Australian Bishop May Ordain Women Priests
Episcopal News Service. January 24, 1992 [92020A]
An Australian Anglican bishop says that he intends to ordain 11 women deacons to the priesthood on February 2 despite his primate's plea to defer action until the July meeting of the church's triennial General Synod. The Rt. Rev. Owen Dowling, bishop of Canberra and Goulburn, says his action could be based on legislation adopted by his diocese in 1989. The Australian church's highest legal body, the Appellate Tribunal, recently ruled that women's ordination could be constitutionally sanctioned only through passage of a General Synod canon. The tribunal, however, was equivocal on the question of whether diocesan legislation could in itself provide sufficient authorization. "My understanding of Christ's message is that discrimination against women in the exercise of Christian ministry would be wrong," Dowling said. "It has taken nearly 2,000 years for the church to realize this, just as it took 1,800 years to realize that slavery is wrong in God's sight." Anti-ordination groups are expected to challenge Dowling's plans in the civil courts.