Service to mark 10 years of women priests criticised

A church of Ireland canon has objected in strong terms to a "celebration" of the ordination of women planned for Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, next month.

In a letter to the Church of Ireland Primate, Dr Robin Eames, earlier this month, Canon John Crawford, vicar of the St Patrick's Cathedral group of parishes in Dublin, said he was somewhat surprised to receive a circular inviting him to "attend a Eucharist to `celebrate' 10 years of women priests in the Church of Ireland on September 3rd at which you [Dr Eames] are advertised as the preacher".

He continued: "I had the distinct impression, from the way you chaired the vote at the General Synod in 1990, that this kind of triumphalism was not to be the way we did things in the Church of Ireland with regard to the issue of the ordination of women to the priesthood and the episcopate."

That, he said, was one of the key factors which had persuaded him to remain in the ministry of the Church of Ireland.

There would be "no Eucharist held by those who dissent on this issue to mark this anniversary", he said. He believed that those in the church who were opposed to the ordination of women had behaved impeccably over the past decade, despite the debacle in 1991 arising from the House of Bishops' pastoral statement, Recognition Of Diversities Of Conviction Among Faithful Members Of The Church Of Ireland.

In view of the Eucharist to be held next month, he felt that the House of Bishops might consider reissuing that pastoral statement with suitable comment to remind the members of the Church of Ireland that it was still in force and to give pastoral support to those who were still opposed to the ordination of women.

He added: "This would recognise the reality of the impairment of communion which exists in the Church of Ireland."

Speaking to The Irish Times, Canon Crawford estimated that about 10 per cent of Church of Ireland clergy still dissented from the decision to ordain women. He felt that such people should have their dissent formally recognised within church structures, as was the case in England and Wales.

In England, "flying bishops" looked after dissenters, while in Wales a "visiting bishop" did the same. Such recognition made it easier for dissenters to feel that they were fully in communion with the church, Canon Crawford said.

His own objection to the ordination of women was rooted in his belief that the Anglican Church was "just a small part of the universal church", of which the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox were the larger churches. Neither of the latter churches had plans to ordain women yet, he said. But if the Western church as a whole was to agree to such ordination, he would have no problem with it.

He accepted that the issue was now a fait accompli in the case of the Church of Ireland, but his concern was that the right to dissent from the ordination of women should be properly incorporated within the church.