Pope Francis consistently says "no" when asked if women can be deacons or join the Catholic clergy.

But Francis supports discussion about the women's diaconate. This October's synod working document affirms "theological reflection should continue".

Since last December the Pope and his Council of Cardinal Advisors - the "C9" - have had four meetings where women's input has been sought.

Talks from the December council meeting were published in February. Speeches three women made at that meeting and two cardinals' responses to them are included in a book published on July 11.

The Church "has sometimes fallen into the trap of considering loyalty to ideas to be more important than attention to reality" the Pope's foreword to the book says.

The women's diaconate

At the February meeting, Salesian Sister Linda Pocher (pictured) told the C9 that justifications for reserving ordained ministry to men "are weak, and it is important to recognise and be aware of it".

Biblically, the 12 apostles' calling cannot be equated with the institution of priestly or episcopal orders as they are understood today.

Theological justifications for excluding women from holy orders that assumed women were inherently incapable of holding positions in the public sphere don't hold true today, she said.

Furthermore historical papal decisions don't justify maintaining the practice.

Many popes have altered positions held by their predecessors.

Some things won't change

Cardinal Seán O'Malley responded to Pocher's suggestions saying Church tradition reserves priestly ordination for men.

But Church leadership should find ways to open more ministries to women since male-only ordained ministry "will not change".

It's not a matter of men being superior to women.

While women must be able to fully contribute to the Church, "we cannot allow ourselves to make mistakes acting hastily or without a full consideration of the possible consequences of these changes".

Furthermore, women everywhere need to occupy more leadership positions - in the Vatican, in archdioceses, dioceses and parishes he said.

Anglican view

Jo Bailey Wells, deputy secretary-general of the Anglican Communion, spoke to the C9 about the 1978 Lambeth Conference.

It gave each church the authority to decide whether to ordain women.

Part of the theological rationale was the idea that God created all humanity with the capacity to lead and govern.

Women's subordination to men followed humanity's fall from God's grace, she said.

Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich replied, saying the Anglican ordained ministry is "not entirely adaptable to Catholic ordained ministry.

"In the Catholic Church we have a unity of doctrine and a unity of the episcopal college, in communion with the bishop of Rome, which represents the universal Church" he said.

There are divisions between Anglican parishes supporting women's ordination and those that don't - particularly in recognising women bishops' authority, he notes.

He is concerned that ordaining women could hinder the Church's warming relations with the Orthodox churches.

He wonders if the Church's synodal path that recognises its members' baptismal dignity in which "ordained ministry becomes true service" could "reduce the frustration of many women".

Source

• United States Catholic Bishops Conference

Rev Jo Bailey Wells, deputy secretary general of the Anglican Communion, was one of the first generation of women to be ordained a vicar in the Church of England in 1995. Married to an Anglican clergyman with two children, she has also served as chaplain to the Archbishop of Canterbury.

The Anglican bishop, who in the past has praised "gender history" for highlighting how "institutions are gendered and how institutions gender individuals," also addressed an interreligious meeting attended by Pope Francis in Kazakhstan in October 2022 when she reportedly said, "gender equality is part of God's plans."

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Decisions made by the Anglican Communion in England apply only to England.

They don't have an international reach, Justin Welby says.

He reminded people of the autonomy of Anglican Provinces, as rumours circulated that same-sex blessings were to be imposed on other parts of the Communion.

Speaking at a press conference on Saturday, before the opening of the 18th meeting of the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC), he said:

"No Province can bind another Province, tell it what to do. We are not a post-, a neo-colonial entity in that way."

The Anglican Communion Office (ACO) also firmly denied that the Communion's same-sex blessings decision was binding on the rest of the Communion, saying: "This is categorically not true."

Nor was it "a decision for the entire Communion. It wasn't. It was a decision for England only," the ACO said.

Expanding on his initial statement, Welby said: "One bit of the Church of England passing the resolutions that passed last week does not bind anyone at all, not even the Church of England at the moment."

