Vatican condemns female bishops

The Vatican yesterday criticised the Church of England's decision to press ahead with the ordination of women bishops, saying it presented a "further obstacle" for reconciliation between Canterbury and Rome.

A statement released through the Vatican Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity said it had "regretfully" learned of the historic vote, which took place on Monday after a seven-hour debate.

It read: "Such a decision signifies a breaking away from the apostolic tradition maintained by all of the churches since the first millennium, and is a further obstacle for reconciliation between the Catholic church and the Church of England.

"This decision will have consequences on the future of dialogue, which had up until now born fruit."

Cardinal Walter Kasper, who heads the unity council, will reiterate the Catholic position at next week's Lambeth conference.

The condemnation came as a senior figure from the Catholic wing of the Church of England warned of a "bloodbath" at next week's once-a-decade summit, which will draw 700 bishops from around the world.

The Church of England was thrown into turmoil last night over the issue of women bishops, as it rejected proposals that would have accommodated clergy strongly opposed to the historic change.

In an emotional, sometimes bitter debate lasting more than seven hours, the General Synod voted against introducing separate structures and "superbishops", to oversee parishes opposed to women bishops, because they were seen as amounting to institutionalised discrimination.

Instead, the 468 members narrowly agreed to the idea of introducing a national statutory code of practice, throwing out all compromises that would have appeased opponents of women bishops.

A code of practice has yet to be fully explored, but will not satisfy the demands of traditionalists and conservative evangelicals, who had formed an alliance to block consideration of any such code.

The following story describes how the liberal steamroller has flattened the Evangelicals and Anglo-Catholics who, up until now, had been able to function within the Church of England without schism. By rejecting all legislative arrangements to accommodate the honest convictions of those opposed to women bishops, the liberal majority has made clear what the future looks like with regard to homosexual bishops. They will be imposed on all who choose to stay.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/...rticle4289994.ece

Unity and respect for diversity are not of concen to the liberals; only conformity to their own political agenda matters. Liberals in TEC and the C of E are patently hypocrites for claiming to be advocates of inclusion and tolerance. They don't want to tolerate anything; they want to win.

This vote sets back any possible re-union with Rome and likely makes it impossible ever. The Roman Catholic Church has been moving in the opposite direction now for over 30 years. Just exactly what Archbishop Rowan Williams will be able to say to Pope Benedict XVI that would be in the least hopeful when they next meet is difficult to imagine. This vote has many implications for those of us who are not Anglicans because the Anglican Church was supposed to pioneer the new ecumenical future that the rest of us would, in due course, embrace. Now that is little more than one of the "might-have-beens" of history. It does not really matter whether the 1300 Anglo-Catholic clergy stay or go. Probably some will go over to Rome and others will sue for constructive dismissal. Others will stay and spend their time fasting and praying for forgiveness for the church that has betrayed them.

Am happy about this, esp as I am one of those who regard women in ministry as "Biblical". After all, depending on how you define the priesthood or what constitutes a church, who was it who first proclaimed the Risen Lord to the Church?
In any case, as I mentioned before in-depth, I think that if one is for women priests, or even tolerates their presence, then why object to women Bishops! And if you are against women Bishops, why not women priests? It's a natural progression surely!