Trailblazing bishop wants female Primate
THE FIRST female bishop to take a seat in the House of Lords has said she would like a woman to be Archbishop of Canterbury.
The Bishop of Gloucester, the Rt Rev Rachel Treweek, said “ideally” she would like a female to lead the world’s Anglicans in the future.
Speaking before becoming the first woman to join the ranks of the Lords Spiritual, she said she would bring an ability to see the “big picture” and challenge Government Ministers.
Asked whether Lambeth Palace would be the next landmark for a female member of the clergy, she said: “I think the important thing is that the next Archbishop of Canterbury is the right person.
“I ideally hope that one day there might be an Archbishop of Canterbury who is also a woman. But I think what’s most important is that it’s always about the right person and being the person we have been called to be by God.”
Bishop Treweek said the historical significance of her introduction to the Lords was “just beginning to sink in”.
She told the Press Association: “I don’t see myself as a woman bishop, I see myself as a bishop who is a woman who is taking my place alongside other bishops who are men. I hope that what this is saying is that men and women are created equally. We work best when we are both able to use our voices alongside one another.”
Asked how her approach would be different to male colleagues, she said: “What I bring is myself.
“First and foremost, I come here fully being myself and, as it happens, I’m a woman. It’s quite a hard question, I think, generalisations about what do men do, what do women do.
“One thing I would say, I think women are good at doing connections, we are good at relating, I think we are good at doing big picture stuff. So I hope that one of the things I will do, at times I will be a bit challenging, to say ‘how does that actually fit with this over here’, how do we hold the big picture of human flourishing?”