Anglican bishops opposed to the ordination of women will not be boycotting major services during the three-week Lambeth Conference which opens in Canter bury on July 18th, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr George Carey, assured the press yesterday.
Some traditional bishops "will be present at the major festivals, indeed at most of the services", he said. "So I think it will only be in extreme circumstances that they will not be with us."
Newspaper reports had previously suggested that up to 50 bishops might stay away from services in which women bishops took part.
Of the 800 bishops gathering for the 13th Lambeth Conference, the meeting of all the bishops of the Anglican Communion held every 10 years since 1867, 11 are now women: eight from the US, two from Canada, and one from New Zealand.
The first woman bishop was elected shortly after the 1988 Lambeth Conference.
Dr Carey emphasised that the Lambeth Conference was not a legislative gathering like the Second Vatican Council which would decide doctrines and truths for the Anglican Communion. "It isn't empowered to do that," he explained.
"What is very clear is that in the gathering together of a conference like this we do find a common mind and a common identity," he said. "It is not the case that we are more confused and more divided now than we were before 1968."
Right from the start in 1867 the Lambeth Conference had always had "huge issues" to contend with. "To our great surprise we find ways of resolving the issue," he said. As far as Lambeth 1998 was concerned, "all the forecasters of doom may well be pleasantly surprised", he added.
Dr Carey played down the divisive issue of how the church should judge homosexual behaviour. None of the nine preparatory regional meetings of Anglican bishops had listed sexuality as a priority, though it was an important subject, especially for bishops in the west.
"As you know, I take a traditional stance on this, and probably the great majority of bishops adopt a similar approach," he said. "I am quite clear that, whatever view bishops incline to, we must listen carefully to one another, knowing that this contentious issue will not be resolved by anger and bitterness but in the context of prayer and fellowship at the conference. I am convinced we will make progress."
More important to his mind was the "moral scandal" of international debt, the only question to be listed as a priority by all nine preparatory regional meetings. "I am very confident that the conference will formulate a firm but constructive resolution addressed not only to the G8 nations but to all governments and to the churches as well," he said.