c. 2008 Religion News Service

(UNDATED) When Anglican bishops unpack memories of their 2008 Lambeth Conference, one recollection they will handle gingerly is that of the archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, humbly accepting their standing ovation at its onset.

That was before things got nasty.

Some calls for Williams’ resignation even circulated in the halls of the University of Kent, where 650 bishops and their spouses spent three weeks considering what it means to be Anglican.

The conference, held every 10 years in Canterbury, calls together bishops of the worldwide Anglican Communion. Some 230 Anglican bishops from the so-called “Global South” refused to attend, while others, including openly gay Episcopal Bishop V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, were not invited.

The problems facing Anglicanism are on every religion’s laundry list. The constellation of issues forms an interesting pattern, and Catholics and other Christians might connect the dots and see an outline of their own controversies.

Meanwhile, in decoding Lambeth, the world’s 77 million Anglicans will see considerations that matter to the rest of Christianity, and should remember that what happens in Lambeth doesn’t necessarily stay in Lambeth.

Broadly speaking, there are two Anglican factions: conservatives, who want the church to be more in line with their understanding of constant Christian tradition, and liberals, who say Christian teachings require an expanded response to contemporary life.

The two sides often meet in the middle on issues of world hunger, poverty and human rights, to name a few. Yet on other questions, typically involving women and sexuality, responses range from the historical to the hysterical.

One of the most neuralgic items on the Lambeth agenda was the recent decision to allow women bishops within Anglicanism’s mother church, the Church of England. A major speaker on the topic was Cardinal Walter Kasper _ that’s Catholic Cardinal Walter Kasper _ who said what you’d expect: women bishops would fracture ecumenical discussions.

What is the Vatican’s concern? This is, after all, nothing new. In 1896, Pope Leo XIII made it quite clear in a document titled Apostolicae Curiae that Anglican orders are invalid. So if nothing happens when Anglican bishops ordain any person, male or female, what’s the big deal if they add more women to the mix?

Is Rome afraid the next archbishop of Canterbury, or the next, will be female?

Catholic opposition to Anglican woman bishops was foretold in 1993 in Vermont, where the St. Michael’s College chapel is the largest worship space in the state. When the Rev. Mary Adelia R. McLeod was elected the third female Episcopal bishop in the U.S., the Episcopal Diocese of Vermont asked St. Michael’s to use the space for her consecration. After all, in 1986 the Catholic bishop let them consecrate Episcopal Bishop Daniel Swenson there. First it seemed on, then someone got cold feet. McLeod was consecrated in a downtown Burlington theater instead.

Things have not changed on the Catholic side of the street. The presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church is a woman, Katharine Jefferts Schori. For whatever reason, she was not visible at formal events when Pope Benedict XVI visited New York in April.

And lest you think women bishops are now fully accepted within Anglicanism, know that the Church of England’s decision was no cakewalk. Some proposed a separate “flying” jurisdiction to let those who disagreed with woman bishops stay in their conservative cocoons. Williams was torn by the prospect: “I am deeply unhappy with any scheme or any solution to this which ends up, as it were, structurally humiliating women who might be nominated,” he said.

At the end, despite Rome’s pressure and significant internal disagreement, things went well for women in the Church of England. Within a few years, women will likely be elected bishops, and honest joy at the recognition of their humanity and dignity will be captured in a happy post-election phrase: “It’s a girl!”

(Phyllis Zagano is senior research associate-in-residence at Hofstra University and author of several books in Catholic Studies.)

KRE/PH END ZAGANO700 words

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