home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search
- THE WEEK, Page 29SOCIETYA Summit on Women
-
-
- The Pope holds fast against ordaining female members of the
- clergy
-
-
- The Church of England is consumed with a landmark vote,
- scheduled next November, on whether to allow women priests. That
- innovation deeply divides the worldwide Anglican Communion, in
- which 14 of 34 branches now ordain women to the priesthood. The
- same issue clouded the ecumenical scene last week when
- Anglicanism's Primate, Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey,
- visited Rome for his first summit meeting with Pope John Paul.
- Carey, who did not repeat his publicized objections to Rome's
- hard line on birth control, emerged to describe the encounter
- of nearly one hour as "excellent, excellent."
-
- Cordiality aside, women's ordination turned out to be a
- big sticking point. The official communique stated that
- Archbishop Carey deemed the practice "a possible and proper
- development," while John Paul said it "constitutes a grave
- obstacle to the whole process of Anglican-Roman Catholic
- reconciliation." The Pope's latest warning on women, however,
- will do nothing to dissuade yes votes in England or elsewhere.
- For one thing, lingering hopes for Anglican-Catholic reunion
- were dashed last December by a significant Vatican pronouncement
- that ruled out any compromise on the powers of the papacy.
-
-
-
-
-
-