On Sunday, the first Sunday I have not been working for weeks, Father Oliver Coss, was compelled, as were all other Anglican priests, to read out a letter from Catholic Bishops, which I confess (and it's the only confession the church will get out of me) raised my hackles and disturbed me for the rest of an inordinately long mass. The content began by aiming to draw the church back to the dark old days when church and monarch were inextricably linked. Let me remind people it was this kind of mentality that led to the Birmingham Riots of 1791.
The letter then went on to oppose the ordination of women priests. Please, the church has to move with the times. To my mind the great bonus of ordaining women priests and bishops, especially after Sunday's missive, is that there is a chance of getting rid of the fuddy-duddy old flatulents that put this letter together. Let's get one or two things into perspective. Women in the church have as much right to female counsel as men have to male counsel. Our monarch, who it appears these traditionalists are pleased to have as head of the church, is a woman. So the head of the Church of England can be a woman, but not priests and bishops. This misplaced misogyny of, I hope, a couple of handfuls of bishops cannot be tolerated in a progressive church. And if the church is not progressive it will alienate people, and I will be one of those alienated.
The Queen is the head of the Church of England. But she is no more a God than the Emperor Claudius or Rodrigo Borgia. Neither are bishops. Enough said!
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