The House of Commons yesterday approved women bishops without a vote following the passing of legislation in the House of Lords last week.

The proposal was passed by the General Synod in July but required the consent of Parliament. The Queen must also now approve the measure.

Speaking before the Commons yesterday, Second Church Estates Commissioner Sir Tony Baldry said, “I hope this whole debate will be joyful, because this is a very joyful day for the Church of England and society as a whole.”

“Over the past 20 years many women have given outstanding leadership to the Church of England and to our communities as vicars, archdeacons and cathedral deans,” he said.

“Now every type of post will be open to them. It is right to acknowledge the immense patience among many women in the Church who have waited for this day. We acknowledge, as we need to, the pain and hurt that there has often been as a consequence of the delay in arriving at where we are at today.”

Referring to Justin Welby’s address in the House of Lords last week, in which the Archbishop affirmed that “the Church of England is deeply committed to the flourishing of all those who are part of its life in the grace of God,” Baldry added: “Indeed, I think we would all hope that every part of the Church of England can now flourish and thrive.”

He said women priests could be eligible for consideration as bishops as early as November 17.

MP for Bishop Aukland Helen Goodman urged her fellow peers to support the legislation. “I am proud to have been able to speak in this debate,” she said.

“The time of crying is past; the time of singing has come.”

There was some debate as to which diocese will appoint the first female bishop. MP Diana Johnson recommended her own city of Hull.

“I want to put in an early bid. The Bishop of Hull is leaving his post and moving on, and, as Hull is a pioneering city – remember William Wilberforce and Amy Johnson – I believe that the bishopric of Hull would be an ideal starting place for the first woman bishop in the House of Lords,” she said.

Baldry, however, added that “there might be some competition from around the country”.

“The Bishop of Oxford is retiring shortly. There are many excellent women in senior posts in the Church, and I have absolutely no doubt that the first women bishops – and, indeed, all those women who are made bishops – will be excellent candidates,” he said.

“This measure is long overdue. The ability of the Church of England to consecrate women bishops is long overdue. The arrival of women bishops in the House of Lords is long overdue. I commend the Measure to the House.”

The proposal was passed without a vote, much to the delight of campaigners.

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Justin Welby has said his first priority as Archbishop of Canterbury is for “a renewal of prayer and of communities that pray”.

“There has never been a renewal of Christian life in this country without there being a renewal of prayer,” he added.

Under the banner ‘The Festival of Life’, the event launched three months of prayer across the UK, supported by Hope Together.

Churches working together is essential to seeing transformation, the Archbishop said. “You keep finding them popping up here and there making things happen, bringing people together and doing the right thing, in the right way, at the right time.”

“When Christians pray, things change,” Director of HOPE Together, Roy Crowne, said.

“We hope that thousands of people will join us over the next three months as we pray for the UK.”

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With all the focus on the rise of the Islamic State (IS) and related turmoil in the region, one important and tragic story has been left out of the popular narrative: the plight of the Middle East’s ancient Christian communities. These once vibrant communities, numbering in the hundreds of thousands, face additional duress as winter approaches. The European Union must take concrete action immediately in order to avoid the loss of many lives and of humanity’s cultural heritage, which they represent.

With no support from the central government in Baghdad, and Christian families largely unregistered for international humanitarian aid, the Iraqi churches’ emergency committee has been looking after refugees of all ages and backgrounds mainly in Erbil and Dohuk in the Kurdish region. The situation in Erbil illustrates the problems the displaced face. More than 70,000 people have been forced to take shelter in the Kurdish capital in church halls, sports centres and classrooms. These spaces have all been turned into makeshift accommodation, with up to 15 families sharing a classroom. As the need exceeds the available facilities, many families have been sleeping in public spaces such as parks and car parks.

The large majority of these displaced families left their homes with only the clothes on their backs, facing the dire choice of renouncing their faith or paying high amounts of money to the IS. A religious minority, the Yazidis, were hunted all the way up to the Sinjjar Mountains, and the media images moved the US to order its air force to the area.

These examples are indicative of the larger catastrophe facing the region’s Christians. According to estimates from Iraq’s Chaldean Catholic church, 120,000 Iraqi Christians have been displaced, out of a total estimated 240,000-260,000 (a number already greatly diminished by persecution following the fall of Saddam Hussein). Altogether, about 50 per cent of Iraqi Christians have been displaced or left the country.

Selective media coverage has led to the mistaken impression that Christians have not been persecuted, but only other minorities. As a result the Chaldean patriarch Louis Raphael Sako was confronted during his information visits to Brussels in July and September, with the lack of knowledge about the situation of the Christians even among high level EU officials. And yet, Christians face horrific persecution, rape, women sold in markets, children pulled out of their mothers’ arms and other abuses. Since IS seized the towns where Christians were living, there have been many martyrs.

Christians and other refugees need immediate help with the most basic living necessities. Patriarch Raphael Sako said, “They need everything because the IS terrorists have taken all they had, physically, morally and psychologically. The greatest challenge at the present time is the provision of living accommodation… the winter is very cold in Iraqi Kurdistan, and the people cannot possibly stay in tents.” In the absence of state support, the church has been bearing the burden of feeding and providing medicine and other necessities for the refugee families who fled IS.

Patriarch Sako and other church representatives called on EU policymakers to take two concrete steps to help Christians: exert political pressure on the government of Iraq and its neighbours to protect the civilians, and give more humanitarian aid via channels other than the UN agencies. “Many people refuse to register with the UN, they believe that if they stay outside the camps they have more chances to find a job and be quicker to return to their homes once the Nineveh plains are liberated”, said patriarch Sako. “They do not want to depend 100 per cent on aid and the church can support them temporarily in this effort”. The EU shares this view, but it has to make it a reality and extend its vision of the conflict to the Syrian and Iraqis who happen to be Christian.

Source and Original Content By BCNN 1