Women in the Orthodox Church are respected and take part with men in all the liturgical life of the church. Though the Laos of the church includes both men and women, neither in the General Council nor in the Episcopal Synod do women participate. Hence those sections of the church structure where there is clear discrimination are the following:

Women are not voting members of the General Council or the Parish Assembly. Consequently, they are not officially permitted to bear office in the parochial, diocesan and central executive committees, but in a few rare cases the de facto secretary of a congregation is a woman.

a. The Orthodox Church does not allow the ordination of women, for two reasons:

Christ did not institute it.

The church follows a tradition which is considered sacred.

b. Women are discriminated against in administration of the sacraments, such as baptism. A female child cannot be baptised first in the baptismal front after the feast of "Danaha or Epiphany"; this right is reserved for a male child. Similarly, a female child will not be blessed at the altar after baptism, whereas all male children have the privilege of being taken to the Holy Place and given the holy Kiss of the Altar. Thus right from the initial stage of church life women are degraded to the status of second class citizen in the Kingdom of God on earth.

Women are not admitted to seminaries for theological education. Recently a new orientation course has been instituted in the Orthodox Theological Seminary which admits women also. This course is "Devya Bodhanam", and is of two years' duration. It is a part-time as well as a correspondence course. The syllabus includes Christian worship, study of Old and New Testament, Indian church history, etc. Out of the 205 students enrolled in the Devya Bodhanarn course 85 were women. And it is heartening to note that among the top ten best students seven are women. May this Devya Bodhanarn course be a forerunner for getting women admitted directly to Orthodox Theological Seminaries, and may it also be considered as concerted action on the part of the church to remove at least some of the restrictions placed on women.

In the early church women were given a special ministerial function in the "Deaconess" order and were allowed to assist the priest in baptism, serving sick women and orphans, visiting the sick, etc. Even though there are no theological grounds in the Orthodox Church to prevent the ordination of women to the priesthood, this is not done because there is felt to be no necessity to break the tradition of the church. Nor is there any pressing need or demand, either from men or women, for the ordination of women priests.

With full moral support from a few enlightened clergymen, around 1980 the Martha Marian Vanitha Samajarn was organized. The Holy Synod approved a constitution for the Samajarn in 1985. It has grown phenomenally since then and now the Samajan has centres not only in Kerala but throughout India, and even abroad.

Another encouraging feature of the Samajam lies in its extension work oriented towards problems, social concerns and ecumenical relations, yet it is not an autonomous working unit. It is fully controlled and supervised by the Holy Synod of the church. The president of the Samajarn is a bishop appointed by the Holy Synod, which does not sanction women's representation at this level. The Chief Executive of the Samajam, a woman, is also nominated by the Catholicos. It is a rule that the Diocesan Bishop should preside over the Diocesan meeting or Samajams committees. At the parish level a priest chairs the meetings.

Ecumenical relations have been initiated by membership in AICCW and in the Kerala Council of Churches. Its relationship with other churches through participation in ecumenical programmes is a sign of progress.

In the history of its growth the Martha Marian Samajarn has never presented protests or demands to the church hierarchy. The women in the Orthodox Church are more or less content with what they are allowed and claim no additional responsibilities, which they think would create tension and conflict within the church and among women.

The women's wing of the Orthodox Church plays no direct part in the struggle of Christian women in Kerala in matters of succession and inheritance dowry, divorce, etc., yet they participate actively and cooperate with other churches and ecumenical organizations in this respect.

There is a growing awareness among Orthodox women that discrimination against women is not just, but there is no agitation by women to gain equal rights in church administration and policy-making. This passiveness on the part of women is due to extreme internalization of the tradition and values of the Orthodox Church.

In this context it may be worthwhile to mention that neither the women's organization nor any woman member has yet put in an appeal for admission to a theological seminar, church councils or policy-making bodies.

Yet the church is increasingly aware of the just demands of its women, who constitute about 50 per cent of the total membership of the church. By organizing one-day conferences, orientation courses, leadership camps, etc., the church helps women to fulfil their due role in the church, the family and society, giving rise to a hope that women will one day be freed from all discrimination based on gender.