RPTs
COMMENTS ON
APPOINTMENT OF SARAH MULLALLY BISHOP OF LONDON
The
admission of
women to Episcopal ministry in the Church of England makes it
substantially
difficult for Orthodox Christians to conduct dialogue with
Anglicans, the
secretary for Inter-Christian Relations of the Department of
External Church
Relations (OVTsS) of the Moscow patriarchate, Hieromonk Stefan,
told RIA
Novosti on Tuesday, commenting on the appointment of Sarah
Mullally bishop of
London.
On
Monday it was
learned that a woman is for the first time heading the London
diocese, a former
nurse, Sarah Mullally. Mullally was confirmed in the position of
bishop of
London by Elizabeth II, who is queen of Great Britain and at the
same time head
of the Church of England. The bishop of London is the third most
important
clergy position in the Anglican hierarchy, after the archbishops
of Canterbury
and York.
"The
fundamental
decision to admit women to the episcopal ministry was made by
the
Church of England back on 14 July 2014. The Russian Orthodox
Church immediately
reacted to it with an official declaration, which noted that it
has received
said decision with alarm and disappointment, inasmuch as such
practice
contradicts centuries-old church tradition that arose in the
original Christian
community," Hieromonk Stefan said.
He
said that the
statement by the Moscow patriarchate emphasized that "such a
decision is
dictated not by the needs of the church but by the attempt to
follow the
secular idea of equality of the sexes." "At the same time it is
obvious that the path of secularization of Christianity leads to
the departure
from it of many believers who, on the contrary, strive to find a
spiritual
anchor in the unshakeable evangelical values and apostolic
traditions
established by the eternal and immutable God," the
representative of OVTsS
noted.
The
news
agency's interlocutor also added that "back in 2014 the Russian
Orthodox
Church stated that the decision to elevate women to the
episcopal dignity makes
it substantially difficult for Orthodox Christians to conduct
the dialogue with
Anglicans that has development over the course of many decades."
The first woman bishop in the Church of England was an Oxford graduate, Libby Lane. Mullally is the third woman to head a diocese. (tr. by PDS, posted 20 December 2017)
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