Ruth Gledhill - Times Online - WBLG

Rowan in Rome: The Fightback Begins

Cardinal Walter Kasper, head of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity, spoke to journalists after the Archbishop of Canterbury had finished speaking at the Willebrands Conference at the Gregorian University in Rome yesterday. See also Tom Heneghan's report on Reuters.

Raise a glass to the Beaker Folk

The Beaker Folk, as Wikipedia tells us, were Neolithic to Bronze Age humans named after the pottery mugs they drank from. They were thought to be extinct, although relics of their druidic superstition survives at places such as Stonehenge. However, they appear to have resurfaced in a small village in Bedfordshire, Husborne Crawley.

Towards a Pauline education that is free

This afternoon I am attending the John Colet Day service at St Paul's. It is a special service, marking the 500th anniversary of the foundation of St Paul's School for Boys, and the Archbishop of Canterbury is preaching. Yesterday, the Bishop of London, the Right Rev Richard Chartres, came into our Wapping headquarters to address the News International Christian Fellowship. When I told him that Dr Martin Stephen had 24 hours earlier criticised faith schools as divisive, founded on fear and as failing to teach respect for other faiths, Bishop Chartres, who incidentally inhabits Colet's lovely Old Deanery at the cathedral, condemned these comments as 'astonishing' and 'dangerous'. Read our news story here.

(Pictures by Chris Harris of The Times and Hans Holbein.)

Religious groups to be forced to end discrimination

The Roman Catholic bishops of England, Wales and Scotland along with most other Christian groups are upset about the new European anti-discrimination directive. 'Homosexual groups campaigning for same sex marriage may declare themselves offended by the presentation of the Catholic Church’s moral teaching on homosexual acts; Catholics may declare themselves offended by a ‘Gay Pride’ march; an atheist may be offended by religious pictures in art gallery; a Muslim may be offended by any picture representing the human form,' warn the Catholic bishops. 'It is not clear whether ‘goods and services’ would apply to the activities of a Catholic priest, if, as recently occurred, he were to refuse to take a booking for a Church Hall from a group of witches.'

You say 'I do', they say 'I won't'

Perhaps one reason we should all support the Church of England's decision to publish a joint hatch'n'match  liturgy, reported in The Times today as the splash and inside, is the new potential it creates for YouTube hits. 

CofE bishops: 'Noble' metal of chalice no protection against swine flu

A little-noticed intervention by the Church of England on swine flu is slowly filtering down to the parishes. This means that churchgoing colleagues at The Times, slightly panicked by dire-sounding pronouncements from the pulpits about the dangers of intinction, have been asking me what's going on. The Church though has been prophetic once again. Already 29 have died in Britain, up to 63,000 deaths are predicted , Cherie Blair has got it and as I sit here in Wapping, my son is watching YouTube at the computer terminal beside me, his teacher having been sent home with swine flu. So what is the Church saying?

Princely Bishop of Durham rides to the rescue

There's nothing quite like a good Church of England bishop in full purple wrath mode. The Bishop of Durham Dr Tom Wright, in his op-ed comment for today's Times, gives marvellous rhetorical shape to the grand old tradition of the Durham prince bishops. I knew he was writing it, because I asked him to. But even so, on reading it over coffee and croissants in Kew this morning, I was a bit stunned. I half expected a little army of purple-shirted crozier-waving mounted bishops to charge out of the newsprint and start doing battle with the fluffy kittens under my feet.

General Synod: Laity asked to pay for loss of power

With delegates gathering in York for this weekend's General Synod, expect a stormy debate on Sunday as laity and some clergy fight off an attempt to abolish the boards of education and mission and the entire structure of finance, minority, disability and other councils and committees. If passed, these proposals would represent an unprecedented handing-over of power back to the bishops and archbishops, as we report in The Times. In these recession-hit times, I'm all in favour of cost-cutting where possible. But at the same time as the laity are being asked to disenfranchise themselves in every area where their vote truly matters, they are being asked to stump up hundreds of thousands more pounds to pay for the clergy pension deficit. Better perhaps to do what Bradford is suggesting and cut the bishops back to size. If you aren't up in York, follow the debates on the live feed via the Church of England synod page. For a taste of what is to come, read on for the full paper presented by Oxford's Dr Philip Giddings, vice-chair of the House of Laity, at the Evangelical Group meeting in York this afternoon.

