Mounting the steps of TEC One, on the specially commissioned Boeing aircraft which is permanently at the disposal of the Presiding Bishop, Katherine Jefferts Schori left thismorning for a whistle-stop tour of the Anglican Communion and beyond. Bishop Schori will be setting forward the work of the Episcopal Church in new and exciting places. She expects to discuss the possibility of women mullahs with the Grand Mufti of Egypt and gay reincarnations with the Dalai Lama. She will preach in cathedrals across the globe from Tokyo to Santiago, as well as visiting and encouraging members of the Episcopal Church in all sixteen of its constituent countries.
Said Revd Canon Glenn Wannabee, aide de camp to the Presiding Bishop, ‘the world is Katherine’s oyster. Some people have thought it strange that the PB has no diocese of her own, but she is letting it be known, by these visits, that the everywhere is in her diocese. Wherever she goes she revitalises tired old traditional Anglicanism. this is crossing diocesan boundaries with a purpose: to bring in the future now.’
New Directions asked what were Katherine’s plans for the future.
Canon Wannabee was frank with us. ‘During 2011 the PB will address both Houses of Congress, the United Nations and the Israeli Knesset. She will intervene decisively in the Afghan War, and deliver a groundbreaking paper on the Iconoclast Controversy at the invitation of the Ecumenical Patriarch.’
How does the average Episcopalian view Mrs Schori’s career thus far? Revd Lucy Kramer, her domestic chaplain, was quick to reply. ‘they think of her as a sort of combination of Princess Diana, Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu: a hope and light for a troubled world. We all do.’ ND