ECUSA Elects First Woman Primate in the Anglican Communion

The General Convention of the Episcopal Church, USA , has elected Katharine Jefferts Schori, 52, to the post of Presiding Bishop. She becomes the first women elevated to Primate of an Anglican denomination. Apart from the US , only Canada and New Zealand , among 38 Anglican provinces, have female bishops, although others do allow for their appointment.

From Squids to Sacraments

Raised a Roman Catholic, Jefferts Schori is a qualified pilot who became a marine biologist specializing in in squids and oysters. She graduated in biology at Stanford University before taking a master's and doctorate in oceanography at Oregon State . She worked with the National Marine Fisheries Service but after funding for her work dried up, was ordained as a priest in 1994 and filled in as a preacher in a local church. She rose to bishop and leader of the Nevada diocese in 2001.

Bishop Jefferts Schori responded to the threat of opposition by recalling similar difficulties in her earlier marine biology days. She said the captain of a science research cruise she was on had initially pledged not to speak to her but after 15 minutes on board “he got over it”. “I will bend over backward to build relationships with people who disagree with me,” she said.

Hispanic Connections

Married with one daughter, Bishop Jefferts Schori is fluent in Spanish and is known for reaching out to the Hispanic community. She is also a liberal, having voted three years ago for the ordination of gay US bishop Gene Robinson, a move that sparked fury in some other Anglican denominations, particularly in Africa .

As Church leader, one of her challenges will be to try to heal such divisions.

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© 2006 St. Bede’s Episcopal Church, Santa Fe, New Mexico