Anglicans in the US: a new Church is born.

Please welcome guest blogger Chris Sugden of Anglican Mainstream, reporting live from Texas on the first assembly of the Anglican Church in North America. For any readers baffled, bewildered or simply bored by Anglicans, Reuters have very helpfully published a Q&A on where we are and how we got here. For Chris, a member of the General Synod which meets in York soon, where traditionalists in England will continue their battle over women bishops, this group is the 39th province of the Anglican Communion. Although formal recognition awaits, new Archbishop Bob Duncan is in regular contact with the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams. Read about his 'I am' statement on VirtueOnline.

Corpus Christi: 'Post yourself a Host,' says bishop

Thursday was the Feast of Corpus Christi although many Christians celebrate it this Sunday. Pope Benedict XVI, celebrating Mass in Rome yesterday, said in his homily: 'Aware that, because of sin, we are inadequate, yet needing to nourish ourselves from the love the Lord offers us in the Eucharistic Sacrament, this evening we renew our faith in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Such faith must not be taken for granted. Today there is a risk of insidious secularisation, even inside the Church. This could translate into a formal but empty Eucharistic worship, in celebrations lacking that involvement of the heart which finds expression in veneration and respect for the liturgy. There is always a strong temptation to reduce prayer to superficial and hurried moments, allowing ourselves to be overcome by earthly activities and concerns.' Compare this with the latest initiative of the former Church of England cleric Jonathan Blake, now a Bishop of the Open Episcopal Church, and his new Post-the-Host initiative, which appears as a news story on our online faith page today.

Faith Schools: 'Who but God could be so funny?'

A debate about God and faith schools in the letters page of The Times has become entertaining with the intervention of Brighton's stand-up comic Roisin Mirza.

In a letter published on June 6, Roisin, filmed here at the latest Funny Women awards, wrote: 'My mum was an Irish Catholic, my dad was a Pakistani Muslim and I went to a Church of England primary school. I had to go to Mass on Sunday, mosque on weekdays and once a month go to a Church of England service because I was in the Brownies.

'Confusion? Not many. The result? A catastrophe of careers until I became a stand-up comedian. Do I believe in God? Of course I do. Who else could be so funny? Religious upbringing could only be invented by the same joker who invented humour itself.'

No bed of roses for asylum seekers

The Sanctuary, a garden designed to highlight the plight of asylum seekers in Britain, is among the exhibits at the BBC Gardener's World Live at the NEC in Birmingham this week. Pictured here in prayer next to the Bishop of Birmingham David Urquhart, whose article on the garden is reproduced below, is an asylum seeker from Zimbabwe. This asylum seeker has been here 10 years but still has been given no final decision about his status. He gardens to stay sane and has started growing vegetables but has no idea whether he will even be in the same shared house he is at now, when the food is ready to eat. He was invited to the garden by Solihull Welcome, a church based charity, and describes the church as his sanctuary while his future remains so uncertain.

'Cast into the Tiber and told to swim.'

I've been very moved by Sunday's blog posting at De Cura Animarum by Jeffrey Steel, pictured here in Rome at Easter. Father Jeffrey, a friend of the Anglican Bishop of Durham Dr Tom Wright, has resigned from his ministry as a Church of England clergyman in the Durham diocese and is in the process of becoming a Roman Catholic, along with his wife and six children. He writes, 'Sometimes crossing the Tiber looks like an easier swim than it really is. I told my Catholic bishop that I sometimes feel like the Tiber has stretched as wide as the Atlantic and I've been cast into the middle and told to swim. He said, 'Yes, Jeffrey but there are devices out there to keep you above water, grab onto them and do not fear.'

