Women Priest in the Early Church?

[user1234]

I learned that in the early Church, women were allowed to hold the office of a deacon, although they were never ordained. Does this mean women can hold the office of priest without being ordained? I though only an ordained minister could consecrate the bread and wine and administer the sacraments. Women holding the office of priest or deacon doesn’t make sense to me.

 

[Devon_Caffran]

These links should give you the answers that you need. If you have any further questions or concerns that are not answered by this, please [contact Catholic Answers (http://www.catholic.com/home/contact.asp) directly.
**Recommended Reading:
**

• Why can’t women be ordained priests within the Catholic Church?
• There was an article in our local paper about a woman being ordained as bishop then ordaining other bishops. Is this valid?
• Does the use of the present tense in Ordinatio Sacerdotalis suggest that the Church could ordain women in the future?
• Did John Paul II’s refusal to ordain women go against his consistent teaching on the dignity of the individual person?