In 2017, an historic step was taken by the Orthodox Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa, when he consecrated five women to be deaconesses in the Congo. On May 2, 2024, Angelic Molen of Harare, Zimbabwe, was ordained Deaconess Angelic in the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria and all Africa (the Orthodox Church in the continent of Africa). This is a giant stride for The Orthodox Church, and is inevitably controversial.
