In Rom 16:1 and 16:7, St. Paul introduces Phoebe, a woman deacon and Junia, an apostle. If there were women priests in the early Catholic Church, why not allow women priesthood now?

Neither Phoebe nor Junia were priests or bishops. The reason these holy women of the early Church are brought up with regards to this particular debate usually comes from a confusion of terms and ambiguity in language.

The exact Greek word which is used to identify Phoebe is diakonos, which is where we get the word “deacon” from, but in Paul’s time meant something else. Diakonos originally meant “servant” or “attendant,” and the word was used by Paul very commonly to refer to any disciple who served the community, not necessarily one who was commissioned as (what we now call) an ordained deacon. Paul even applies the term to himself in places like 2 Corinthians 6:4. So when Phoebe is called a diakonos, Paul is saying that she is a servant to the community. The term diakonos would not be used specifically for the role of the deacon until roughly a few decades later (give-or-take).

The mention of Junia in verse 7 is a little obscure. Some manuscripts give the name as Julia, and others give it as Junias, which is actually a male name. So the exact circumstances of this person are unknown. However, that is beside the point. This is also a bit of a confusion over the use of the term “apostle.” The Twelve Apostles were the original bishops of the Church, that is absolutely true. However, the term “apostle” was also used as a common name for other prominent missionaries in the early Church including Paul, Barnabas, and Timothy. The word apostolos simply means “messenger” or “one who is sent.” Later on, it came to be more closely identified with the role of the bishop (who is a successor to the Twelve Apostles), but Paul and the other New Testament authors didn’t use the word to mean “bishop” or “priest.” In fact, even today we celebrate St. Mary Magdalen (who was not a priest) as the Apostola Apostolorum, or the “Apostle to the Apostles,” because she was the one who gave them the good news of Christ’s Resurrection.

There is no solid evidence that women ever were ordained in the early Church except by schismatic groups; however, there is very clear scriptural evidence that some women led early Christian communities (which would include the women mentioned here, Phoebe and Junia, as well as others like the “chosen lady” of 2 John and Priscilla together with her husband Aquila). In the first few centuries of the Church, there is some cursory evidence that women took on a “deacon-like” role, but they were not ordained. They helped clothe adult women after their baptism (which back then was usually done by the bishop), and they had male counterparts who helped clothe adult men after their baptism. Baptism was done by full immersion, so the presence of an assistant to help clothe the newly baptized woman was mostly a matter of protecting the baptized woman’s modesty.

This shouldn’t be seen as a discouragement–we actually have several other articles which explore more about the role and dignity of women in the Church! These two articles are a good place to start: one and two. The fact that women are not ordained is not a statement about the dignity of women. Try checking out these other articles to explore this question more!