_WORLD WATCH______________________________
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Female bishops?
Church of England ponders a new step
The Church of England has appointed a new commission to study the controversial issue of ordaining women as bishops.
The church has been ordaining women as priests since 1994, but has not elevated any to the bishopric—as Anglican churches in the US, Canada, and New Zealand have already done. Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali of Rochester has been named to head the new commission.
“Some people have said that, because the Church of England now ordains women to the priesthood, it is only natural that they should also be appointed bishops,” the bishop said. “My view is that we are now at the start of a process, rather than reaching the end of one.” The group is to make an interim report to the church’s governing General Synod in 2002.
“Hurt” by Catholic stand
Anglicans protest teaching on Communion
The Church of England has condemned the Catholic Church for making “erroneous assumptions” about Anglicans and for refusing to allow Anglicans to receive Communion in Catholic churches.
In a statement entitled “The Eucharist: Sacrament of Unity,” Anglican bishops stressed their anger with Catholics over recent critical statements about Anglican teaching, particularly “One Bread, One Body,” written by Britain’s Catholic bishops in 1998. In a preface to the report, the Archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey, said the Catholic ban on intercommunion was a particularly “hurtful and unhelpful” discipline. The report calls for a more “flexible” approach by the Vatican and said sharing the Eucharist should not be reserved for the “end point of unity between separated churches.”
Mixed marriages create a “double bond” of unity, the Anglican bishops reasoned. Their report continued: “The unity in Christ between husband and wife that is created sacramentally or covenantally through marriage, building on baptism, should not be put asunder at the Eucharist.”
Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor of Westminster, a noted ecumenist, welcomed the new document. “It indicates the seriousness with which Anglicans and Catholics view the continuing dialogue between us,” he said. “It is a sign of our maturing friendship that with candor and honesty we are able to reflect on disagreements, knowing that they are part of the process which will eventually lead us to full communion.”
Queen chastized for meeting Pope
Royal spokesman gives non-committal response
Britain is being plagued by foot-and-mouth disease, floods, and train crashes because Queen Elizabeth has been consorting with Catholics, according to the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland—which has warned Buckingham Palace about the royal role in the catastrophes.
The church, popularly known as the “Wee Wee Frees,” observes that Britain has suffered a series of Old Testament-style plagues and curses since October when the Queen traveled to the Vatican and met Pope John Paul II. In a letter to Buckingham Palace, John MacLeod, clerk to the Outer Isles Presbytery in Stornoway, said: “Since Your Majesty’s visit to the Vatican, our nation has passed through difficult times and, for our part, we cannot but see the hand of God, for instance, in the floods that have caused so much distress in the areas affected, in the train crashes and the lives lost as a result of them, and not least, the present epidemic of foot-and-mouth disease with so many animals slaughtered.”
Reacting to the eccentric charge, a Buckingham Palace spokesman told the London Times: “The Queen’s meeting with the Pope has been extremely well received with much positive comment from a wide range of opinion. However, the Queen listens carefully to all approaches made by individuals and groups and, if appropriate, would forward views on to government for consideration.”