Wingnut Anglicans Meet With Inquisition to Work Against Gay Marriage and Women Bishops

UPDATE: The Daily Telegraph is now reporting that the Church of England looks set for a damaging split last night after its ruling body agreed to press ahead with the introduction of women bishops without any compromise measures for opponents of the controversial move. This part of the story really makes me sick:

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After six hour of emotional debate, one bishop broke down in tears saying he was ashamed of the church for ignoring the deeply felt wishes of traditionalists.

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Would this bishop also condone slavery if a certain percentage of lunatics felt strongly about it? I cannot imagine being reduced to tears because no one would accommodate my desire to marginalize women and deny that they are spiritual equals to men. What the f*ck is wrong with these people?

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The Daily Mail and other papers are reporting that ultraconservative members of the Church of England hierarchy have had secret meetings with representatives of the Vatican. Specifically, representatives of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, a/k/a the Inquisition. Sadly, instead of meeting to discuss ways to feed the hungry, cloth and house the poor or how to bring medical care to those without it, these "Godly Christians" are meeting in secret to discuss ways to thwart gays from achieving marriage equality and to devise a way to keep those pesky females from achieving the rank of bishops. What would Jesus say? Nothing good I suspect given his reported response to the Pharisees who likewise seemed more concerned about suppressing others and patting themselves on the back for being so much better than others. In many ways these anti-female homophobes and the fossilized leadership of the Roman catholic Church deserve one another. Here are some story highlights:

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Senior Church of England bishops have held secret talks with Vatican officials over the crisis issue of homosexual priests and women bishops in the Anglican Communion. The bishops met senior advisers of Pope Benedict XVI to discuss the controversial topic, the Sunday Telegraph reported.

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The group of conservative bishops are said to have expressed dismay at the liberal direction of the Church of England and their fears for its future. They met members of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which was headed by the Pope before he was elected Pontiff in 2005, it was said. The meeting was reportedly part of an attempt to build closer ties with the Roman Catholic Church. The Archbishop of Canterbury was not told of the talks, it was reported.

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Up to 600 clergy have written to Dr Williams warning that they might leave the Church if safeguards such as dioceses for opponents of women bishops are not set up. The Sunday Telegraph reported that in a separate development, three diocesan bishops of the Church of England have written to Dr Williams supporting the threat and another has said he is preparing to leave the Church. The letter from the Bishops of Chichester, Blackburn and Europe - seen by The Sunday Telegraph - argues that traditionalist clergy will not be able to 'maintain an honoured place' in the Church without sufficient legislation.

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The Rt Rev Kieran Conry, the Roman Catholic Bishop of Arundel and Brighton, said: 'A number of Church of England bishops are looking at the options open to them should things go wrong at the Lambeth Conference.'