Bishop Trelease Endorses EDS Action
Diocesan Press Service. April 23, 1975 [75146]
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- The Rt. Rev. Richard M. Trelease, Episcopal Bishop of the Diocese of the Rio Grande, has endorsed the hiring of two ordained women priests by the Episcopal Divinity School, Cambridge, Mass.
In a letter to school deans, Bishop Trelease said, "You have my support and my respect for your willingness to take this stand. "
The two women were among those ordained last year in Philadelphia in violation of Episcopal Canon Law. In his letter, Bishop Trelease recognized the seminaries as independent institutions of the church and as having responsibility for leadership and prophecy.
He said, "There is no possible way divinity schools could prophesy to the church without crossing some sacred boundaries and embarrassing some people within the church. "
The women priests have been extended full faculty membership with the right to celebrate Holy Communion.
(Note: The two women are the Rev. Carter Heyward, New York, and the Rev. Suzanne Hiatt, Pennsylvania. WHB)