Bishop raises spectre of Anglican civil war

From Religous Intelligence-

The spectre of civil war breaking out among traditionalist Anglicans has been dramatically raised by a "flying bishop". But hostilities must be resisted and Anglo-Catholics need to "mutually help each other," pleads the Bishop of Beverley, the Rt Rev Martyn Jarrett.

He delivers the earnest call in a new edition, out this week, of the "Beverley Bulletin," an occasional paper distributed to traditionalist clergy and others in the 14 dioceses of the York province. The bulletin appears in the wake of the Pope's blueprint - details of which were released last week - providing for the creation of a section within the Roman Catholic Church for Anglicans wishing to retain parts of their heritage.

Bishop Jarrett dubs the pontiff's offer as "generous and gracious" but warns that there may now be a three-way split among Anglicans unable to accept women bishops and possibly considering going over to Rome. Some Anglicans, no matter what now happens within the Church of England, "have come to believe that there is no longer any real choice than to move into immediate full communion with the Holy Father," he says.

For others, a move into communion with Rome "would create theological difficulties perhaps as large as the difficulties they have with the prospect of women bishops." Then there are those Anglicans "who still believe there could be some theological integrity in remaining members of the Church of England," the bishop says. Bishop Jarrett, who is careful in the Bulletin not to reveal into which category he himself falls, admits: "There are no easy solutions. I only wish there were." The 65-year-old provincial episcopal visitor then warns: "We must resist, in the meanwhile, any kind of civil war breaking out within our ranks.

All three responses - and probably a number more - to my mind are honourable positions that can be held with integrity." The bishop adds: "I suspect that as each of us grapples with our present context, several of us will find ourselves moving in and out of the various groupings and even, for a while, not being quite sure as to where it is we should be. "This is a time for mutually helping each other - and not for point-scoring or for trying to take the moral high ground."

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