Syria’s National Evangelical Synod decided to appoint the first female priest in the Arab world, as they inaugurated Rola Soliman in her religious position last February.
Soliman said that she started her service in the center of the Lebanese city of Tripoli nine years ago, saying that she was delivering weekly sermons in the Evangelical churches on Sunday. She added that she was performing the different jobs of priests except the jobs related the Holy Sacraments, including baptism and Lord's Supper.
She added that she originally studied theology, and later obtained a preaching degree, adding that the decision to appoint her as a priest came upon the will of people of Tripoli to be the first woman taking this religious position. She added that the Evangelical Synod waited the suitable time to take this unprecedented step in both Lebanon and Syria.
She continued, “The decision came upon a secret voting process in which 24 members of the synod participated. 23 members voted for her, as most of them were men.” She added that the result was surprising for her, saying that she did not expect to gain a lot of votes.
She added that the inauguration of priests in the Evangelical Church are different from the other churches, saying that the Evangelical Church allows the inauguration of married persons in this religious position. However, she said, the church’s sheikhs should be elected by the church’s people upon the period of their service.