Writer
AUSTRALIAN supporters of women bishops are heartened by proposals before the
Church of England which open the door for a woman to one day be appointed
Archbishop of Canterbury.
But Muriel Porter, an Anglican from Melbourne who is a leading proponent of
women bishops, said the move offered no legal precedent for Australia, where the
constitutional bar to women is set much higher and the matter is now tied up in
church court.
A working report to the Church of England’s general synod next month sets out
the processes by which women could break the so-called “stained glass ceiling”
to attain senior positions and, one day, lead the Anglican communion of 77
million faithful.
The first women could be consecrated no earlier than 2012 under the plans,
which include provisions for a special team of male bishops to care for parishes
that remain stridently opposed to women bishops. They would carry out
ordinations, confirmations and other duties.
Once promoted to the rank of bishop, the Church of England admitted there
would be no bar to a woman being appointed Archbishop of Canterbury – but only
after it had decided “the moment had come”.
Given the extent of disunity in the church over the role of women, however,
and the fact the office has been vacant only nine times in 100 years, that is
unlikely to be any time soon.
Women bishops have already been appointed in the US, Canada and New
Zealand.
In Australia, where the powerful Sydney diocese helped block a vote for women
bishops in the general synod, the question has been referred to the church’s
highest legal tribunal. A decision is expected later this year.
The Bishop of South Sydney, Robert Forsythe, said it was a long time “since
Australia turned to England to solve its problems”.
Appointing a woman to lead the Church of England would ultimately weaken the
role of archbishop as long as the evangelical and catholic wings remained
implacably opposed to women bishops, he said, adding: “I don’t think the [Church
of England] is ready by a long shot.”
Bishop Forsythe said in Australia there was no consensus about how to
minister to parishes unwilling to recognise women bishops. Not everyone wanted
special “flying” bishops to take over some of their duties.
Dr Porter said that for women bishops to proceed in Australia, a two-thirds
majority was required in each of the three houses of the church’s national
synod, and that vote needed to be confirmed at a second synod.
“That is an almost impossible level of consensus in the Australian church,”
Dr Porter said. “We are hampered by the extreme nature of our constitution.
Sixty-two per cent of the church’s general synod voted in 2004 in favour of
women bishops, and that was still insufficient.”
Support for women bishops was greatest in dioceses where there was experience
of women’s ministry, she said.
In the diocese of Sydney there are no women priests, although there are 30
active women deacons and one archdeacon heading women’s ministry. About one in
five clergy in the Melbourne diocese are women.
“The Church of England does not provide precedents for us,” Dr Porter said.
“[But] of course it would encourage us and make the church here look more
backward than it ever was.”
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