Patriarch Ignatius IV of Antioch (center) and all dignitaries and participants

Maha Milke Wehbe (moderator), Despina Prassas, Dr. Marie Assaad

As part of the various programs offered during the Ecumenical Decade of Churches in Solidarity with Women, the World Council of Churches is sponsoring two conferences for Eastern and Oriental Orthodox women, the first having taken place last October 4-10 in Damascus, Syria. This conference, which brought together Orthodox women from the Middle East, Asia and Africa, was entitled “Discerning the Signs of the Times” and focused on the ministries and concerns of Eastern and Oriental Orthodox women.

Orthodox and Protestant women gather for an impromptu meeting

His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew was the host of a conference for Orthodox women entitled “Discerning the ‘Signs of the Times’ (Mt. 16:3): Women in the Life of the Orthodox Church” held in Constantinople, May 10–17, 1997.