Catholic Leaders Criticize Church of England's Acceptance of Women Bishops, Call It 'Obstacle' to Christian Unity

"The decision of the Church of England to admit women to the episcopate therefore sadly places a further obstacle on the path to this unity between us. Nevertheless we are committed to continuing our ecumenical dialogue, seeking deeper mutual understanding and practical cooperation wherever possible," read a statement by Archbishop Bernard Longley, Chairman of the Department for Dialogue and Unity, Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales.
The statement was echoed by the editor of Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano. Giovanni Maria Vian said on Tuesday that the ordination of women bishops will have "an extremely negative impact" on steps to bring together the Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion.
"Clearly it's a decision that complicates the ecumenical path," Vian said in an interview with the Italian newspaper La Stampa.
"The problem is not only with Rome but also with Orthodox Churches, and that the Anglican Church is itself divided on the issue."
The General Synod of the Church of England voted in favor of approving women bishops for the first time in its history on Monday, after the long-standing proposal that had failed several times before finally received the required two-thirds majority.
A number of Anglican leaders, including Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, praised the results, but noted that some in the Church of England will have problems with the significant change.
"The challenge for us will be for the church to model good disagreement and to continue to demonstrate love for those who disagree on theological grounds. Very few institutions achieve this, but if we manage this we will be living our more fully the call of Jesus Christ to love one another. As delighted as I am for the outcome of this vote I am also mindful of those within the Church for whom the result will be difficult and a cause of sorrow," Welby said after the vote.
"My aim, and I believe the aim of the whole church, should be to be able to offer a place of welcome and growth for all. Today is a time of blessing and gift from God and thus of generosity. It is not winner take all, but in love a time for the family to move on together."
Many Catholics, as well as conservative members of the Anglican Communion, maintain that women should not serve as bishops, since Jesus Christ selected only males to serve as his disciples.
Catholic publications, such as Catholic Online, suggested that the vote rejects "the Catholic and Orthodox theology of Apostolic succession" and "the nature of the priesthood."
Catholic Online added: "It also removes any real hopes for institutional and structural reunion of the Catholic, Orthodox and what is now called the Anglican and Episcopal Church."
It is yet to be seen what kind of implications, if any, the vote will have on the relationship between Welby and Pope Francis, who have often spoken about moving forward in unity in their meetings to date.
Following another meeting in June, Francis called the Catholic and Anglican division a "scandal and an obstacle to our proclaiming the Gospel of salvation to the world."
"We cannot claim that our division is anything less than a scandal and an obstacle to our proclaiming the Gospel of salvation to the world," Francis reportedly told Welby. "The goal of full unity may seem distant indeed, [. . .] it remains the aim which should direct our every step along the way."

An African woman's "Thank-you" letter to Meriam Ibrahim

 

The great news of Mariam Ibrahim's arrival in Italy filled me with so much joy and elation. The images of this graceful and beautiful African woman, babe in hand, stepping out of the plane was a sight to behold especially after her unspeakable pain and suffering in the Sudanese prison. So I thought I should, in a very simple letter, write down my reflections and thoughts of gratitude for this resilient daughter of Africa whose freedom is being celebrated by the entire world today. On behalf of all African women, I thank you Meriam Ibrahim, for showing the world the indomitable courage that is at the core of authentic femininity. I say this because your pain and persecution were tied so firmly to your femininity. And so your triumph was a most powerful witness to life, to motherhood, to marriage, to love and to faith. You are indeed a true picture of faith and virtue, a true symbol of strength and resilience. You are, in my humble opinion, a real woman of substance, an African woman of substance and your story fills my heart with courage and audacity in my own vocation to defend our African culture of life,marriage, motherhood, faith and family, no matter how difficult, no matter how shameful and no matter how painful for me. For under intense persecution, you refused to deny your Christian faith. Under the threat of the extremists, you stood as a witness and a martyr. Under the pain of incarceration, you would not deny your husband or renounce your marriage. Under the heavy shackles of prison you still had the strength and defiance to give life , to give birth. Under the certainty of a death sentence you had the determination to nurse your precious little baby. By your powerful example, the world has come to witness the resilience of a young African woman who in the worst conditions bore heroic witness to the virtues of faith, marriage, and motherhood. Your unspeakable struggles in the last few months have been a most radiant ray of light that has pierced through the darkest clouds to contradict a modern world that is telling us that faith means nothing, that religious freedom is not all that important, that marriage is whatever we want it to be, that motherhood should be a choice we make under the most conducive situations, that our babies should only be born at the most convenient of times. You, my African sister, have become a lightening rod to the radical feminists of our times who repudiate and denigrate every virtue that you epitomize . Within your body, you have borne the marks and scars of a true Christian,a wife, a mother and a martyr, and in this way you have shown us what it means to be an empowered and liberated woman, and I'm glad to say it is certainly not what the western radicals and ideologues are telling us. They try to tell us that for African women to be empowered, they need to be "sexually liberated", selfish, individualistic and fiercely autonomous, but you Meriam , by your own example , have taught us that the liberated African woman is the woman who is free to live and practice her faith, love her husband , and protect her children (born and unborn). A liberated woman is a woman of faith and family. This is the truth that must be spoken throughout Africa. Today, the world watched you as you breathed the fresh air of freedom and as you made your first stop, not at the Whitehouse, but rather at the House of St Martha (Casa Santa Marta) which is also the house of the Holy Father Pope Francis. Instead of the presidential handshake that many others would have craved first, you chose the papal handshake. And instead of the political reception you chose the apostolic benediction for you and your family. You chose the Pope over the POTUS! You are a woman of great wisdom and strength and indeed Africa raises, praises and celebrates you. We rejoice with you and for you. We rejoice that you are free at last. And out of our rejoicing, I pray that more women (from our Africa and from every corner of the world) will reflect deeply on your experience so as to emulate you. I pray for women of faith to rise up and bear courageous witness even to the point of martyrdom. I pray for women who are pregnant to choose life for their babies at all cost. I pray for women who are wives and mothers to stay true to their vows and vocations. I pray that beyond our global rejoicing, we would be adorned with even a portion of the heroic virtue of Meriam Ibrahim's authentic feminism purified and forged in the fiery crucible of religious persecution.
Culled from Culture of Africa Life