He also spoke of the Provinces' relationship. "We're interdependent. We belong to each other. We're grown-up children."

The ACC vice-chair added: "What it is that brings us together isn't a set of rules. It isn't for us to be busy looking over our shoulder at what our neighbours' state of play is in terms of their relationship with God. It is our relationship with God."

Anglican Communion secretary-general explained that although the Anglican Communion Office is in London, it isn't actually part of the Church of England.

He also pointed out the Archbishop of Canterbury isn't the chair. That person is Dr Paul Kwong, Archbishop Emeritus of Hong Kong.

Source

• Church Times

In it, we come to a question - of what we believe about human dignity, including sexuality - that is deeply dividing, not only for Anglicans but for every part of God's global church.

This conference is one of the few places where we can meet and be honest with each other about what we think, listen to others and pray together.

In some churches, like the Anglican Communion, the disagreement is open. In others, it is behind locked doors. But in all it is real. And in all the subject is of the greatest importance.

Most of the Call on Human Dignity (including sexuality) is uncontentious. None of us would want to argue for sexual violence in conflict, abuse of the vulnerable or violence against minorities or women.

But paragraph 2.3 is very different. For some here, it will be a great relief.

There is no attempt being made to alter the historic teaching of the vast majority of Churches of the Anglican Communion. For some, this paragraph will be hugely painful, and agonizing emotionally, for it is felt by many to state that who they are and who they love is wrong, that they are less than fully human.

So in this very brief address, please let me state some important principles.

First, the Call is about Human Dignity and also about Sexuality.

The reason the two are combined is that its central theological foundation is that all human beings are of equal worth, loved by God and are those for whom Jesus died on the Cross and rose to life. As St Paul says again and again in Romans "there is no distinction".

Second, as we discuss this, we are all vulnerable.

For the large majority of the Anglican Communion the traditional understanding of marriage is something that is understood, accepted and without question, not only by Bishops but their entire Church, and the societies in which they live.

For them, to question this teaching is unthinkable, and in many countries would make the church a victim of derision, contempt and even attack. For many churches to change traditional teaching challenges their very existence.

For a minority, we can say almost the same.

They have not arrived lightly at their ideas that traditional teaching needs to change. They are not careless about scripture.

They do not reject Christ.

But they have come to a different view on sexuality after long prayer, deep study and reflection on understandings of human nature.

For them, to question this different teaching is unthinkable, and in many countries is making the church a victim of derision, contempt and even attack.

For these churches not to change traditional teaching challenges their very existence.

So let us not treat each other lightly or carelessly.

We are deeply divided.

That will not end soon.

We are called by Christ himself both to truth and unity.

Third, there is no attempt to change people's minds in this Call.

It states as a fact that the vast majority of Anglicans in the large majority of Provinces and Dioceses do not believe that a change in teaching is right.

Therefore, it is the case that the whole of Lambeth 1.10 1998 still exists.

This Call does not in any way question the validity of that resolution.

The Call states that many Provinces - and I say again, I think we need to acknowledge it's the majority - continue to affirm that same-gender marriage is not permissible.

The Call also states that other provinces have blessed and welcomed same-sex union or marriage, after careful theological reflection and a process of reception.

In that way, it states the reality of life in the Communion today.

As is said in the letter, and I re-emphasise, there is no mention of sanctions, or exclusion, in 1.10 1998.

There is much mention of pastoral care.

As Lambeth 1.10 also states: "all baptised, believing and faithful persons, regardless of sexual orientation are full members of the Body of Christ" and to be welcomed, cared for, and treated with respect (I.10, 1998).

Fourth, many people are watching and listening, both inside and outside the Church.

But we bishops, you alone and I are responsible for what is decided on this Call.

When we will all answer to God on the day of judgement, we will not be able to say - and there is no vote today, but when at some point if ever we make a decision on this - we will not be able to say that I voted this or that way because others told me too.

