It’s about time the Catholic Church shared the limelight when it comes to controversial behavior by Christian leaders. This incident, which manages to include anti-feminism sentiment and hyperbolic analogies to Nazi Germany, revolves around the oh-so fractious debate over the role of women in the Church of England.

According to Britain’s The Daily Telegraph, the Right Rev. Wallace Benn, the Bishop of Lewes, told the Reform conference of conservative Anglicans last week: “I feel very much increasingly that we’re in January of 1939. We need to be aware that there is real serious warfare just round the corner.”

January 1939, of course, marks the month Hitler, speaking before the Reichstag, outlined his intent to annihilate Jews. Benn later stepped back from his comments, which suggest under no circumstance should women be made clergy in the Church of England.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

“I was thinking in terms of storm clouds being on the horizon,” he said.

Naturally, his remarks drew heat from women’s and Jewish groups. The analogy “belittles both the scale of the suffering the Nazis cause and the scale of the moral challenge they represented,” said James Smith, chairman of The Holocaust Centre.

Sally Barnes, a representative from Women and the Church, expressed regret that a Christian would even employ Holocaust rhetoric.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$90 $180

$360

Other amount