Traditionalists lament ‘broken promises’
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By Ed Beaven, Church Times
THERE has been further reaction this week to the debate on women bishops at the General Synod in York, which left opponents to women bishops dissatisfied (News, 16 July).
The former Bishop of Richborough, the Rt Revd Edwin Barnes, speaking on BBC Radio 4, said that there was “nothing left” for traditionalists in the Church of England, but he hinted that the Pope’s proposal of an Ordinariate could offer a solution.
“All we have is empty promises, and some of the leaders in the women’s movement have said promises don’t have to be kept, promises are there to be broken; so there’s no trust left at all.
“Coming along with this, of course, has come the Pope’s offer of an Ordinariate, which has been an absolute lifeline, and has given us new hope in a way that nothing else has.”
The Bishop of Fulham, the Rt Revd John Broadhurst, said that the Synod’s vote to reject the Archbishops’ amendments had changed the basis on which many Anglo-Catholics had entered ordained ministry. Speaking to The Sunday Times, he said: “The Church of England is under Parliament, and in 1992, when the ordination of women was agreed, Parliament insisted on proper provision for people who dissented.
“Parishes are allowed to forbid women priests to function in their church: that’s the law. They now propose to withdraw that. A binding promise in Parliament is now being chucked.”
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