Catholic Cardinal Warns Against Anglican Women Bishops
A top Vatican cardinal warned the Church of England against consecrating women as bishops, saying such a move would make unity ''unreachable'' and shared Communion impossible.
A top Vatican cardinal warned the Church of England against consecrating women as bishops, saying such a move would make unity ''unreachable'' and shared Communion impossible.
Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity, told the archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams that the consecration of women bishops would assure a “serious and long lasting chill” since it would risk compromising the church’s traditional comprehensiveness.
“Without identity, no society, least of all a church, can continue to survive,” said Kasper, according to the U.K.-based Times.
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Kasper also warned that ecumenical dialogues between the two church bodies could be compromised if women are elected.
“Ecumenical dialogue in the true sense of the word has as its goal the restoration of full Church Communion. That has been the presupposition of our dialogue until now. That presupposition would realistically no longer exist following the introduction of the ordination of women to episcopal office,” said Kasper.
The Church of England, unlike the Roman Catholic Church, allows the ordination of women priests. However, women are still not allowed to be bishops.
Archbishop Williams, who has remained open to the possibility of electing women bishops, welcomed Cardinal Kasper’s address as a “clear and helpful contribution” to the debate.
“Nothing is served by avoiding these hard questions, and I appreciate the spirit in which the Cardinal has shared his perspectives with us,” Williams said.
