A difficult moment

On February 9 (ongoing until February 13) the General Synod of the “Church of England” opened at the “Church House” a block away from Westminster’s parliament. The assembly of the organ that govern this Church was inaugurated by the Primate of the Catholic Church in England, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, who addressed the question of the relations between the Catholic Church and the Anglican Church in view of the difficult knot of the ordination of women bishops. “The current difficulties in the Anglican Communion are a source of concern for all” he said. His Eminence assured that the Catholic Church wants a “deepening” not a “lessening” of Communion “in each other’s ecclesial life”. Since, he added, “Divisions within any Church or Ecclesial Community impoverish the communion of the whole Church. We Roman Catholics cannot be indifferent to what is happening to our friends in the Anglican Communion and, in particular, in the Church of England.” The General Synod of the Church of England. The General Synod of the Church of England encompasses 467 bishops, priests and lay faithful and convenes twice a year, in York during the summer and in Canterbury during winter. It’s the major decision-making body of the Church of England. It represents only a part of the Anglicans of Great Britain (in fact, the Churches of Ireland, Wales and Scotland are independent), it is however one of the most important 38 provinces of the Anglican Communion also since it is chaired by the archbishop of Canterbury, the historical primate of the Anglican Communion. This year’s synod will broach a number of topics that include the question of lifting legal obstacles to woman bishops’ ordination. This is viewed as the logical consequence of the decision taken by the General Synod in July 2006, when it ratified the bishops’ vote accepting female priesthood within the Church. 14 of the 38 Anglican provinces took a similar decision although only 4 have already proceeded to ordain women bishops (Canada, the United States, New Zealand and Australia). The knot. A group of expert jurists drew up a draft document on the ordination of women priests and bishops that will be the object of debate during the Synod. Point 7 states, “those who believe that anything short of structural provision for those unable in conscience to accept the ordained ministry of women as priests and bishops will be insufficient”. This statement could refer to the establishment of “complementary bishops” appointed in parishes that oppose the ordination of woman priests and bishops. However, those in favour of the ordination of woman priests and bishops do not support this solution. “The introduction of any arrangements, structural or otherwise, which mean that women may not be able to minister as bishops or priests within certain parishes, will be seen as unacceptable because it perpetuates a difference of treatment on grounds of gender”. Howard Dobson, spokesperson of the “Church of England” told “Sir” that “the work aimed at reaching a solution accepted by those in favour and those against the ordination of woman bishops will require a very long time”. The target of this endeavor is to preserve the unity of “The Church of England”. The Group concludes at point 33: “From our different perspectives we are united in regarding the holding together of as many people as possible within the family of the Church of England as the goal towards which everyone should strive. We earnestly pray this will be possible when women as well as men are consecrated to the episcopate”.The Catholic viewpoint. On this specific issue, Cardinal Walter Kasper, President of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity, has voiced his opinion on several occasions starting in 2006, when he addressed the Chamber of Bishops of the Church of England. During last year’s last year Lambeth Conference, on the invitation of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Cardinal Kasper declared: “we consider the decision of the priestly ordination of women a departure from the stand jointly held by all First Millennium Churches, which includes not only the Catholic Church but also the Eastern and Orthodox Churches”. As relates to the implications of ecumenical dialogue, Cardinal Kasper remarked: “it appears today that visible full Communion understood as the objective of our dialogue has gone a step backwards, that our dialogue will have less definitive targets that it will be affected by”.