Archbishop: No theological objections to women bishops

Monday, 20 June 2005 12:00 AM

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has said that he sees no "theological objections" to the ordinance of women as bishops.

The ordinance of women as bishops is one of the thorniest issues in the Anglican Church.

In an interview on ITV, Dr Williams said: "If the Church of England decides to ordain women as bishops then I think it would be difficult to restrict that.

"But that brings in 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."

On homosexuality, the Archbishop acknowledged many Christians still held hostile views.

He said the church faced a thorny dilemma on how to balance the sanctity of marriage and the rights of gays.

"One is the sort of hesitation which many people quite rightly feel about moving too quickly to a new scheme which might jeopardise what's said about marriage," he added.

"And the other is, if you like, plain prejudice and bigotry about homosexuality as such, of which there is an awful lot in Christian circles."

Meanwhile, the new Archbishop of York, John Sentamu, told the BBC he wished to banish homophobia from the Church of England.

The Church of England's first black archbishop said homophobia had "no place" in the Church and called for critics to refrain from "ghastly" language that suggested gays were "not human beings".

Tags: