As a priest in the Diocese of Quincy who agrees with the diocesan position on the ordination of women to the priesthood and episcopate, I would like to respond to the Viewpoint article by Fr. Throop [TLC, June 6].

As Fr. Throop noted, the present policy and practice of the church dates from 1976. So, even though it is more than 30 years old, it is still comparatively young in the life of the holy Catholic Church, which is our primary church commitment.

Further, when it was finally passed, it was adopted as a permissible practice, and the House of Bishops has since repeatedly assured those who disagree with it that they are not disloyal Episcopalians for doing so. The 1994 General Convention stated that those on both sides of this issue hold "recognized" theological positions.

So from my point of view a practice that to my knowledge wasn't even discussed in my seminary training in the early '50s and for years afterwards, and which has been the cause of estrangement within the Episcopal Church and the whole Anglican Communion and relations with Rome and Orthodoxy, it is now regarded by many in the Episcopal Church as the final test of orthodoxy.

I find this intolerable and almost unbelievable. At the same time, I recognize that those women whom the Episcopal Church has ordained have a rightful grievance against us. We don't accept their ordination that the church in which they and we belong has declared valid. Like Fr. Throop in his sympathy for us, I feel sympathy for them in their hurt. The truth seems to be that since this practice has been added, none of us can be free of injustice.

(The Rev.) James E. Marshall

St. Jude's Church

Princeton, Ill.