From one Father Thorpus (via TitusOneNine; paragraphing edited):
Bp. Jeffrey Rowthorn, retired bishop of Europe, sat at my table: he said that as they read out the count for the last ballot [at the election of the Presiding Bishop], there was a moment of stunned silence, like everyone was thinking “i can’t believe we just did that.” Then the whole place erupted in applause.
I sat next to George Conger, priest and reporter for the Living Church and other publications. He showed me the ballot count. She [the Rt. Rev. Katharine Jeffords Schori] was elected on the 5th ballot, but had tied for the lead on the 1st and stayed there. Second in the running was Henry Parsley, Bp. of Alabama. Jenkins never had a chance. After about the second ballot, all the traditionalists seem to have migrated toward Parsley and the progressives toward Schori.
Congar said he was on the phone with Lambeth palace just after it happened — the Archbishop of Canterbury was in evening prayer and had no statement as of yet. He called back 30 min. later and was told the prepared statement (ready for the insertion of the name of whoever won) had been torn up, and the Archbishop himself would write the official statement
(which he rarely does).Congar predicted the Queen would be incensed: she never appoints women priests to the chaplaincies she controls, and the Queen Mother (God rest her soul) refused to recieve communion from women priests.
congar and I discussed the ramifications of this election for the Communion. Several provinces, of course, still do not believe women to be validly ordained. This means they can’t be assured of the validity of any Eucharists, ordinations, or consecrations of bishops that Schori presides over (I don’t know WHAT we’ll do in Albany come September, when our consecration is scheduled. Hopefully Griswold will still be in office.). This means our very claim to the historic episcopate could be in jeaopardy in the future. (great move for ecumenical relations, I gotta say in all sarcasm)
When I asked Congar what the Primates’ meetings will be like, he replied, “Well, they’ll have to build another bathroom.”
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