Foe of Women Priests Picked to Lead San Joaquin Valley Episcopalians
An Episcopal priest who opposes ordination of women to the priesthood and who sometimes worships in the Byzantine Catholic tradition has been selected to become the next spiritual head of San Joaquin Valley Episcopalians.
A ceremony elevating the Rev. David M. Schofield as bishop coadjutor was led Sunday by the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church in America, the Most Rev. Edmond L. Browning of New York.
Schofield’s selection at a diocesan convention in Visalia last April became controversial because of his affiliation in private life with a Byzantine Catholic order and his opposition to women priests.
That opposition is shared by the Right Rev. Victor M. Rivera whom Schofield will succeed as bishop of the San Joaquin Valley diocese in January.
Ironically, Rivera’s daughter has become an Episcopal priest, the Rev. Nedi Moore.
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