogenitus' 10th century manual of ceremonies (''De Ceremoniis''), which refers to a special area for deaconesses in the Hagia Sophia.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Deaconess」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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