ANGLICAN BISHOPS.

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 19675, 19 July 1929, Page 4

ANGLICAN BISHOPS.

POLITICAL APPOINTMENTS.

NEW METHODS PROPOSED.

(raoii OUB OWH cobsksposdsnt.)

LONDON, June 14

Important recommendations regarding the method of appointing Bishops in the Church of England are made in the interim report of the Appointment of Bishops Committee, which is to bo considered by the Church Assembly. Reviewing the present system, the Committee, which includes the Archbishop of York and the Bishops of Chichester, Ely, Gloucester, and Oxford, states that: "It depends altogether upon the personal qualities of the Prime Minister, modified to an unknown extent by the personal qualities of the Sovereign. A conscientious Prime Minister will do his best to appoint rightly. But the Prime Minister need not be, and often is not, a member of the Church of England. He may have no knowledge of or interest in the affairs of the Church.

"He is dependent, not so much on the personal will of the Sovereign, as on the support of a House of Commons elected, as a rule, on purely secular considerations, and it is at least possible that he may be a man who would not command the general confidence of Churchmen. It cannot be said that the present system affords any adequate safeguard against ill-considered or even unworthy appointments. 'The Church itself ought to have a voice, and a real voice, in the appointment. What especially shocks the conscience of many Christian people is the fact that the election of a Bishop by the Dean and Chapter appears to them to be a meaningless form. "Finally, it has been urged that the present system of appointment constitutes a formidable barrier to any scheme of Christian reunion." The recommendations of the Committee are:

1. That the electing body (usually the Dean and Chapter of the Cathedral of the diocese) should have the right to refuse to elect the person named in the King's Letter Missive without incurring penalty. "We do not mean by this," they say, "that it should be open to the electing body to elect any other person. The power should be purely negative, and should be exercised for reasons given in writing. It would still he open to the Crown to override the decision of the electing body by Letters Patent under the Great Seal. But whatever the ultimate result mi<?ht be, wo think that freedom to refuse to elect is a matter of real importance, and that the existing laws are an anachronism and indefensible.''

2. That the Archbishops of Canterbury and York should not be liable to penalty for refusing to confirm or to consecrate a person elected as Bishop 3. That the Prime Minister, before submitting any recommendation to his Majesty in respect to the appointment of a Bishop, should consult an Advisory Committee, without in any way derogating from his own ultimate responsibility.