Women Bishops &
Modern Patriarchy JOSH KITTO
T
he General Synod’s vote last week to allow women bishops has broader significance beyond the Church of England. It’s not simply about the Church ‘catching up’ to secular institutions in allowing women leaders: there are broader questions about patriarchy in general and the British constitution. Questions about the CofE’s role in public life can only be coherently engaged with if this broader context is appreciated. The famously complex legislative process requiring two-thirds approval in each of the Synod’s three houses stalled the approval of women bishops. But the principle of women bishops was agreed in 2006: the debate has concerned the timetabling of implementation, trying to accommodate the Anglo-Catholic and Evangelical dioceses that oppose women bishops. The typically Anglican compromise of ensuring legislative protection to this minority may have threatened the Church’s long-term stability. The complexities of this process mean it is unhelpful to suggest this is a question of secular modernity vs. religious conservatism. While the appointment of 5 women Cabinet ministers out of 24 is described as “historic” 96 years after women first entered Parliament, 32% of CofE clergy are women despite only allowing women deacons in 1987 and women priests in 1994. Admittedly this relies on women as part-time workers rather than full-time clergy, reflecting gendered divisions of labour in secular institutions. But women priesthood was the real revolution
making the vote last Monday inevitable. Feminist pressure convinced the CofE – ‘The Tory Party At Prayer’ – to accept this change. Similarly while opposing same-sex marriage for the sake of Anglican unity now, political realities will ensure the CofE eventually recognises same-sex marriages. The CofE is ultimately a political institution. As with the Catholic Church they are concerned less with women bishops theoretically than the threat posed to bureaucracy and hierarchy in the Church in reality, that married priests or even contraception do not – it involves unqualified men giving up their roles. Though the CofE prioritises short-term Anglican unity above all else, it is not overtly interested in reactionary moralising. They aim to reflect a public morality rather than inner spirituality or abstract evangelical morality. It is effectively already disestablished but seeks to be a force in maintaining democratic balance. However this balance is no longer the holy trinity of British conservatism of maintaining social hierarchy – ‘Flag, Queen and Church’ (in addition to the bishops there is a Queen on the board as well). Though Anglicans still generally vote Tory and Catholic voters overwhelmingly vote Labour, they are also more likely than non-Church attenders to oppose welfare cuts. Partly this is because the bedroom tax is understood as destroying families and communities. But more importantly for the Church, reversing the explosion of food banks or payday loans for example is believed to be of greater importance in