The Church of England will progress with plans to consecrate women as bishops and will not include traditionalist ’safeguards’ such as allowing male ’super-bishops’ to cater for those opposed to the change.
Traditionalists argue that the sucession of bishops should be entirely male because there were no female disciples. Some cautioned last night that the decision, to be declared at the General Synod today, will lead to many priests and worshippers leaving.
The Bishop of Manchester, the Right Rev Nigel McCulloch (pictured), will tell the General Synod at Church House, Westminster, that the the debate will be adjourned until July, when the synod will meet in York, but that endeavors to safeguard traditionalists’ wishes for a ‘church within a church’ to look after opponents of women priests have failed.
The Synod’s Catholic Group has said it is ‘deeply disappointed and dismayed’ by the Bishop of Manchester’s comments, sent to them in advance yesterday.
Spokesman Martin Dales, of the York diocese, said: ‘We believe that the vast majority of ordinary members of the Church of England would not want to see the consecration of women to the episcopate as the trigger for the exclusion from the church of a large number of faithful Anglicans.’
He added: ‘If the committee refuses to provide an alternative source of episcopal oversight for those who cannot accept the jurisdiction and sacramental ministry of a woman bishop, and General Synod follows the same course, then those who hold to the traditional teaching of the Church must either leave or sacrifice their consciences. We cannot believe that is just or right – not only with respect to those who have reservations about the ordination of women, but for the sake of the missino and unity of the whole of the Church of England.’
He said: ‘Across the country there are thousands of people who cuold leave over this, a lot of them irregular worshipers, particularly in rural areas, who just feel they have not been listened to.’
Christina Rees of Watch, which supports women bishops, said: ‘The measure will have aspects of delegation and I welcome that. They have broken through the sound barrier of trying to find something that would work for everyone. They have looked at a huge array of different options. Now they are back on the track that synod asked them to go down last year which is fairly simple legislation which will allow women bishops and which will have certain arrangements for those who are opposed.’
She added: ‘We have gone as far as we can go without making a nonsense of the substantive issue, which is that we have said yes to women bishops. But I would be sorry to see anyone leave the church over women’s ordination. Being able to open the episcopate to women is a call for rejoicing.’
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