An email from a friend yesterday: "I don't much like your Pope." A text message from a colleague: "I hear the Pope has been bashing gays." Real damage to Benedict XVI's reputation has been done by grossly unprofessional media reports of an "anti-gay" speech that didn't mention homosexuality once.
The BBC told us: "Pope Benedict XVI has said that saving humanity from homosexual or transsexual behaviour is just as important as saving the rainforest from destruction." That is very close to an outright lie on the part of the BBC website. My question: why didn't the "communications office" of the Catholic Church in England and Wales mount an instant media blitz to fight this campaign of misinformation?
It's funny how spokesmen for the Bishops of England and Wales are rarely around when the Pope needs them. Read more
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Saturday, 27 December 2008
Where was English Catholic Church when media lied about Pope?
Bp of Maidstone: we cannot afford church as it is
As we look to 2009 and beyond, Graham Cray, incoming leader of the Fresh Expressions team in the UK, gives his thoughts on the future of the church:
“I think the church over the next few years is going to hear the word of the Lord through the credit crunch. A former diocesan secretary in Canterbury used to say: ‘The Church of England as it is now structured cannot afford the Church of England as it is now structured.’ And my guess is, that is true for almost every historic building with plants and churches and manses and so on. Read more
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Monday, 22 December 2008
We must not let the weakness of our bishops destroy this nation's soul
[...] The monarch is the living embodiment of this country’s identity. And the radical change that disestablishment would bring about in the monarchy would be reflected also in the identity of the nation.
Certainly, much of the pressure for disestablishment arises from the perception that British society is already changing. With the country now accommodating so many different faiths — and none — and with so few going regularly to church, an established national Church is presented as an anachronism.
Moreover, in our ‘equal rights’ culture it is seen as discriminating against non-Protestants. That’s why the Government is considering repealing the 1701 Act of Settlement, which was passed to prevent Catholics from ever ascending the throne.
Prince Charles has said he would want to be a king who defends 'faith', not 'the faith'
Prince Charles has said he would want to be a king who defends 'faith', not 'the faith'
But the fact is that Protestantism is a core element of this country’s identity. The break with Rome lies at the very heart of Britain’s development as a modern nation. Protestantism infuses its institutions and values.
Without it, there would not have developed the robust individualism from which flowed democracy and a liberal society. For this reason, it is simply impossible to repeal the Act of Settlement without unravelling the complex and interrelated facets of Britain’s constitution.
The Government’s desire to do so is of a piece with the ‘year-zero’ style vandalism it has already wreaked upon the constitution in its desire to create a ‘multicultural’ society. Believing that this has already happened, Prince Charles himself famously declared that when he became King he wished to be not ‘defender of the faith’ but defender of ‘faith’.
But Christianity is not just any faith. It lies at the heart of British values and Western civilisation. Breaking the link would mean Christianity would be cast adrift, along with many of this country’s values. The Church might not be destroyed, but the country’s core identity would undoubtedly suffer. Read more
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What did the aide say about the Bishop?
His outspoken views on gay rights and the integration of Muslim communities have attracted vitriolic criticism and even earned him death threats from outside the Church of England.
Now the controversial Bishop of Rochester, the Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, 59, has found himself the target of a scatological attack by an aide in the offices of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams.
A confidential document sent from Lambeth Palace to No 10 Downing Street and the Church of England's 43 diocesan bishops included the unclerical word "********" appended to the name of Dr Nazir-Ali, Britain's most senior Asian Anglican. Read more
Sunday, 21 December 2008
Member of Archbishop's staff sacked over insult to Bishop of Rochester
A member of the Archbishop of Canterbury's staff has been sacked for insulting the Bishop of Rochester in an official document.
Anglicans versus Episcopalians in America
You may think that, in the United States, Episcopalians are Anglicans and vice versa. Think again, says Jordan Hylden in this eye-opening article in First Things.
In America, "Episcopalian" is coming to mean the official, gay-friendly Church that not only ordained Gene Robinson as bishop but - increasingly - thinks he is a very good thing. Its liturgy is mostly groovy Catholic-lite, its theology achingly liberal, and if Rowan Williams hadn't ended up as Archbishop of Canterbury (a job he badly wanted) then I suspect he'd feel pretty much at home there. He is, after all, essentially a supporter of a form of gay marriage, though only when the microphones are turned off.
"Anglican", on the other hand, is coming to mean conservative evangelical or traditionalist High Church, sympathetic to GAFCON but not to homosexuals. Read more
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