Get ready for the next wave of converts
SIR – I first had the privilege of meeting the present Bishop of Burnley, the Rt Rev Philip North, 20-odd years ago when he was the very effective Anglican shrine priest at Walsingham. Even then it was obvious that his undoubted skills and spirituality would propel him up the ecclesiastical ladder of the Church of England, although he was always a convinced traditional Anglo-Catholic.
It is telling that, not for the first time, Bishop North has been forced to decline a bishopric – this time of Sheffield – because of his principled opposition to women priests (Leading article, March 17). His honourable withdrawal in the face of appalling opposition demonstrates that the official position that the Church of England recognises – of two “integrities”, both in favour of and opposed to women’s ordination – is a liberal fiction, and those of a more Catholic conviction will always now be marginalised and treated as second-class citizens.
