Scanning the headlines on Twitter this morning I noticed that the new Bishop of Hull is to be the CofE's second woman bishop, Alison White.
Delving further I notice that her husband Frank is already a bishop.
So this must be the world's first husband and wife set of bishops!
UPDATE
And then there were (will be) three as a new Bishop for Gloucester is announced, the first woman to be a diocesan bishop in the C of E.
5 comments:
That will be a treat for headship, though it looks as though one is a suffragan, albeit in a different diocese.
Nick
"That will be a treat for headship, though it looks as though one is a suffragan, albeit in a different diocese.
- Nick -
Yes. Very different from your own R.C. situation, Nick. The wife is a suffragan bishop, subject to the oversight of her Diocesan Bishop of York; while the husband is an 'Assistant Bishop' in the Diocese of Newcastle - still, presumably, subject to the rule of his Diocesan Bishop of Newcastle.
This unique coupling of episcopal loyalties could never happen in the Roman jurisdiction of the Church at the moment. However, who knows what might not be possible in the future?
Pope Francis did wash the feet of a woman disciple of Christ in prison last year! AND, he was surrounded by a gaggle of adoring enclosed nuns in Naples recently. "The times, they are a'changing". Jesus, mercy; Mary, pray!
Peter, I sincerely wish the Bishop of Hull all of the blessings in Numbers 6:23. From what I have read the Bishop will be an asset to Christianity. Fr Ron is of course quite correct that an episcopal spousal team is impossible in the Roman (or any first century) Church. The Holy Father, in my view, is not a mover and shaker; rather he wants Catholics to live the gospel. He is a man of the beatitudes. That can be misinterpreted as reform.
Nick
Rachel Treweek will be fantastic as Bishop of Gloucester - she was our Archdeacon in London for 6 years. Her husband Guy is ordained too - ordained a few years after Rachel, though.
Since Peter's post here, the Church of England has appointed its first Diocesan Woman Bishop, The Ven. Rachel Treweek, who will succeed the retired Bishop of Gloucester. She will also be the first Woman Bishop in the house of Lords - taking the place of the about-to-retire Bishop of Leicester in the establishment.
So, Lordship (or Ladyship) is now well and truly established - for a woman.
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