A Summit on Women

The Pope holds fast against ordaining female members of the clergy

The Church of England is consumed with a landmark vote, scheduled next November, on whether to allow women priests. That innovation deeply divides the worldwide Anglican Communion, in which 14 of 34 branches now ordain women to the priesthood. The same issue clouded the ecumenical scene last week when Anglicanism's Primate, Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey, visited Rome for his first summit meeting with Pope John Paul. Carey, who did not repeat his publicized objections to Rome's hard line on birth control, emerged to describe the encounter of nearly one hour as "excellent, excellent."

Cordiality aside, women's ordination turned out to...

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