Ronald Hall
Anglican bishop of Hong Kong who in January 1944 ordained the deaconess Li Tim Oi a priest. He said he acted so that a congregation cut off by war should have the sacraments.
Hall was the Anglican bishop whose diocese included Hong Kong and Macau. In 1943 he told the Archbishop of Canterbury that he had allowed the deaconess Florence Li Tim Oi to celebrate the Lord’s Supper for her congregation, and that he was no advocate of the ordination of women (Li and Harrison, Much Beloved Daughter ch. 4, pp. 41–42 (Hall to Temple, 4 June 1943)). In January 1944 he ordained her a priest and reported it to the archbishop two days later (Li and Harrison, Much Beloved Daughter ch. 4, p. 48 (Hall to Temple, 27 January 1944)). The Chinese House of Bishops voted in 1946 that his action was uncanonical (Li and Harrison, Much Beloved Daughter pp. 58–59 (resolution of the House of Bishops, March 1946)). See the First Woman Is Ordained an Anglican Priest.
The Anglican Communion Office’s text of the Lambeth resolution on the case carries his name as a subject heading, with the years 1895 and 1975 (Lambeth Conference 1948, Resolution 113, subject headings).
In the timeline
- 25 January 1944, firm dateThe First Woman Is Ordained an Anglican Priest
In unoccupied China the Anglican bishop of Hong Kong ordains the deaconess Li Tim Oi a priest, so that her wartime congregation in Macau may have the sacraments. The Lambeth Conference of 1948 advises against such ordinations; that of 1978 accepts churches that ordain women.
Primary sources
Much Beloved Daughter: The Story of Florence Li
- Li and Harrison, Much Beloved Daughter ch. 4, pp. 41–42 (Hall to Temple, 4 June 1943)archive.org
- Li and Harrison, Much Beloved Daughter ch. 4, p. 48 (Hall to Temple, 27 January 1944)archive.org
- Li and Harrison, Much Beloved Daughter pp. 58–59 (resolution of the House of Bishops, March 1946)archive.org