The unity of the Anglican Communion is threatened by the formation of a ‘church within the Church’. The traditionalists created the Fellowship of the Confessing Anglicans, who advocate an orthodox reading of the Bible and propose granting exemption for male priests from the authority of women bishops. The pressure group Women and Church oppose any step that would institutionalise discrimination.
The decision on women bishops needs parliamentary approval. Robert Key, a Conservative MP, who also sits on the Synod, said that MPs would not vote for anything unfair and they saw the issue in a broader perspective.
(Source: MTI)
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams, expressed that he would seek to accommodate the traditionalists. Providing pastoral oversight from male bishops could be one of the ‘less robust measures’ to do so. Dr. Williams is keen to safeguard the unity of the Church of England following a split in the American and Canadian Anglican Church after the ordination of an openly gay bishop in New Hampshire in 2003.
The Vatican has expressed its anger over the Church of England’s vote in favour of women bishops. It has also issued a statement, which warns that the vote may prove to be an ‘obstacle’ to reconciliation between Anglicans and the Catholics.
Vocabulary
- accommodate to sy – alkalmazkodik vkihez
- Anglican Communion – Anglikán Közösség
- approval – jóváhagyás
- archbishop – érsek
- bishop – püspök
- confessing – hitvalló
- exempt from – mentesül vmi alól, nem vonatkozik vkire vmi
- fellowship – szövetség
- General Synod – Általános Zsinat
- institutionalise – intézményesít
- obstacle – akadály
- ordination – felszentelés
- reconciliation – itt: közeledés (de lehet még: megbékélés, összeegyeztetés)
- rumble on – tovább zúgolódik, elégedetlenkedik
