Archbishop Calls for Women Bishops

Churches should allow women priests to become bishops, the leader of the Anglican Church in Wales has urged.

Archbishop Barry Morgan, a strong supporter of women priests, expressed his views to the Church in Wales's powerful governing body during its annual conference at the University of Wales in Swansea.

The Archbishop maintains ordaining women as bishops is the "only logical step" for the Church in Wales to take after allowing female priests. A final decision on whether to allow the move is expected in a year's time.

Women priests were first allowed in the Church in Wales 10 years ago and the Archbishop of Wales, Dr Morgan, said he was "totally convinced" by the theological arguments for the ordination of women bishops.

He said: "On the human side, the priest/bishop represents the Christian community to God and since the community consists of women as well as men, it is right that it [the episcopate] should be open to women as well as men.

"On the divine side since the priest/bishop represents the risen Christ who redeemed both men and women, ordaining women is a testimony to that redemptive inclusiveness.

Dr Morgan said he did not personally see how the Church could "logically exclude" women from being bishops "though I recognise that I live in a church where not everyone
agrees with me".

The Archbishop also said that women priests, and their supporters - including himself - had been victims of discrimination in the church over the last decade.

"Discrimination may not be intentional but it does happen and it has happened to me simply because of the views that I hold on women priests.

In his address to the church meeting Dr Morgan went further to claim prejudice against women was "ingrained in our societies and cultures, including religion".

Dr Morgan called for more women to be represented in the structures of the Church in Wales, something which is already under review.

He said: "It surely cannot be right in a church where most of the worshippers are women, only a third of the membership of this governing body consists of women, with two dioceses having no elected women clerics, another just one and a further two dioceses two women each."

Nia Wyn Morris, the rector of Bala in Gwynedd, welcomed the Archbishop's call.

She said: "If women are ordained deacons, and they can be priests, there is no excuse for women with the ability to do the job not to be ordained bishops."

Rev Morris warned the church was in for a "rude awakening "and said it was an organisation which was "meant to promote equality and clearly was not doing so".

"It's time they made decisions rather than speaking about them," she said.