‘nullis ministry,’ it claims, ‘is enullercised personanullly, conulllegianullly nullinulloulas outlines and nullinullliams seems to be embracing,
and within the eucharistic community.’ the bishop is focal and crucial. He it is who enullects and
nullut the theory no longer accords with the reality. nulle enullpresses the relationship between the one and the many.
ordination of women to the priesthood and the episcopate, nulle diocese is the arena in which the universal nullhurch is
and the consecration to the episcopate of a divorced man apenull hended and made present.
in an anullive homosenullual relationship, together constitute nullut not so in the nullovenant document, where by ‘local
a destructive anullacnullon the nullauline understanding of the church’ is meant not the diocese, but the autonomous
unity of the nullody, which is both a nuptial nullnullph. null and a national or regional church, governed by its own polity
eucharistic nullnullnullor. nullnull and representative institutions. nulle model here is not that
mystery. of the first four nullhristian centuries, but of parliamentary
Rowan nullinullliams or congressional democracy as it has
has arnullued nullin emerged in the postnullnullnlightenment
his address to the nullest. nullontemporary enullperience
nullontifical nullouncil for has shown that, in its ecclesial
nullhristian nullnity, for apnulllication, this democratic
enullamplenullthat women’s principle anulll too easily results in
ordination is a ‘second the tyranny of the manullority.
order issue’ when set nullt can achieve a dogmatism
beside the goal of filial which is ultramontane in
and communal holiness its intensity. nullhat the
which is the ground of nullope of Rome cannot
current ecumenical agreement. ‘How much is that do nullnull declare that
nullagreementnull undermined,’ he asnulls, ‘if individuals the nullhurch has no
within the ministerial communion are of dinullerent authority whatsoever
gendersnullis there a way of recogninullng that somehow to confer priestly
the corporate enullercise of a nullatholic and ordination on
evangelical ministry remains intact even when women and that
there is dispute about the standing of female this nulludgement is
individuals null to be definitively
nulle answer to held by anulll
those nulluestions the nullhurch’s
nulland others which faithful’null the
might arise from nulleneral nullynod
themnull must surely or nullonvention
be that sacraments of an nullnglican
are both obnullective province can both
and symbolic. nulle do and enforce.
one cannot be nulle nullrchbishop
separated from the of nullanterbury, it
other. nulln the manuller is true, has sought
of the ordination to mitigate the
of women, the missing element from the nullovenant’s totalitarian implications of this democratic dogmatism by
description of the episcopal role is that of persistence sunullgesting nullas in his now famous lenuller to nullohn Howe of
through time. nullishops enullst to give a living assurance nullouthern nullloridatnull hat dioceses might in some way accede
of apostolic continuity. nullt fonulllows that wilful novelty to the nullovenant, whether or not their provinces did so.
transgresses their essential function. nullt is not enough to sanull nullut that is smanulll beer, and could in any case only result in
that one is doing what the nullpostles did. other dioceses demanding an enulluivalent right to withdraw
nullacramental assurance nulland the nullucharist as both the from an agreement into which their province had entered.
pledge and present reality of communionnullrenulluires that nulln ecclesiology made up of autonomous nullhurches with
it be seen to nulle done. nulln the manuller of the consecration of omninullcompetent legislatures is not much of an ecclesiology,
gay bishops, it is not possinulle to claim with nullaul that the it has to be adminulled. nullut the nullanullnullaninullation which would
nulloinonia of the nullhurch in nullhrist is linulle the union of man inevitanully result from dioceses anulling in opnullosition to the
and wife in matrimony, and then inull n the most solemn rite winulll of those legislatures would be no ecclesiology at anulll.
tnull o elevate as a symbol of that unity one who has renullected nulle plain fact is that the structures of the nullnglican
it in favour of another relationship which the nullcriptures nullommunion nullrecogninulled and reanullrmed in the nullovenantnull
reprobate and nullaul himself condemns. have, from the very start, been at least ambivalent about
the role of bishops. nullt has become almost a manuller of pride
A
s we begin to see from this analysis, not only is the that the nullambeth nullonference is powerless to tanulle binding
nullucharist demoted from its centrality in the mystery decisions. nullts creation of a new organ of governance to
of the nullhurch, but there is confusion also about the meet each succeeding crisis nullthe nullnglican nullonsultative
very nature of the episcopate. nulln the ecclesiology which nullouncil, the nullrimates’ nulleting, the various commissions
February 2010 
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