The Guardian, Aida Edemariam and Lizzy Davies, 23 November 2012
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| Maria Miller said the Church of England must make its own decision, but hoped it understood the 'strength of feeling' on female bishops. Photograph: David Jones/PA |
Maria Miller, the culture secretary and minister for equalities, has urged the Church
of England to review its internal democracy, describing it as not reflective of
the overwhelming views of its members following its botched attempt to allow
women to become bishops.
In her first
official comments on the issue, which has plunged the established church into
turmoil, Miller told the Guardian it was "extraordinary" and
"very disappointing" that a vote on long-awaited legislation had
failed despite the overwhelming approval of grassroots members.
In a direct
criticism of the way in which the General Synod came to its decision to block
women bishops she says: "If you're going to tackle the problem, I think
the church needs to be answering some of the questions as to why their system
works the way it does, and are they really happy that it's reflective of the
views of their membership. But, as I say, it's important that the church
tackles this."
She adds:
"I think it's extraordinary that the church seems to have ended up in a
situation where a vote that was taken doesn't seem to be reflective of the
overwhelming view of the members of the church."
Her
intervention came as the next archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, signalled his willingness to meet MPs and peers to discuss the crisis.
Miller,
echoing previous comments by David Cameron, said it was up to the church to
tackle its internal problems, urging it to examine the "procedures and
processes" which, she said, led to a result which did not "reflect
the majority will".
Although
female bishops were approved by the majority of dioceses, bishops and clergy,
they were rejected by the laity on Tuesday when put to a vote in the synod, the
church's governing body.
There has
been criticism that the laity in the synod does not reflect the true state of
church feeling. The deanery synods of a diocese choose lay representatives to
the General Synod – the church governing body – by formal election using the
single transferable vote. Critics say these elections are marked by apathy.
Miller
said: "Obviously, it's for the Church of England to run its own procedures
and processes, but I hope that they have heard, loud and clear, the strength of
feeling on this, and that it acts quickly."
A spokesman
for Welby, the bishop of Durham, who is to take over from Rowan Williams as the
archbishop of Canterbury next year, said on Friday that the bishop would be
replying "in support" of a meeting with MPs and Lords to discuss ways
of moving forward with the issue. The suggestion, made by Sir Tony Baldry, the
Tory MP who speaks on behalf of the church in the House of Commons, came after
David Cameron urged the church to "get with the programme", while
insisting parliament had to "respect individual institutions … while
giving them a sharp prod".
For some
MPs, however, that is not enough. They have called on parliament to force the
church to act by removing its exemption from equalities legislation or by
calling into question the future of the 26 bishops who sit in the House of
Lords.
The
government wants the issue of women bishops to be revisited as quickly as
possible, aware of how damaging a drawn-out battle could prove for the
established church. This, however, could prove difficult. Church rules state
that the legislation cannot be brought back in the same form before 2015,
although an unlikely intervention by the so-called Group of Six –
representatives of each of the three houses in the synod including the
archbishops of Canterbury and York – could change that. Senior figures in the
church will have an opportunity to discuss the issue at a meeting of the
archbishops' council in Sheffield next week.
Many
campaigners for female bishops say privately they are concerned that a rushed
return of the legislation in a modified form could result in them having to
vote on a measure that is more concessionary to their opponents and even more
discriminatory. They would prefer to wait and work towards the introduction of
an uncompromising single-clause measure.
"What
a small minority has done is blow up the bridge to any compromise solution. The
consecration of women into the episcopate has been moved from certainty to
inevitability. There is now only one route which must be travelled to that
outcome. That is the route which removes all discriminatory provisions from the
life and ministry of the church," John Gladwin, vice-president of the
women's ordination campaign group Watch and former bishop of Chelmsford, wrote
on Friday. "The work of the leadership of our church will be marginalised
unless that reality is faced. The fog has lifted. Now with clarity and
commitment we must all work to this end."
Amid calls
from some MPs for parliament to intervene in the crisis, the bishop of
Gloucester, Michael Perham, added his voice to those openly questioning whether
the church should retain its exemption from equalities legislation.
In a
statement, the bishop, a leading liberal with links to the US Episcopal church,
said the vote had "brought ridicule" on the church and meant that it
needed to face up to issues such as whether its protection from equality law
was "defensible".
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