THE P
RTAL
CofE General Synod Report
August 2018 Page 11 Anglican News
The Portal ’ s special correspondent at the heart of the CofE , the Revd Paul Benfield , reports on the recent meeting
General Synod met at York University from Friday 6 th to Tuesday 10 th July . This seemed to be an awfully long time to achieve not a great deal . On Saturday , formal business ended at lunch time and the afternoon was spent in optional seminars for those who wished to attend them . Many did not and preferred to watch the football World Cup Quarter Final on the big screen in the main hall . Had this not been on I would have gone to the National Railway Museum .
The seminars were partly to placate those who want to talk endlessly about sex and sexuality and who would otherwise not have been able to , since the Business Committee has ‘ parked ’ all motions on this topic until the House of Bishops teaching document is published – probably not until 2020 .
At the opening session , we heard two speakers from the Anglican Communion , The Most Revd Humphrey Peters ( Bishop of Peshawar and Moderator and Primate of the Church of Pakistan ) and The Most Revd Albert Chama ( Archbishop and Primate of the Church of the Province of Central Africa ). The former gave a harrowing account of the oppression of Christians in parts of Pakistan .
Questions on the Friday produced the usual variety of subjects . In answer to a question from Vivienne Goddard of the Catholic Group the Archbishop of York stated that from November 2014 to June 2018 there had been appointed 14 women bishops , 3 women deans and 20 women archdeacons . In the same period there had been appointed two bishops who do not ordain women and no deans or archdeacons who are unable for theological reasons to accept the priestly ministry of women .
Mrs April Alexander questioned the fact that there were people on the Crown Nominations Commission who oppose the consecration of women , causing a higher bar for women compared to men . The Archbishop of York replied that the CNC had nominated women to 40 % of diocesan sees considered since November 2014 and that members of the Commission must confirm that they are committed to the mutual flourishing of all the traditions of the Church of England and thus to the Five Guiding Principles .
I asked two questions about Lowest Income Communities grants paid to 26 dioceses . We were
informed that in 2017 the grants amounted to £ 24 million in total and ranged from £ 1,813,761 paid to Manchester and £ 151,610 paid to Europe . I asked what monitoring was done to ensure that the funding actually reached the lowest income communities and not used for the benefit of all communities and parishes . I was told that dioceses were asked to describe their current approach and list parishes which receive support . There is concern that the money is not actually reaching the places it should .
In response to a question from Stephen Hogg , the Bishop of Ely , confirmed that the legal advice given in the Guidelines for the Professional Conduct of the Clergy ( 2015 ) ( to which I referred last month in this column ) remains the Church ’ s official position on the ministry of absolution . In other words , the seal of the confessional remains the law of the land . The direction given by the Bishop of Dover to clergy in the Canterbury Diocese that they must say before hearing a confession :
“ If you touch on any matter in your confession that raises a concern about the wellbeing or safeguarding of another person or yourself , I am duty bound to pass that information on to the relevant agencies , which means that I am unable to keep such information confidential .”
This remains on the diocesan website . It does seem odd that the Archbishop of Canterbury allows his Suffragan Bishop to publish a direction in his diocese which is contrary to the law of the land . Though clergy owe canonical obedience to the diocesan bishop , this only includes directions which are ‘ lawful and honest ’. This is not a lawful direction and can be ignored by clergy .
Other matters discussed will be included in next month ’ s column .