How Women Bishops Affect Anglican-Catholic Dialogue
By Inma Álvarez, Zenit
After a bitter vote, the Church of England decided Monday that women can be consecrated as bishops. But the secretary of the Vatican's unity council says ecumenical dialogue will continue as before.
The synodal decision must be put to a referendum within a year by another similar synod; nevertheless it is a vote that marks an important point within the history of the Church of England.
The vote was noteworthy in another regard: a conciliatory amendment proposed by the archbishops of Canterbury and York, Rowan Williams and John Sentamu, was rejected.
Bishop Brian Farrell, secretary of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, told ZENIT that the Anglican decision does represent an "enormous obstacle." Nevertheless, he said, the effects of this vote must be kept in a proper perspective.
ZENIT: The Anglican synod of York approved the ordination of women bishops, a decision that is being imposed gradually in the whole Anglican Communion, against the conviction of the so-called traditionalist communities. This decision can be considered firm, although the final vote will not take place until 2012. Can this decision still change, or can one expect that it will be definitive?
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
