On Sunday, December 8, 2024, the Women in Orthodoxy Engagement Committee of the Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate (AEP) presented a webinar, “The History of the Archons in America & Women Archons — Past, Present & Future.” This insightful and illuminating webinar discussed the origins and evolution of the Archons from classical Athenian times through the Byzantine Empire; the founding of the Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in America; and Women Archons: Past, Present and Future. Hosted by Women in Orthodoxy Engagement Committee Chair Archon Cary J. Limberakis, DMD and Vice Chair Professor Elizabeth H. Prodromou, PhD, the session’s featured presenters included Archons George Demacopoulos, PhD; Aristotle Papanikolaou, PhD; and John Fotopoulos, PhD.
Dr. Anthony J. Limberakis, National Commander of the AEP, stated that the webinar was “absolutely outstanding. Dr. Cary Limberakis, Prof. Prodromou and panelists and distinguished professors Archons Dr. Demacopoulos, Dr. Fotopoulos and Dr. Papanikolaou deserve the deep gratitude of us all. Did you know that women Archons served the church for some 300 years, from roughly 800 to 1000 AD, and that the Roman Emperor Diocletian, known for his ruthless slaughter of Christians, was the one who actually established the Roman Empire’s administrative offikia, which were carried into the Byzantine Empire and the Ecumenical Patriarchal Court and are used today when His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew selects the individual offikion for each newly invested Archon? Without question, each academic presentation enlightened the participants with pearls of our ecclesial DNA. Bravo and kudos to one and all!”
As the webinar began, Dr. Prodromou stated that “We have decided to start the public webinar series of the engagement committee on Women In Orthodoxy on the topic for tonight for the simple reason that there has been a lot of conversation in diverse fora, in public fora, in smaller groups within the Archons themselves, and in the Church more fully, on how to advance and support the fullest mode of participation of women in order to make us a fuller, more dynamic, vibrant Church. And so the issue of women Archons is a topic that has generated an enormous amount of interest, and which fits, we believe, with supporting the mission of the Archons, which is to defend the Ecumenical Patriarchate to advance the question of religious freedom, to advance the freedom of conscience, belief and religion for all Orthodox Christians and for all peoples in the world.”
Dr. Demacopoulos explained, as Archon Commander Dr. Anthony Limberakis noted, that the tradition of honoring Archons goes back to Roman Emperor Diocletian, 280 years after the birth of Jesus. Dr. Fotopoulos explained titles of honor that were given to women as well as to men, as well as one that was given solely to distinguished women. Closer to our own age, he discussed how Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras recognized several women as Archondissas. Dr. Fotopoulos concluded that for women Archons, “we have a Byzantine precedent and we have a bit of a modern precedent for it, so when we talk about the possibility of recognizing women in our modern day as Archons, it is not an innovation. It is not something new that some liberal Archons are pulling out of the sky; it’s something that is a part of our tradition.”
Dr. Cary Limberakis provided a history of the modern AEP in America. Then Dr. Papanikolaou outlined examples of women being recognized as Archons in the early centuries of the Church, and pointed out: “Through those historical examples of women Archons and women deacons, for centuries we see actually the Church being countercultural at the time.” He concluded that “there is no good theological reason to not expand and increase the leadership roles of women in the Church, including the deacons and definitely the Archons.”
