Women Bishops in England

The Liturgical Curmedgeon has hit another one out of the ball park in his excellent, readable and short (yes it really is) five part series on the angst of those opposed to the ordination of women Bishops as approved in England (which still won't happen for many years unfortunately).

Read it starting here.

Make haste less slowly!

Only the English can come up with something like this!

Make haste less slowly...

The hon. Member for Middlesbrough, representing the Church Commissioners, was asked—

Livings (Crown Patronage)

7. Robert Key (Salisbury) (Con): How many livings in the Church of England are under the patronage of the Crown; and how many of the incumbents of those livings are women. [204058]

The Second Church Estates Commissioner (Sir Stuart Bell): There are approximately 650 parochial appointments in the gift of the Crown, of which patronage for around 450 is exercised on the Crown’s behalf by the Lord Chancellor. In some cases, the patronage right is shared in turn with other patrons of the benefice; 103 of those appointments are held by women.

Robert Key: There is clearly still some way to go. Does the hon. Gentleman agree with me that it really is time that the Church of England stopped discriminating against 50 per cent. of the human race when it comes to episcopal appointments? Can he imagine this House finding it expedient to agree to any Measure from Synod that sought to discriminate against women, in the hope that it was going to allow women bishops in the Church of England—but not at any price?

Sir Stuart Bell: I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his comments. He will remember that this House voted almost unanimously, but certainly overwhelmingly, for women priests way back in 1992. Given that he is a member of the General Synod, he will know that in July it will look at the options for progressing the ordination of women as bishops, informed by the recently published report of the legislative drafting group, chaired by the Bishop of Manchester. This House—in its majority, I think—supports women bishops and we urge the Church in this case to make haste less slowly.

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	The Episcopal Public Policy Network Policy Alert
Dear Robert, "Violence against women is perhaps the most shameful human rights violation. And it is perhaps the most pervasive. It knows no boundaries of geography, culture or wealth. As long as it continues, we cannot claim to be making real progress towards equity, development and peace." – Kofi Annan, former Secretary General of the United Nations Did you know that one out of every three women around the world will be abused – physically, sexually or otherwise – during her lifetime? In some developing countries, rates of violence against women are as high as 70 percent, with social norms often giving women few options for escaping the cycle of abuse. None of this has to be so. Violence against women is totally preventable, and there are proven strategies for combating its prevalence in the developing world. A new, bipartisan bill in the U.S. Congress – The International Violence Against Women Act (IVAWA) – would, for the first time, comprehensively incorporate these strategies into U.S. foreign-aid programs. The bill (S.2279, H.R. 5927) devotes $1 billion to create a five-year strategy to combat violence against women around the world. (Click here to learn about IVAWA and how it would work.) Violence against women not only fundamentally violates human dignity and destabilizes families and communities; it also serves as a significant deterrent in the fight to end deadly global poverty and achieve the Millennium Development Goals. Violence and abuse keep women from getting an education, working, and earning the income they need to lift their families out of poverty. Violence also poses a barrier to combating public-health epidemics that affect women and children disproportionately, like HIV/AIDS and malaria. In Nicaragua, for example, a study found that children of female victims of violence left school an average of four years earlier than other children. In India a survey revealed that women who experienced even a single incident of violence lost an average of seven working days: the difference between survival and starvation for their families. TAKE ACTION: The International Violence Against Women Act has bipartisan backing in both the House and the Senate, but in order to be acted upon in this Congress, it needs a large number of cosponsors. The Senate bill has only 16 and the House is just being introduced. Click here to send a message to your Senators and Representative, asking them to work to ensure IVAWA's passage, and – if they have not already done so – to sign on as cosponsors. Forward this message to a friend, HERE.