God is Back author: 'They do not see their job as bums on seats.'

Clergy have a lot in common with journalists, which might explain why so many children of the cloth are to be found in my 'profession'. I use that word advisedly, to grace my hackery with a status some might feel it lacks. One of the things we perhaps have in common with clergy is the busyness of lives which stop us writing that best-selling novel, or Bible commentary. How many clergy quietly kick themselves when the Archbishop of Canterbury announces the latest Michael Ramsey prize for theological writing, as he just has to Richard Bauckham, that they haven't found the time to pen the epistle that would get them a nice reception at Lambeth Palace in the company of true grace?

Bishops' expenses in the Lords: First prize goes to Sentamu!

The Archbishop of York Dr John Sentamu has one of the longest trips to make, all the way from North Yorkshire, and is among the most active in the House of Lords attending ten days over a 12-month period. But he gets the first prize for bishops' allowances in the Lords from The Times because his expenses were - absolutely null and utterly zero! A bottle of Times champagne is on its way to Bishopthorpe - if I can get it on exes.

Second prize goes to Bill Ind, former Bishop of Truro, who must have had furthest to go and managed the trip five times before he retired in 2007, yet somehow managed to do it all on just £86. The Times religious desk reckons he must have used his free bus pass, which is no doubt how we'll be expecting all our bishops to travel everywhere before too long.

And third prize goes to the Bishop of Liverpool, James Jones, who attended an impressive 38 days and whose travel costs included £1,751 in air fares, making him the only true 'flying' bishop in the Lords.

Consolation prizes also to the Bishop of Ely Dr Anthony Russell, who claimed £3 worth of stamps, and the Bishop of Southwark Dr Tom Butler, who managed an impressive 83 days in the Lords, notching up a total of £6,743 in subsistence. For an interesting analysis of this, see The Church Mouse.

(|Update: Times house champers on its way now to Bishopthorpe and another also to Lambeth Palace, in equivalent recognition of the Archbishop of Canterbury's frugality.)

Swine flu faith guide: 'You may need to suspend public worship'

Update: The revised Government guidelines for faith communities in the event of a flu pandemic are now available and the Church of England has published special prayers for swine flu. The Methodists have also issued guidelines.

What do you think this woman is doing, praying or blowing her nose, or perhaps multitasking and doing both at the same time?

Over the last 48 hours I've been receiving a few calls and emails from clergy and laity wondering where the guidance is for faith communities on swine flu, or perhaps that should be Mexican flu. In  the UK there are thousands of ministers of religion preparing for services this weekend, wondering what they should do. One can only assume the leaders of the established church are praying about it, for that would explain their silence. It does strike me as bizarre though that a national newspaper religion correspondent should be contacted by clergy seeking advice on what their leaders are thinking.

These are some of the questions I'm being asked: For Christians, should they suspend communion altogether, or suspend sharing of the communion cup? What about the hands of the minister if he has caught the infection, blessing and handing out the bread? In synagogues, where services are often followed by celebrations over food, should these go ahead?

No-one knows, and people everywhere seem to be in the dark about how seriously they should take this possible pandemic.

So in the spirit of Christian charity, I've done my best to help. Read on.

Budget09: Suffer the little children

Two senior bishops have delivered warnings about what we are doing to our young people. In Wales, the Archbishop, Dr Barry Morgan, spoke at the governing body of the Church in Wales. Read our report in The Times. There's a slight irony here as a recent spending priorities document in the Church of England across the border included youth and children's work - along with educational chaplaincies - as areas that might receive 'less national resource' in future. No decisions have been made. The bishops might want consider carefully at whether they want to be able to continue pontificating about the perils of our children's future before making some of these cuts. 

Church of England on brink of 'losing' 24 million 'members'

Watch this BBC video and read the news report at Times Online about nurse John Hunt who is trying to get his baptism into the Church of England rescinded, with the support of the National Secular Society. 

