Father Mark Morozowich, dean and associate professor, liturgical studies and sacramental theology, was interviewed by America about deaconesses and the role of women in the Catholic Church.
..."The community established and honed various rituals and key among them is baptism. From very early on we have witnesses of baptism by immersion and some of our earliest churches had rather large baptismal fonts. For the sake of propriety and modesty, as well as the protection of women, men were not to assist in the complete immersion baptism to avoid leering. Caring for women in these key ways eventually led to a formal office of the deaconess."...
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