Bishop to lead flock to Rome after synod vote
By Anna Arco
11 July 2008

A senior traditionalist Anglican bishop has urged the Pope and the hierarchy of England and Wales to help Anglo-Catholics convert to Rome following the General Synod's vote to ordain women bishops.

The Bishop of Ebbsfleet, the Rt Rev Andrew Burnham, called for "magnanimous gestures from our Catholic friends, especially from the Holy Father, who well understand our longing for unity and from the hierarchy in England and Wales" as he prepares to lead his flock to Rome in the aftermath of the Church of England's General Synod.

"Most of all we ask for ways that allow us to bring our folk with us," he wrote in an article explaining his position in The Catholic Herald.

Bishop Burnham, one of the "flying bishops" administering to Anglo-Catholics who cannot in conscience accept women priests, has said that codes of practice - the measures granted by the General Synod to traditionalists opposed to women bishops - were "shifting sands" and that "the sacramental life of the Church must be built on a rock".

He said: "How could we trust a code of practice to deliver a workable ecclesiology if every suggestion we have made in our inclusion has been turned down flat? How could we trust a code of practice when those who are offering it include those who have done most to undermine and seek to revoke the code of practice in force for these last 14 years?"

The General Synod voted for women bishops and a code of practice on Monday, rejecting amendments tabled by traditionalists which would have allowed them to have separate legal structures within the Church of England, safeguarding their consciences.

Both the suggestions to have "super bishops" and to create new dioceses to accommodate traditionalists were rejected. Instead a statutory code of practice with unspecified terms was pushed through.

Bishop Burnham, together with another "flying bishop", has been discussing the reception of Anglo-Catholics into the Catholic Church with Cardinal William Levada, head of the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and Cardinal Walter Kasper, who heads the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.

The bishop said he hoped that Rome would be able to make special provisions so that former Anglicans could remain in their parishes guided by Catholic bishops. Most parishes already use the Roman liturgy but allowances may be made for Anglican prayers.

Following the General Synod's vote on the provisions for the ordination of women bishops, the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity issued a statement which said the decision represented a "rupture in the apostolic tradition" and would pose another obstacle for reconciliation between the two communions.

The statement said: "We have learned with regret the news of the vote of the Church of England that opens the road to the introduction of legislation that leads to the ordination of women to the episcopate. The Catholic position was expressed plainly by Pope Paul VI and Pope John Paul II.

"Such a decision means a rupture in the apostolic tradition maintained by all the Churches of the first millennium, and so this is a further obstacle to reconciliation between the Catholic Church and the Church of England.

"This decision will have consequences for future dialogue, that up to now had borne good fruits, as Cardinal Kasper made clear when on June 5, 2006, he spoke to all of the bishops of the Church of England at the invitation of the Archbishop of Canterbury."

Cardinal Kasper is still due to speak at the Lambeth Conference, the meeting of the worldwide Anglican Communion which will meet later this month.

Large numbers of traditionalists left the Church of England for Rome after the 1992 decision to allow women priests The 1993 Act of Synod established a legal structure for the traditionalists, which included the Provincial Episcopal Visitors, the official term for "flying bishops".