Frank Field MP urges Women Bishops reformers to meet the objections of opponents to get the major reform through
On BBC Newsnight tonight, Frank Field MP criticised "the reformers", those who brought forward the Women Bishops Measure, being "ungracious and ungenerous" in failing to meet the objections of those who disagreed.
He claimed that "The state has an interest in ensuring that the Church does not go off and behave in an absurd manner. Most people will think that its actions over the last few days show a real lack of politics in the church. Why did the reformers fail? They have some serious questions to answer here in satisfying those who were upset and disquieted by the proposal for reform."
He added that the crucial question about women priests was decided decades ago. He urged "The real issue is that the reformers were ungracious and ungenerous in meeting the objections that many in your position actually hold. My advice to them, which was ignored such as it was, is that the crucial thing to establish is the principle of women bishops. Whether they are curtailed in certain ways, that does not really matter. One should actually stuff the mouths of the opposition with gold to get the major reform through. They failed to do that. The Church must now very quickly reconvene on this issue, listen very carefully to those that it failed to persuade, meet them in those objections and get the general principle agreed."
Susie Leafe responded: "I think we are in complete agreement there. No one voted against women bishops at the beginning of this week. Everyone [who voted against] voted against a particular measure.
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