Please, therefore, be present, in this room or online, today. Do not spend the time looking on your phone at what others outside the room are saying.

You are the shepherds of your flock as I am the shepherd of the flock that I serve.

Let us not act in a way that disgraces our witness.

Speak frankly, but in love.

Finally, a short comment on my own thinking.

I am very conscious that the Archbishop of Canterbury is to be a focus of unity and is an Instrument of Communion.

That is a priority.

Truth and unity must be held together, but Church history also says that this sometimes takes a very long time to reach a point where different teaching is rejected or received.

I neither have, nor do I seek, the authority to discipline or exclude a church of the Anglican Communion.

I will not do so.

I may comment in public on occasions, but that is all. We are a Communion of Churches, not a single church.

I want to end by repeating this line from the Call on Human Dignity: "As Bishops we remain committed to listening and walking together to the maximum possible degree, despite our deep disagreement on these issues.

Sister and brothers, may I thank you for your patience in listening to me."

Source

• Anglican.ink

Questioning biblical teaching is "unthinkable" for "a large majority" of conservative Anglicans, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby announced at the ten-yearly Lambeth conference.

"In many countries, [it] would make the church a victim of derision, contempt and even attack," he said.

"For many churches, to change traditional teaching challenges their very existence."

He sent a letter to bishops shortly before a "robust discussion" on sexuality at the conference. In the letter, Welby said the 1998 resolution, known as Lambeth 1.10, was "not in doubt".

However, he would not seek the authority to discipline or exclude churches - including those in Scotland, Wales and the US - that conduct or bless same-sex marriage, he clarified.

He hinted there could be change coming up in the Church of England.

For churches in liberal democracies, not updating traditional teaching could also challenge their very existence, he observed.

They, too, could be "a victim of derision, contempt and even attack," he said.

Speaking after the session, Michael Curry, the primate of the US episcopal church (who preached at the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's wedding) said churches exist in "very different cultural contexts".

In the US, "it would have been unthinkable for us not to bless and sanctify loving relationships between LGBT folk".

This is the first time Welby has publicly said he understands the reasons for that, he added.

Some campaigners for LGBTQ+ equality within the church were unhappy with Welby's attempt to reaffirm the church's traditional stance.

"Yet again priority has been given to saving a manmade institution over protecting LGBTQ+ people's lives," said one.

"Lambeth 1.10 encourages ‘conversion therapy' and negates the God-given love between two individuals. It is a stick with which many of us have been beaten and will continue to suffer under around the world."

Ninety bishops, including eight archbishops, signed a statement saying "many LGBT+ people have historically been wounded by the church and particularly hurt by the events of the past few weeks".

They added that they "look forward to the day when we all may feel truly welcomed, valued and affirmed".

Conservative church leaders from the Global South want the opposite. They're asking bishops at the conference to explicitly restate the 1998 declaration.

Lambeth 1.10 rejects "homosexual practice as incompatible with scripture" and "upholds faithfulness in marriage between a man and a woman in lifelong union". It says same-sex unions should not be legitimised or blessed.

Justin Badi Arama, the archbishop of South Sudan, said: "We are living at a time of great spiritual confusion and moral flux.

"Based on the need to establish clear doctrine on marriage and sexuality at this defining moment for the Anglican communion, this conference must reaffirm the biblical teaching of Lambeth conference 1998 resolution 1.10."

He says he's confident most bishops at the conference will back him.

The issue is the conference's most contentious.

Source

• The Guardian

Friday's announcement at the Lambeth Conference in Canterbury, England came from the Global South orthodox bishops as they pressed for re-affirmation of traditional teaching on marriage.

The Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches (GSFA) claims to represent 75 percent of the Anglican Communion.

They declared their position a day after 100 people, including twelve bishops, joined a walk at the Conference's campus venue. The walk aimed to show solidarity with LGBTQ people.

