Later in the debate, The Rev Canon Professor Marilyn McCord Adams, of Christ Church, Oxford, asked if the Church of England had “lost its nerve” by concentrating on other denominations in its Synod discussions.
She also claimed a report on relations between Anglicans and Catholics “soft-pedalled” on the “harsh elements of Roman-Catholic piety”, and did not mention that some Anglican provinces have “dared to ordain women”.
But the Bishop of Durham, the Rt Rev Tom Wright, claimed it was “characteristically Anglican” for the C of E to try to find a way forward with Catholics rather than concentrating on their differences.