” “The general synod of the Church of England will begin next week, Monday February 6th, at the Church House, in Westminster. The agenda will include a debate on the process that is supposed to lead (in 2012) the Church of England to remove the bans that currently prevent women being ordered bishops. The proposal has aroused a lively debate within the Anglican community that, after the ordination of a declaredly gay bishop and the blessing of homosexual couples in Canada, risks splitting the confession even more. The synod’s discussion on the matter will begin straightaway, on Monday afternoon, with the submission of "ecumenical" replies to the "Rochester” report. The workgroup that drew up the report also includes two "ecumenical representatives”: one for the Catholic Church, reverend Anthony Barratt; one for the Methodist Church, reverend Richard Clutterbuck. In the introduction, the report invited the ecumenical partners to send in their reflections. The department for dialogue and unity of the English Bishops Conference did not fail to respond to the invitation and last October it sent in its comments. Tuesday morning, the Synod will review the report drawn up by the workgroup headed by the bishop of Guildford, rev. Christopher Hill, which contains a factual proposal. It concerns the option of adopting the “Transferred Episcopal Arrangements”, according to which the parish churches can call themselves out of the jurisdiction of a woman bishop and place themselves under the jurisdiction of a "regional" man bishop.