The case is significant because it could ultimately cost the Church of England and the other Anglican churches in the UK nearly all of their 25,336,000 official members, as recorded by the World Council of Churches, as counted by the Wakeham Commission on reform of the House of Lords and even by the Anglican Communion itself.

Skating on thick stone: Malmesbury Abbey to be skate park again

 After this year's event was such a success, the Rev Neill Archer, Vicar of Malmesbury, has been granted permission to turn his twelfth century abbey into a skate park again next year, the Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard is reporting today. Read also the Western Daily press and the abbey's own website for more details of what happened on the day.

Queen's Abbey service to be twittered live

The Queen, Supreme Governor of the Church of England, is going to have her annual Commonwealth Day Observance service twittered live. It will be one of her canonical servants, not HM in person, tapping in the updates. But the service is to be live-tweeted all over the web as it happens. 'Performances by South African tenor Njabulo Madlala and a steel band from Trinidad & Tobago,' says the latest Tweet. 'Follow live updates on the day from web. Her Majesty The Queen and HRH The Duke of Edinburgh will attend the annual Observance for Commonwealth Day at the Abbey on Monday 9th March.' The Abbey continues today:  'We've been tweeting for a couple of weeks and will continue to do so after the Observance; there's much to say about the Abbey.'

Be a Valentine

Nine out of ten couples would prefer more time with their loved ones to an expensive gift, according to new research by the Church of England. Not sure who they spoke to, but it's hard to believe. Never mind the fact that thousands are people are 'relieved to be off the treadmill' and be weaned from their 'crackBerry addiction' as the Bishop of London would have it. Jobless and penniless, will they truly take additional relief now from knowing that their spouses and partners will be pleased to have them knocking around the house the whole time?

St Valentine was a third century priest who was beheaded after he was caught marrying Christian couples and refused under torture to renounce his faith.

General Synod Feb 09 Day Five

'The asylum system could have been designed by King Herod after reading Kafka.' 11.05am Rev William Raines of Manchester:

Rev Ruth Worsley, pictured here proposing a motion calling on the Government to allow asylum seekers to work, describes Christy, at Synod in the public gallery, who was persecuted in Pakistan, where it can be a problem under blasphemy laws to be a Christian. He and his family have after four years been granted leave to stay here but have not been given permission to work. He is active in his local church, on his diocesan synod and PCC, busy in the community, but still dependent for income on the state because of the absurd ban on him getting a job. She described another Iranian refugee, Afshin Azizian, who was refused asylum and chose to live rough, scavenge in rubbish bins and sleep in a launderette rather than go home. 'I lost my whole adult life in misery in this country,' he once said. Ruth has helped set up the Arimathea Trust, one of many projects set up by church people concerned to do something about the destitution of these poor people.

Pics by Chris Harris of The Times

General Synod Feb 09 Day Four

5pm

Dr Brian Walker: 'Tomorrow is Valentine's Day. Let us all show generous love.' One of my fellow live bloggers, Peter Ould, posts about all the tweeting going on.

4.10pm

Bishop of London says much the same in Synod as he did in his advance note. My story on this is now online.

4.10pm

The Rev Mark Ireland of Telford, in the Lichfield diocese, quoted a verse from Hebrews: 'Keep your heart free from the love of money and be content with what you have.' Calls for a new doctrine of contentment.

Susan Cooper, a lay member from Harrow in the London diocese warns there will probably be more job losses at Easter. 'This will prolong the feeling of the Garden of Gethsemane rather than joy in the love of Christ.

4.00pm

Synod debating recession. Fantastic speeches from Bishop of Durham, Bishop of Hulme and various clergy and lay members.

Listen to the Archbishop of York opening the debate.

1.10pm. Just caught up with Canada's Bishop Don Harvey, now of ACNA and one of the bishops under the care of Greg Venables, Primate of the Southern Cone. He was at a fringe meeting hosted by Anglican Mainstream.

