Anglican-Roman Catholic Consultation Issues Statement on Ordination of Women
Diocesan Press Service. November 7, 1975 [75381]
NEW YORK, N.Y. -- The members of the U.S. Anglican -Roman Catholic (ARC) consultation have issued a statement which says that a "divergence " on the issue of the ordination of women to the priesthood by the two communions "would not lead to ARC's termination or to the abandonment of its declared goal. "
In a joint statement following a consultation on October 21-24 at Erlanger, Ky., the Episcopal and Roman Catholic theologians noted that women's ordination "has become an increasingly pressing issue in our churches. "
This is the second statement issued by the consultation in a week. In an Agreed Statement on the Purpose of the Church, issued on October 31, the 17 Episcopal and Roman Catholic theologians of the ARC consultation said "insofar as it faithfully preaches the Gospel of salvation, celebrates the sacraments, and manifests the love of God in service, the Church becomes more perfectly one with the risen Christ."
Noting that both the Episcopal and Roman Catholic communions have traditionally limited ordinations to the priesthood and episcopate to men only, the ARC statement says that a change in this practice by either church "would inevitably raise the question of its effect upon the goal of full communion and organic unity," the declared goal of the discussions which was affirmed by ARC in 1969.
"If this goal is thought of as requiring uniformity in doctrine and discipline concerning candidates for ordination," the statement points out, "the problem would indeed be a serious one." However, the theologians say, "accepting diversity as a gift of the Holy Spirit who endows churches as well as individuals with varied gifts " might lead the two churches to "accept and even cherish 'varieties of service '... among churches. "
"The ecumenical task," the statement says, "is to inquire whether one church can fully recognize another in the midst of differences.... Even the things we do not agree with in each other's traditions may have something to teach us about God's will for his people. We proceed in the faith and hope that the Spirit is leading us into unity." The ARC statement on women's ordination, like all previous papers by the group, carries "only the authority of participants" in the consultation.
The General Convention of the Episcopal Church, which meets in Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minn., September 11-23, 1976, is expected to consider canonical changes which would permit the ordination of women to the priesthood and the episcopate if approved. The ARC statement notes that "the leadership of the Roman Catholic Church has recently reaffirmed its position that only men are to be ordained to the priesthood." The statement cites a June 1975 report by the consultation which indicates that "official pronouncements give no indication of any expectation of change in the current position of the Roman Catholic Church on this issue in the immediate future. "
The ARC statement emphasizes that its purpose "is not to propose what either church should do, but to place the question within the context of agreed statements already Issued" by the U.S. and the international consultations of the two communions. The statement referred particularly to the Windsor Agreed Statement on Eucharistic Doctrine (1971) and the Canterbury Statement on Ministry and Ordination (1973).
While citing biblical support for "the fundamental equality of men and women," the ARC statement nevertheless points out that according to the New Testament record, "Jesus chose only males to be apostles." The statement says that while "women are now serving as Christ's ministers in many new ways," it must be noted that "the role of presiding at the Eucharist has not been opened to women in the practice of either church. "
" The fact that the church has continued to ordain only males to the priesthood is a weighty precedent," the ARC theologians say. But it is necessary to "explore the reasons " for the acceptance of Jesus' model as recorded in the New Testament "to determine whether it holds for all time or is capable of change when cultural evolution presents new possibilities for witness to the Gospel. "
"Both our churches agree," the ARC statement says, "that no individual has an inherent right to be ordained priest." On the other hand, it says, "the exclusion a priori of a large class of persons from this ministry must be justified by cogent arguments. " The theologians note that if the two communions "are to change their agelong practice, ... the claim that there is no strong reason against the ordination of women must be reinforced by strong arguments for it. "
No matter what either church does about changing the traditional practice, the document says, "whether a change is advocated or a tradition affirmed, adequate theological reflection is necessary on the part of all concerned, because a decision of either sort would involve a response to a question never before raised in this way." Whether the traditional practice of an all-male priesthood is changed or maintained, the ARC statement affirms, " in both our churches there is a growing realization that women should have a more effective voice in all areas of church life, befitting their dignity as human persons made in the image and likeness of God. "
The theologians from the two churches point out that "there is a particular urgency for mutual consultation before important decisions are taken by either of the two churches. " This consultation, however, "must not interfere with the interacting roles of prophecy and authority within either church, " they emphasize. The Spirit, they say, "distributing diverse gifts at will, at times manifests itself to the entire body through the prophetic witness of a few, for the sake of the whole. " Such witness, they conclude, is to be encouraged and promoted.
Cochairmen of the ARC consultations are the Most Rev. Charles H. Helmsing, Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, and the Rt. Rev. Arthur A. Vogel, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of West Missouri (Kansas City). Other Roman Catholic members of ARC are the Most Rev. William W. Baum, Archbishop of Washington (D.C.); Sister Sara Butler, Mobile, Ala.; the Rev. Allan Laubenthal, Cleveland, Ohio; the Rev. Herbert J. Ryan, S.J., Los Angeles, Calif.; the Rev. Georges Tavard, Delaware, Ohio; the Very Rev. Frederick M. Jelly, O.P., Washington, D.C.; the Most Rev. Raymond W. Lessard, Bishop of Savannah; and the Most Rev. Daniel E. Pilarczyk, Cincinnati, Ohio. Staff members are the Rev. John F. Hotchkin and the Rev. John Peter Sheehan, both of Washington, D.C.
The other Episcopal members of the consultation are the Rt. Rev. William Weinhauer, Bishop of Western North Carolina; the Rt. Rev. David B. Reed, Bishop of Kentucky; the Rev. Warner Traynham, Hanover, N.H.; the Rev. Charles Winters, Jr., Sewanee, Tenn.; the Rev. J. Robert Wright, New York, N.Y.; Mr. Peter Day, ecumenical officer, New York, N.Y.; and Mrs. Sherman Johnson, Mansfield, Ohio. Dr. George A. Shipman, Freedland, Wash., is a consultant.
[For attached statement, please contact the Archives. --Ed.]