"The bishops ... have approved the Declaration that will provide acceptable pastoral and sacramental ministry to parishes that are unable to receive the ministry of women as priests and bishops, and also most importantly that this will only be able to be changed with a two-thirds majority in each of the three houses of the Synod."
So simple! Compare that with the approach of the Church in Wales AFTER women bishops were approved by their Governing Body. First, written contributions about the shape of a Code of Practice were invited. Then diocesan meetings were held before the matter was discussed at their Governing Body. The overwhelming desire expressed at the Diocesan meetings was for similar pastoral and sacramental provision to be restored in the Church in Wales but the suspicion remains that the Bench will use the voices of a vociferous minority to justify no change.
Proposing the amendment which enabled women to be consecrated bishops in the Church in Wales from 12 September 2014 the Jackson/Wigley duo said: "Our amendment would bring Church in Wales legislation more closely into line with other churches in the Anglican Communion who have passed legislation to enable the consecration of women bishops - in particular the Scottish Episcopal Church and the Church of Ireland. In none other of the churches of the Anglican Communion so far has provision been made for conscientious dissent in legislation, but only in Codes of Practice. We do not believe that Wales should be the one to set a new precedent on this matter."
At the April meeting of the Governing Body Archdeacon Jackson was busy pouring cold water on the argument she used to get the legislation she wanted. In direct opposition to what is required she said, "the concept of a Provincial Assistant Bishop should be resisted, as this role would set up a two-tier episcope” indicating that she is still stubbornly wedded to the feminist position that impeded progress in the Church of England. The Church of England has moved on. Peggy Jackson has moved backwards.
The impression given is that the women's lobby will say or do anything to advance their agenda then backtrack when they have what they want. If the bishops of the Church in Wales validate this scheming by back-peddling to deny loyal Anglicans what they thought they were being offered "in line with other churches" they will deserve the opprobrium of the whole Church of Christ for their duplicity.
It's rubbish. The Canons of the CoE will have to be followed and that surely means that the women who are ordained will have to be recognised as valid ministers of the church. If you accept episcopal authority you must accept that authority including the women. The fact is that the Anglican Communion has removed itself from Catholic Order and whatever the bishops has decided does not correct this fundamental error
ReplyDeleteNominally I might accept that women ordained are ministers of the church, but no- one can impose upon me an understanding of the Apostolic succession which conflicts with my own belief,that is I do not believe that women can be priests in the church.
ReplyDeleteBut if you are a member of a church which has women ministers then you surely have to accept the "rules" otherwise it is dishonest.
ReplyDeleteIt is not at all dishonest - the Canons of the Church of England are being changed explicitly to make provision for those who disagree - and the House of Bishops' Declaration underlines that fact.
ReplyDeleteWe are told that the "rules" are that for those who cannot in conscience accept the ministry of women, then such persons will be "loved" ,catered for and provision made so they have a rightful place in the church. So where is my dishonesty?
ReplyDeleteIt would be dishonest of me to disobey my conscience and the teaching and tradition of the One Holy Catholic Church.
Where dishonesty comes in ,is if the Bench of Bishops do not make adequate provision-as promised - for those communicants who cannot accept the ordination of women to the priesthood and consequently to the episcopate : the boot is on the other foot!
It is an error to apply typical ++ Barry psychology to twist the argument so that one will always appears 'in the right'.
I am sorry to go on but I have posed this question before albeit in a different format. I understand where individuals cannot accept the innovation but try to live a catholic life that that is how they personally square the circle. Surely though FiF or the Society are going to have to maintain a database of those men who have been validly ordained by somebody they recognise as having authentic orders. That's a pretty awesome task and I would suggest an almost impossible use of resources. For example, a "priest" turns up at Walsingham and asks to celebrate a public mass - will his credentials be checked or indeed checkable so that the faithful can be certain that his sacramental offering is valid? Or is nobody really worried about that? Sounds daft doesn't it? And its fare form Catholic
ReplyDeleteYou can't just turn up at Lourdes and demand an altar: there will have to be checks at Walsingham and other places too. It's not such a difficult task, now that everyone has a computer, and lists will certainly be maintained of those who have been ordained by a real bishop. Even FiF ought to be able to manage such a simple task. They don't seem to be capable of much else.
ReplyDeleteThe following sentence was written by Adrian Hamilton- journalist of The Independent ;
ReplyDelete"When a church forfeits its doctrinal convictions and then embraces ambiguity and tolerates heresy, it undermines its own credibility and embraces its own destruction".
This entry referred to the shrinking of the Church of England, but it rings true for Wales too.
Another deafening silence from His ++Irrelevance, his coven and his Islamic friends concerning the Trojan Horse scandal of Muslim Extremism in schools. Is such indoctrination and brain-washing going on in Welsh schools and if it is how would we know?
DeleteDoes the Grand Mufti of all the faiths even give a damn?