Reactions to the Statement

The Chairman of Credo Cymru, Forward in Faith Wales, The Revd Alan Rabjohns, commenting on the statement yesterday that the Bench of Bishops would not be appointing a replacement Provincial Assistant Bishop, said

‘This is a disappointing and sad statement. We particularly regret that it comes from an incomplete Bench, giving those to be appointed to the dioceses of Bangor and St Asaph over the next months no say in the matter. We reject the claim that such an appointment is unnecessary and do not regard what was said yesterday as the final word on this subject.’

Fr Geoffrey Kirk, on behalf of Forward in Faith U.K., said this

“The decision of the House of Bishops of the Church in Wales to discontinue the role of Provincial Assistant Bishop for those who in conscience cannot accept the ordination of women to the priesthood and the episcopate will have inevitable consequences in the Church of England. We are repeatedly told that the future for those opposed to women’s ordination is one of trust in provisions made and confidence that our position will be respected and upheld by the majority. To describe the role of a Provincial Assistant bishop – one effectively brokered by the Archbishop of Canterbury when he was Bishop of Monmouth - as ‘unnecessary and inconsistent with Anglican ecclesiology’, as the Archbishop of Wales has done, is deliberately to undermine both that trust and Dr Williams’ leadership of the Anglican Communion during this time of crisis.”