Silence on C of I vote

THE vote by the Church of Ireland synod to ordain women to the priesthood met with muted response from the Catholic hierarchy this week.
"This is an internal business matter for the Church of Ireland and we do not make comments on matters when they are not specifically interchurch issues," said Bishop Joseph Duffy of Clogher, spokesman for the Irish bishops.
The vote, by a majority of clergy and lay members of the synod, means that the legislation will be debated at the 1990 meeting. Women priests could be ordained as soon as 1991.
Fr Thomas Corbett, Professor of Dogmatic Theology at Maynooth College in Dublin, pointed out that the Pope's recent documents on the value of women and the laity has stressed the unique role played by women in the Church. "Men and women have complimentary roles but women have not been called to ordination," he added.
The Reverend John O'Neill, Anglican Bishop of Tuam, said that experience of women in a ministry had been positive and acceptance of it was increasing.
However, Anglican observers fear that senior Church of Ireland clergy will leave their church as a result of the decision which has broken with 2,000 years of tradition.