Women bishops in spotlight in Church of England scandals

LONDON: As the Church of England tackles the fallout from a series of sexual-abuse scandals, women bishops have been notably prominent and outspoken pushing for accountability and better safeguarding.

Amid a decades-long battle for more gender equality within Anglicanism´s mother church, some see women´s growing profiles and activism as significant in this latest crisis, at a time when more are becoming priests and more training to join the clergy.

“My own experience has been that female bishops have shown far greater levels of empathy for those hurt by the Church and also awareness of how Church power structures can oppress people,” Jayne Ozanne, a former member of its general synod, told AFP.

“I´m not sure if it´s because they themselves have so often faced discrimination or because they are more emotionally sensitive,” added Ozanne, a longtime LGBTQ campaigner. Bishop Helen-Ann Hartley has been among those in the spotlight in recent months.

After an independent probe last year criticised former archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby´s handling of an abuse case spanning decades, she was the most senior clergy member to insist he resign. Welby eventually left the role last month.

Hartley has been one of the most high-profile critics of his interim successor, Stephen Cottrell, who has faced an immediate backlash over his conduct in another abuse scandal. She is also credited with broadening the debate to include concerns around how senior male clergy within the Church wield power.

Meanwhile, Bishop Joanne Grenfell has been at the forefront of the renewed bid for beefed-up protections for victims and others, in her role as lead for safeguarding. She voiced her frustrations this week after the synod -- the Church´s national assembly, which meets several times a year -- rejected tough new rules, opting instead for softer measures.

Rose Hudson-Wilkin, a black bishop born and raised in Jamaica, is seen as another trailblazer, in particular around racism within the Church, telling the Guardian in December that it “still exists”. “We will not be quiet, and I will not be quiet,” she told the paper regarding political activism.