Long experience of synod meetings has taught me that evangelicals do the best lunches. The more conservative, the better the food. Enjoyed robust plate of tomato pasta and salad, washed down with pure clean water and followed by tea and strawberry-filled chocolates. Yummee in my tummee! Better than the soggy, limp sandwiches at liberal fringe meetings. The sacramentally strong red wine and cheese at Catholic fringe meetings is of course legendary,  but not something I personally am at liberty to partake of.

General Synod Feb 09: Day Three

4.47pm

Bp Pete speaks to me Facebook while the debate continues around us. How gratifyingly subversive.

4.45pm

See from Facebook that Church Times cartoonist sitting eight seats up from me in the press gallery has just posted his first Synod cartoon on his Church Times blog.

'Where are all the liberals?' asks Dave plaintively in his latest status update as this debate descends into an evangelical love in with even unashamed liberals such as Justin Brett declaring themselves 'in need of guidance' on how to explain the uniqueness of Christ in a multi-faith society. Evangelical Bishop Pete Broadbent, who has just spoken in the debate, comments on Dave's status. 'Tee hee resistance is futile,' he says. Is it a scandal that a bishop is using Facebook while ostensibly listening to a serious synod debate on the place of Christ in the world today? Does anyone care? Or has Bp Pete left the chamber and gone to the tea room with all the liberals?

See my story on this here.

Dr Chik Kaw Tan, from the Lichfield diocese, said he was brought up in Chinese folk religion, a mixture of Confucianism, Buddhism and ancestor worship. "Do not talk to me about the happy heathen. They do not exist."

Another member jokes that this would be a good slogan for the side of a bus.

The Bishop of Hulme Stephen Lowe is not so impressed:

Britain heading for 'doomsday' says C of E finance chief

'It is a doomsday machine,' says Andreas Whittam Smith, former editor of the Independent and now in charge of the Church of England's £5 billion  assets in his role as First Church Estates Commissioner. He is talking about the dismantling of the 'great edifice of credit' built up over 20 years. 'The recession will continue until this process is over,' he says, describing how banks embraced the 'dark side' of deregulation to gain their illusory 'Eldorado'. Read on.

General Synod Feb 2009: Day One

All pics by Richard Pohle.

6.10

A bishop's mobile phone goes off. 'Jingle Bells' rings through the chamber at Church House. Best moment of the day.

6.07

In response to a supplementary to Hugh Lee's question 23, Rowan Williams promises to consider getting a woman bishop in to address the synod.

6.00

Managed to file story to paper while questions going on at Synod, praying have missed nothing. Rowan Williams about to speak. He turns out to be a master of the succinct 'yes' and 'no'. Email pops up. Bishop Richard Williamson has lost court case trying to get injunction against Swedish TV for his Holocaust denial broadcast.

Peter Crumpler head of press at Church of England drops by with a note. He went to the fringe meeting last year where, as I reported earlier, Sir Ian Blair spoke about race. It was at the height of the  Sharia controversy. 'Sir Ian paid tribute to Abp Rowan, who was in the audience, and said that he sympathised with his friend Rowan, as he knew only too well what it was like to be under fire from the media.'

Sir Ian Blair: exclusive interview with The Times

Sir Ian Blair, the former Metropolitan Police Commissioner, says he has no regrets about his remarks that most muggers are black and that the media is racist in its reporting of crime. In spite of his last few months in office being dogged by allegations over race, he claims his policies have been vindicated by results. As I report in a news story written with crime writer Sean O'Neill, and from an exclusive interview he gave me last Thursday in Oxford, tomorrow he will give his public backing to an attempt by a member of the Church of England's General Synod, Vasantha Gnanadoss, to persuade it to adopt a similar policy to one used by the police and ban clergy and lay workers from joining the British National Party.

Shame about the Cross

In the Times today, Russell Jenkins reports on the latest TV wedding, in Coronation Street. The setting was the beautiful 14th century church of Nether Alderley in Cheshire. The vicar is incensed, reports Russell: 'It was not the absurd storyline... Nor was it the ornate horse-drawn carriage, the dry-ice machine used to create atmosphere or even the harpist in the nave.'  The Rev James Milnes is upset because the producers, not wanting to cause offence, covered up the solid brass cross on the altar.  I've done a brief commentary.

