Religion/Anglican Church/Schism/Archbishop of Canterbury

The Lambeth Conference, which brings together bishops from the worldwide Communion once every ten years, opens today in Canterbury.

Last week, the General Synod of the Anglican Church in Britain voted to ordain female bishops, despite strong opposition from traditionalists within the church.

At a time when the Anglican Communion is already deeply divided over the American Episcopal Church's decision to ordain non-celibate gay bishops, the chattering class is breathlessly proclaiming that the female bishop vote has increased the risk of a schism within the church. Indeed, some among the clergy are threatening to convert en masse to Catholicism, and it would be rash to discount this rhetoric as hollow bluster. When the General Synod voted to ordain female priests in 1992, a small number of Anglican clergy members did in fact defect to Rome, many of whom took their flocks with them.