Even before the conference began, documents referring to gay relationships were already causing tempers to flare.

The GSFA says it will table its own resolution at the conference. It will reaffirm Lambeth Resolution 1.10 as the Church's official teaching on marriage and sexuality.

That resolution was formally passed at the Lambeth Conference in 1998. It describes marriage as a life-long commitment between a man and a woman. Same-sex unions are therefore outlawed, the GSFA says.

The 2022 Lambeth Conference organisers have got it wrong, the GSFA adds.

They have failed to recognise the resolution "is not just about sex and marriage".

Rather, it's "fundamentally about the authority of the Bible which Anglicans believe to be central to faith and order".

GSFA chair Archbishop Justin Badi says the GSFA also wants the sanctions imposed on provinces that ordain bishops in same-sex relationships. Provinces allowing same-sex marriages should also be sanctioned.

The Anglican Church of Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia is among them, he says.

Badi says the Communion has been "for far too long driven by the views of the West". It has ignored voices from the Global South.

"Today, in Canterbury, we may be ‘gathered together' but we most certainly cannot ‘walk together'".

For that to happen, provinces which have gone against scripture — and the will of the consensus of the bishops — must "repent and return to orthodoxy," he says.

The row over same-sex marriage erupted on the eve of the conference.

The draft conference documents said "It is the mind of the Anglican Communion as a whole that same-gender marriage is not permissible."

Protests from supporters of same-sex marriage followed.

The documents were then amended to note differences among Anglican provinces.

The statement now notes while many provinces ban same-gender marriages, others have a different view.

Besides the 650 bishops from around the globe attending the conference in person, hundreds of others have boycotted it.

They are protesting the support from some parts of the Communion for same-sex marriage.

Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, says the conference is not a synod or a legislative body.

Rather, it is a place where bishops could come together.

While Resolution 1.10 is "still very much part of the Anglican Communion, there's deep division," he says.

"It will need to be decided in each province and diocese."

The Conference - the first to be held in 14 years - will continue after it ends on Friday, when bishops return to their provinces.

Source

• Religion News Service

The resolution affirms that marriage is a union between one man and one woman, but it allows for individual bishops to offer a "non-formulary service" to bless same-sex couples.

The General Synod had previously passed a resolution noting that Tikanga Pasifika would not be voting for the blessing of same-sex relationships.

In the preamble to the resolution, the synod said it was "deeply mindful of the deep interweaving of cultural and religious values at the core of our Pacific societies that place a profound respect and reverence for the belief in God and the belief in the traditional understanding of marriage."

It also notes that the constitutions of Samoa, Tonga and Fiji "do not recognize any union between the same gender."

The Diocese of Polynesia released a statement saying the "constitutions and cultures" of its nations were reflected in its position on the issue.

The statement said the diocese honoured the church's work and understood the decision to allow same-sex marriages was "located in the Maori and Pakeha context, within the laws and cultures of New Zealand."

But it said, as far as the church was concerned, Pacific custom and protocol was against same-sex relationships.

The Diocese of Polynesia stressed the church was still united and "the beauty of this decision is that no-one imposes on anyone... an authentic representation of our voyage together."

Source

• radionz.co.nz
• christianheadlines.com
• anglicantaonga.org.nz

The Church of ANZP is unique in the Anglican Communion in having three primates of the whole province, but with special responsibility for the three Tikangas, or geographical and cultural streams: Polynesia, Maori and Pakeha (people of European descent). Continue reading

He says that on first impression the three tikanga church has modelled an age-old Anglican virtue of patience; something, he fears, that is in danger of being lost.

He has that impression, he says, because of what took place at the 2016 General Synod.

Idowu-Fearon noted that while the Tikanga Maori and the Tikanga Pasifika both could have asked for the vote to be taken on the issue of same gender blessing they chose to give Tikanga Pakeha - who were themselves stuck, divided and in danger of splitting - more time to find their way forward.

