Female Anglican Bishop at Lambeth Conference Accuses Fellow Bishops of Wife Beating

From Religious Intelligence:

Friday, 1st August 2008. 2:20pm

By George Conger

Charges that wife beaters were at work amongst the bishops attending the 2008 Lambeth Conference have raised concerns that the bishops discussions of rape and domestic violence will be diverted by partisan wrangling over political correctness.


In a statement published in the Lambeth Witness, a newssheet distributed at the 2008 Lambeth Conference by the pressure group the Inclusive Church Network, the suffragan bishop of New York, the Rt. Rev. Catherine Roskam wrote, “We have 700 men here. Do you think any of them beat their wives? Chances are they do.”

She added that “the most devout Christians beat their wives many of our bishops come from places where it is culturally accepted to beat your wife. In that regard, it makes conversation difficult.”

Bishop Roskam’s remarks were released to coincide with a joint plenary session of bishops and their spouses at the Lambeth Conference entitled “Equal in God’s Sight: When Power is Abused.”

Men and women were seated on separate sides of the room and the presentation opened with a play on the theme of women’s empowerment by a theatre company, followed by a dramatic reading of the rape of Tamar taken from 2 Samuel 13.

Bishops and spouses then broke into same-sex groups and using a study guide prepared by Dr. Gerald West, author of the conference Bible study materials, and gave periodic reports via closed circuit television cameras to the plenary.

The study groups were asked to discuss the incidence of rape in their communities and develop action plans to address the issues in their home communities, prompting emotional responses from some participants.

In the press conference following the presentation, Jane Williams, wife of the Archbishop of Canterbury said the presentation was a great success. She stated church had a duty to address issues of domestic violence, both in society and within the church for “even disciples fall into "patterns of behavior that are not Christ-like."

However, the way the issue of domestic abuse was raised, and the implications that there were wife-beaters amongst the bishops at Lambeth, rankled many. Approximately 100 bishops left the plenary, while others expressed concern that while outside pressure groups had been briefed about the joint session while the bishops were not.

“It was quite clear we were being guided to a foregone conclusion,” the Bishop of Central Florida, the Rt. Rev. John W. Howe said.

He reported that one of the women present asked, “’Why have you separated us; if we cannot discuss such things in a safe place like this, where can we discuss them?’ The answer was, ‘Because, for some of the women present, this isn't as safe a place as you might think.’ Evidently this had been determined before the meeting began,” Bishop Howe noted.

Bishop Peter Beckwith of Springfield said he was “so offended” by Bishop Roskam’s remarks, and had been “embarrassed by her quote.” The Archbishop of York, Dr. John Sentamu told The Times he was offended by the remarks. “I have never beaten my wife, although I can't talk about other people."

The Bishop of Ho (Ghana), the Rt. Rev. Matthias Mededues-Badohu said he was distressed by the implications of the bishop’s remark that Africans were less culturally and morally advanced than Americans, and were prone to beating their wives. Of the twenty bishops questioned by the CEN, none admitted to beating their wives, though many said they were distressed that the topic of domestic violence had been sidetracked by Bishop Roskam’s comments.

In a press conference on July 31, the Rev. Jackie Cray, wife of the Bishop of Maidstone, said she had “heard nothing” about wife beating bishops in the plenary session, but noted her husband, the Bishop of Maidstone, did not beat her.