Word: bishop
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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Berlinguer is also trying to come to terms with the Roman Catholic Church, to which more than 90% of all Italians belong. In a conciliatory open letter to an Italian bishop-quickly dubbed "the Berlinguer encyclical"-the Communist leader has provoked an unprecedented dialogue with the church by proffering assurances that his party not only respects religion but sees it as a possible stimulus toward building a true socialist society. Criticizing religious "intolerence" in Eastern Europe, Berlinguer said-heresy of Communist heresies-that Marxism was not an "ideological creed" but an analytical method, and that his party...
Another vexing issue has been widening the schism: homosexual priests. In January, New York's liberal Bishop Paul Moore ordained Ellen Barrett, a lesbian, to the priesthood (TIME, Jan. 24), thereby outraging many lay Episcopalians. In a carefully worded statement, the bishops distinguished between a priesthood candidate with a "dominant homosexual orientation" and an "advocating and/or practicing" homosexual. In the latter case, the bishops said, their "present understanding" of theology makes ordination "impossible...
Moore, who asserted that there are hundreds, perhaps thousands of gay Episcopal bishops and ministers, insisted that Barrett was known only as "homosexually oriented," and had created no "public scandal" before he ordained her. Other bishops cited press reports to the contrary. But C. Kilmer Myers, the bishop of California who plans to license Barrett as a parish assistant, replied, "I don't know what she does behind the doors of her bedroom. If I were Ellen Barrett, I would sue you all." In a welter of confusion, the bishops finally tabled by 66-48 a motion to disapprove...
That left one other troublesome bishop to deal with: the Right Rev. Albert A. Chambers, retired bishop of Springfield, Ill., who has for months been conducting confirmations in schismatic parishes over the objections of resident bishops. Chambers, wearing purple shirt and clerical collar, told his sports-shirted colleagues: "There is no doubt about it -I have broken the constitution and canons of the church." But, he said, the dissidents' pastoral needs must take priority...
...most crucial "episcopal acts" of all will be consecrations of the new bishops that the schismatic church must acquire in order to survive. Some defectors who formed their own diocese have elected as a bishop the Rev. James Mote of Denver, rector of the first parish to leave the Episcopal Church. To become bishops in apostolic succession, however, Mote and other candidates from the new church must be consecrated by three recognized bishops. During the past year the movement has approached 15 Episcopal bishops for help. Though he refuses to say so, Chambers is willing to perform consecrations, and TIME...