Melvyn Bragg
About 30 years ago it was decided in the Church of England that it was fine for
women to be priests and bishops, and yet here we are still debating whether they
can be bishops with a – and it's going to be debated again next month. Why has
it taken so long?
Archbishop
I guess it’s partly because the church tends to move only when there is more
than just a minimum consensus on this. And the consensus about the ordination
of women as priests was not, I think, as big as some people would have liked
it to be. It’s taken longer for it to - to be accepted, even when the vote had
been taken. And inevitably, if you want a high degree of consensus, it’s going
to take some time. The arguments haven’t gone away. So, when it comes to women
bishops a lot of the old arguments are still there, and for some people are stronger
than ever because a step like this will create arguably more problems in our
- our inter-church conversations.
Melvyn Bragg
There are other countries inside the Anglican communion, where women are bishops,
and the word lagging has been used of the Anglican church in this country. There's
a huge – 39 out of 43 diocesan bishops are supposed to be in favour, the majority
of the laity – 90%. These are the figures on this sheet of paper, so they must
be true [Laughter]. So that seems to be fairly substantial and conclusive?
Archbishop
It still leaves I think a quite significant body of clergy who’ve got anxieties
about it, and who feel themselves more in the front line on this. I think with
a number of other people I would instinctively say, if it takes a bit longer
to make the decision, but the decision when it’s made really is firmly made,
that’s probably better in the long run for everyone. But it doesn’t feel like
that I think for people who - who sense the Church dragging its feet. And I,
you know, I hear a great deal of this from women who are anxious and almost feel
betrayed by the slow pace.
Melvyn Bragg
Does it help the cause of this that evidence is now - fairly recent evidence
is now available to show that women exercised quite substantial authority in
the early church?
Archbishop
That’s a can of worms as a scholarly issue. And I think what’s tempting is to
project back onto the early Church a structure and a system exactly like ours.
Certainly women exercised authority in some areas and throughout the Middle Ages,
of course, exercised huge authority through Monastic networks. Teresa of Avila
is a much more important figure in 16th century Spain than most of the Spanish
Bishops whose names have been forgotten! But some would say, - and that’s the
point - that there’s not just one kind of authority, or one kind of liberty in
the Church; if women exercised immense authority in the early church, was it
the same kind as we now associate with bishops? That’s the argument. I don’t
think myself it’s conclusive but that’s where it’s coming from.
Melvyn Bragg
Can you see a time when a woman will be Archbishop of Canterbury?
Archbishop
If the Church of England decides to ordain women as bishops then I think it
would be very difficult to, to restrict that. But that brings in the other
question of course of the Anglican Communion, and what would be the critical
mass of support for women bishops in the Anglican Communion that would make
it possible to have a woman Archbishop of Canterbury. So while I might not
personally see any theological objection, I can see quite a lot of hurdles
to be overcome there.
END