Question

To ask the right hon. Member for Meriden, representing the Church Commissioners, if the Church Commissioners will make it their policy that the next nominee for the Bishop of London will ordain both women and men as priests.

The nomination to the See of London is a matter for the Crown Nominations Commission rather than the Church Commissioners. Nominations to episcopal sees are made within the context of the House of Bishops’ Declaration on Ministry of Bishops and Priests, which expressly recognises that those who, on grounds of theological conviction, are unable to receive the ministry of women bishops and priests continue to be within the spectrum and teaching and tradition of the Anglican Communion, and affirms the importance of there continuing to be bishops within the Church of England to enable ministry to be provided to such persons. However, as part of the usual consultation process for nominations to diocesan sees, anyone wishing to comment on the needs of the vacant diocese or the wider church is invited to write to the Prime Minister’s Appointments Secretary and the Archbishops’ Secretary for Appointments. Any such submissions will inform the Commission’s work.