"For me that is the height of patience. That is the height of love and concern. And it is the practical outworking of this concept the Primates came up with in January 2016, that we work together in spite of our differences."

"There is always a need for patience. And I believe that this province is reminding our Communion that patience is a major characteristic of what it means to be Anglican."

Idowu-Fearon is convinced that where same-gender blessing is concerned, Anglicans are called to show a lead in finding a workable answer to that question.

He says Anglicans should earnestly pray that they do not fall into the temptation of schism.

Instead, they should hold fast to the virtue of patience.

"The Americans won't like this, but can you imagine if they had had leaders like Archbishops Brown and Winston to say: ‘Hang on: Let's give some time'? They would have won more sympathisers?"

"And you see no matter what we do, there is no way that either the right or the left will ever win. It's not possible."

"So our best option, is the Christ option: Be together. Walk together. Checkmate each other."

"When we're together, there is no room for arrogance: ‘I don't need you. I don't want to know you '- I haven't read that in the gospel.

"As one of the new Primates said to me: ‘Jesus walked with the Pharisees, Sadducees and sinners.'

‘Do I have a choice?' "

"Or as the Pope has said: ‘Who am I to judge?' "

Source

• Anglican Taonga
• Image: Anglican Taonga

The leader of a powerful bloc of traditionalists representing the majority of the world's Anglicans said the CofE has crossed a "line" in recent decisions on homosexuality.

The Most Rev Nicholas Okoh, the Archbishop of Nigeria, said many traditionalists now view the British branches of Anglicanism in a similar light to The Episcopal Church (TEC) in the US.

The latter has been accused of "heresy" for ordaining openly gay bishops and endorsing same-sex marriage.

Archbishop Okoh was recently elected as chairman of the influential "Gafcon" (Global Anglican Future Conference) group of clerics.

Continue reading

Rev. Joyce Bennett was ordained in the Chinese branch of the Anglican Church in 1971, 23 years before the Church of England ordained its first female clergy.

Before this, the only woman to be ordained in an Anglican diocese had been the Hong Kong-born Rev Florence Li Tim-Oi.

She was also ordained in Hong Kong, in 1944 during the Japanese occupation.

But to avoid controversy, she resigned her licence shortly after the end of the war.

Ordained for work in the Chinese-speaking part of the diocese of Hong Kong and Macao, Rev. Bennett conducted most of her church work in Cantonese.

She once wrote that Chinese church members considered her gender irrelevant.

Continue reading

The Global Anglican Futures Conference in the London this week was expected to discuss divisions in the worldwide Anglican Communion over women's ordination and homosexuality.

Gafcon was launched at a meeting in Jerusalem in 2008 as part of the long-running struggle by conservatives to cater to those opposed to the more liberal direction of the western Anglican church.

According to an article in Christian Today, Gafcon's primates have already told the Anglican Mission in England to operate outside the structures of the Church of England as a missionary society, where necessary.

A parallel structure, the Anglican Church in North America, already exists in the United States.

In an Easter pastoral letter to supporters, Archbishop Eliud Wabukala, primate of Kenya and chairman of the Gafcon primates' council, said: "We shall take counsel together so that our movement can grow strongly and be equipped to fulfil the vision of restoring the Anglican Communion's commitment to biblical truth."

He called for Christians to remain strong.

"If we look just on the surface of things, it is easy to be discouraged.

"While in Africa and the Middle East, Christian communities are being destroyed and intimidated by Islamic radicalism, in the West we are seeing the faith for which these believers are dying being betrayed by compromise with an increasingly intolerant secular culture."

He singled out for particular criticism the process set up by the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, at the 2008 Lambeth Conference as part of his attempt to maintain Anglican unity.

"We need an outward looking unity in diversity that serves the truth of the Gospel, not the inward looking unity in diversity of projects like 'Continuing Indaba' that open the doors of the Church to a false gospel."

Sources

• Christian Today
• Image: Christian Today