Last winter, I interviewed five of the nuns I had known throughout my years of Catholic schooling for a class project. When I asked one about the idea of female priests, she said, "It's a social issue and there is no argument I can understand which would convince me that women should not be priests. I believe that God's blessing would be fully upon such an ordination."
Some members of the Catholic and Anglican churches, however, do not share this sentiment. Last month, the Vatican announced it would make special allowances for Anglicans and Anglican clergy to join the Roman Catholic Church while retaining some of the liturgy and traditions of the Anglican Church. According to the BBC, the move is an attempt to reach out to conservative Anglicans who are uncomfortable with female and openly gay clergy.
For those of you who missed the first season of Showtime's "The Tudors," the Anglican Church is the product of the Protestant Reformation and has its foundations in King Henry VIII's Church of England. The Episcopal Church is the autonomous province of the Anglican Communion in the United States. Anglicanism has long been considered a bridge between Catholicism and Protestantism, and it shares many traditions and beliefs with the Catholic Church. There are a few major differences, however. For one, Anglicans allow women to be ordained priests and clergy to be married. Furthermore, the Episcopal Church ordained the first openly gay bishop in the Anglican Communion (New Hampshire's Rt. Rev. Gene Robinson), and some clergy will perform same-sex marriages.
The Vatican's move to include conservative Anglicans has both positive and negative aspects that are hard to reconcile. On the one hand, it represents an attempt by Pope Benedict XVI and the Catholic Church to be more inclusive and flexible part of the new rules would allow formerly Anglican clergy to become Catholic clergy and remain married if they already are. It should also be noted that conservative Anglican groups lobbied heavily for their own inclusion, and would remain autonomous under the Catholic Church's umbrella. Most importantly, the announcement represents the continual work on the parts of Catholics and Anglicans over the past 40 years to promote mutual respect and interaction.
On the other hand, we must keep in mind that the people the Catholic Church has chosen to accept are those unwilling to afford women and gays the opportunity to express their faiths to the degree they desire. Intolerance, homophobia and antiquated views of patriarchy are oppressive and should raise public disapproval; it is necessary that people, both religious and nonreligious work to change such perspectives. Perhaps, by changing minds, we can incite a more holistic and egalitarian form of inclusiveness from conservative Catholics and Anglicans. In fact, there are those who work for such a cause: Robinson exemplifies a commitment to changing perceptions and working for equality within his religion. His words and actions especially in the face of conservative criticism have shown that he is truly a man of deep faith, intelligence and open-mindedness who deserves his position.
Of course, there are deep-seated theological arguments about acceptance, but if the basic tenets of Christianity are love and acceptance, how do we reconcile accepting those who do not accept others? By splitting the Church over outmoded ideas, conservative Anglicans are pursuing a dangerous course that lacks debate of any kind. Surely, there is much more to be gained both spiritually and intellectually by engaging those with whom you disagree than shutting them off completely. Personally, as the daughter of a married, Episcopal priest and the product of 12 years of Catholic education, I have been fortunate enough to know tolerant and broadminded people of both faiths who have taught me that no one should be excluded from religious expression.
In our academically insulated lives, I believe it is easy to pass off religious events as not particularly salient or important. Lest we forget, however, roughly one-sixth of the world's population 1.15 billion people, according to the BBC consider themselves to be Catholics; the total number of Anglicans is around 80 million. Intolerant ideas from these organizations can and will influence many, many people. The Catholic Church's decision to include breakaway Anglicans, while cooperative in nature, ultimately has as its end the unification of an undesirable conservative mentality. As the Sister from my Catholic school said, this is a "social issue." The preservation of human rights (including religious rights) is something that everyone, both religious and non-religious, has a duty to work toward.
