For goodness sake leave the man alone

There are at least 22 churches within the Diocese of Sheffield who not only support the appointment, but are in fact churches who have a “flying Bishop” to oversee them as they cannot accept the appointments of women to the priesthood.

This is nothing to do with sexism, as polls show that a vast number of people who attend the church are women.

This “flying bishop” has to work over a large area overseeing many churches, unlike the Bishop of Doncaster who would be very close at hand to see the women priests who refuse to work with Bishop Philip.

I don’t know how Mr Heath can say that a third of those that Bishop Philip would be responsible for are discriminated against, as the congregations of the 22 churches (18 belonging to the Society that Percy is trying to get Bishop Philip to denounce) support the belief that a woman cannot stand in as the person of Christ (as HE is the Son of God, not a wishy-washy being).

Bishop Philip isn’t being appointed to just represent priests, he would represent all those in the congregations in the Diocese, plus, as your report stated, he has a great concern for the poor.

Also reported in the Star, he is very supportive of women priests, otherwise why would the 36 women clergy in the Blackburn Diocese sign a letter in support of him?

When the decision was made to allow women to become Bishops, the Archbishops called for all priests whether male or female to work together, while accepting each other’s differences.

For goodness sake, leave the man alone, instead of persecuting him for something he hasn’t done.

Anne Palmer

Richmond Road, Sheffield, S13