The Vatican and the Russian Orthodox Church have expressed their disappointment with General Synod’s vote to permit women to be consecrated as bishops, saying the move will impair ecumenical relations.On July 8 the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity released a statement expressing its regret of the Synod vote.
"Such a decision signifies a break with the apostolic tradition maintained by all of the Churches since the first millennium and is, therefore, a further obstacle to reconciliation between the Catholic Church and the Church of England," the statement said.
The decision would likely "have consequences on the future of dialogue" between the Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church.
The Moscow Patriarchate has expressed concern about the Anglican Synod's decision to ordain women.
The secretary of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations told Interfax news the vote was “painful” for “inter-Christian dialogue, as it is further alienating the Anglican community from the Apostolic tradition.”
Fr Igor Vyzhanov said the Synod vote would likely worsen the unity of the Anglican Communion, but was entirely “predictable because the tendency of total liberalization” found in the Western Christian Churches.
At one time the Anglican Communion was “the nearest amongst the western Christian Churches" to the Russian Orthodox Church and there had been “good prospects” for relations between the two.
The decision to consecrate women bishops and the disputes over homosexuality within the Communion made the quest for corporate reunion much less likely, he said.
Meanwhile, it has been revealed that the Rt Rev Andrew Burnham, one of the ‘flying bishops’, has indicated his desire to lead an exodus of Anglo-Catholics to Rome.
"How could we trust a code of practice to deliver a workable ecclesiology if every suggestion we have made for our inclusion has been turned down flat?" he asks.
"What we must humbly ask for now is for magnanimous gestures from our Catholic friends, especially from the Holy Father, who well understands our longing for unity, and from the hierarchy of England and Wales. Most of all we ask for ways that allow us to bring our folk with us."
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