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I was delighted with the decision of the General Synod to reject the formation of new dioceses that would cater for those who do not believe that a woman can be made a bishop. We cannot have a situation where the Church of England’s bishops refuse to receive communion from each other. We cannot build sexism into our ecclesiology.
So I was glad, but also (if it is possible to be these things at the same time) disturbed and uncomfortable. I think that the traditionalist Cath-olic priests in the Church of England are some of the finest priests we have.
Many of them are quietly going about their business as parish clergy, often in the toughest parishes in the country. While many of us would fret about finding good schools or living with crime, Catholic clerics put their lives where their faith is: ministering to the sick and dying, caring for the needy; and administering the sacraments with great care and devotion. The Church of England would be greatly impoverished by losing them to Rome, and I do not like the look of a Church from which they have been rejected.
That said, the Church of which I am a member is larger than the narrow confines of denomination. If some people in my congregation decide to move to the Baptists or the Roman Catholics — and they find a spiritual home there where they can grow and move closer to God — then I am happy for them. I do not want them to go; but if it is the right thing, it is the right thing.
It is not for me to say whether we are nearing that stage with the traditionalist Catholics. But perhaps the Church of England is waking up to the unhappy fact that there is no way of adequately accommodating those who cannot accept the episcopal ministry of women.
Don’t blame the General Synod. The Bishop of Dover, the Rt Revd Stephen Venner, declared himself “ashamed” at the Synod’s behaviour — though all we did was to reject amendments to a motion that was proposed by the House of Bishops itself. The motion passed was substantially the same one as the Bishops presented. Time and again, there was talk in the debate of the need to produce legislation to square the circle. But the simple truth is that circles cannot be squares.
I find it impossible to understand how a denial of women’s orders is anything other than sexism — even though I have heard the arguments many times. Perhaps the Synod did not vote for compromise because there was not really a compromise to be had.
The Revd Dr Giles Fraser is Team Rector of Putney, in London.
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