Pensacola Primate

Henry VIII - The First Anglican

We don't pay much attention on this blog to fairy tales, myths, astrology, tarot cards, professional wrestling, or religious stuff. But we would be remiss if we didn't point out that the newly elected Archbishop of the American Episcopal Church, Katherine Jefferts Schori, was born in Pensacola on March 26, 1954.

Besides being the first woman in the 472 year history of the Anglican Church to rise so high, it seems she is from a family that values education:

Her father was an atomic physicist who became an astrophysicist and then went on to help invent a system to tag and code salmon. Her mother had a degree in comparative literature but later became a microbiologist. Her husband of 27 years, Richard M. Schori, is a retired theoretical mathematician. Her 24-year-old daughter, Katharine, is a pilot in the Air Force.

Bishop Schori herself has a Ph.D. in oceanography from the University of Oregon. The New York Times reports that she also "has been flying airplanes since college and took up rock climbing with her husband, a skilled mountaineer." She is fluent in both English and Spanish.

It seems, however, that in the eyes of some grumps, Bishop Schori is a "liberal" who dares to believe that "homosexuals were created by God," according to a Reuters report in the Washington Post. Naturally, this has conservative Episcopalians -- especially those who live in Texas, just as commanded by the Bible -- upset. Momentarily interrupting the Anglican recitation of Jesus' message of eternal love and redemption, they're threatening an outright schism of the church.

Hey, Christian fanatics have gone to war and killed each other over less.

To be sure, shortly after her birth Bishop Schori moved away from Pensacola. But that's sooo Pensacola, isn't it? Smart, highly educated, liberal, tolerant, successful -- and gone.