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To: marshmallow; bboop; Cicero; All
To my intense surprise and relief, I was too pessimistic:

Synod votes against women bishops

Sadly, the Other Side gets as many bites at the apple as it wants, so we will be here again sooner than we would like.

9 posted on 11/20/2012 10:40:40 AM PST by jboot (This isn't your father's America. Stay safe and keep your powder dry.)
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To: jboot

I understand your fears, but I don’t think you need to worry about this one.

There was a two-thousand year history of only male priests and bishops in the Church, which made it pretty clear. Since it was taken for granted, no pope had pronounced on the matter ex-Cathedra, which gave the dissidents an opening.

But then JP II spoke specifically on the matter in one of his Encyclicals. No woman priests. That puts an end to the question, because once something has been said ex-cathedra, it cannot be reversed. It could be clarified or amplified, but what he said was clear enough to put the matter beyond further doubt.

There are no such rules in the Anglican Church, so a reversal is always possible, I’m afraid. But they are worried about losing all the Anglicans in Africa and other countries where the faith has remained more traditional, so I think they’ll be very hesitant to go ahead with this and see a further huge loss to their communion.


10 posted on 11/20/2012 12:23:40 PM PST by Cicero (Marcus Tullius)
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