YouTube bishop welcomes 'affirming atheists'

This makes a change from the usual announcement from Downing Street. The tenth Bishop of St Albans, Dr Alan Smith, has been announced on YouTube. Listen here to his comments at the press conference, where he notes the passing of the robust atheist of yore, as witnessed by that distinctly agnostic 'probably' proviso on the atheist bus.  The new atheists are what Anglicans might call 'liberal atheists' or 'affirming atheists', he says.

I think I'm going to like this bish.

Pray G_d I can't do it

'Pray Now Buy Later' is the message of the Church of England in its new Advent campaign.

On blogging, journalism and being an LAT

Things have been getting personal recently at The Times. I've 'stepped outside the box' this week to write about being an LAT, or a 'Living Apart Together' couple with my husband. And today I'm doing something on the decision by John Sergeant to withdraw from Strictly Come Dancing. As old timers here will remember, I used to be a competitive ballroom dancer.

CofE diocese with £1.25 million deficit

Yes that's right, more than a million, that's one with six zeros, quid. This is even more than the massive deficit left by the recent Lambeth Conference, a deficit incidentally which is being handled with admirable  financial skill as the second update below makes clear.

This new deficit acquired by the Birmingham diocese is revealed in the latest questions to the Church Commissioners, where the tantalising information is also to be found that no fewer than 27 out of the 43 Church of England dioceses ended 2007 with substantial deficits on their balance sheets. The Church of England press office, asked about this, gave me a reply I didn't understand about how this was a 'deficit' not a 'debt'. Furthermore, they implied, it was a deliberately-incurred deficit put there to hide what were in fact huge profits. Sounds like Gordon Brown-speak is infecting even the Church of England it seems, whose performance overall in the credit crunch has been admirable. Wish my own bank manager saw things this way. 'It's a deficit not a debt,' I'll cry, brandishing my CofE tax deductible covenant certificate, as the white van carried me off to 'debt'lam.
 

The sad tale of the drunk 'swinger' curate

As the Worcester News reports, the Rev Teresa Davies has been banned for 12 years after turning up at church services drunk and telling colleagues she was a 'swinger'. We also carried a report in The Times.

Cases such as this are beginning to trickle out of the church's new disciplinary procedures. I thought it might be of interest to readers here if I posted the full judgement, which you can access as a pdf via this link

London evicts congregation from church

As the figures show, London is bucking the national trend and churchgoing is up. This is a small blip however in the overall decline that has seen Church of England attendance slump to 880,000, a figure that should be rememered by all who read the Anglican Communion Office's oft-touted boast of up to 27 million Anglicans in Britain's established church. The Anglican Communion starts to look a lot smaller when proper attendance figures are accounted. But perhaps the London Diocese's success explains why, or is even explained by, its recent tendency to close churches and force reluctant congregations to move elsewhere. Earlier this year the Welsh church of St Benet's was shut. And now the unfortunate souls who liked to worship at St Mark's Mayfair have been evicted. Lady Sainsbury was at the church for its last day before lock-out. Her speech is reproduced below. The London diocese wants to sell the church to George Hammer, who already lives in its vicarage, next door. He developed The Sanctuary at Covent Garden and wants to turn St Mark's into a centre for well being, with a spa included.

Dudley pulls it off!

As we report, the Rector of St Bartholomew the Great, the Rev Dr Martin Dudley, is to escape any form of discipline or reprimand for the Prayer Book-style 'wedding' service he conducted for two gay priests, the Rev Peter Cowell and the Rev David Lord. Mr Dudley has reached an agreement with the Bishop of London, the Right Rev Richard Chartres that the matter shall now be laid to rest after the errant cleric sent a 'letter of regret' in which he pledges not to do it again and admits he was wrong. It would be pushing it too far to call it an apology, and Stonewall, which has him as one of its Hero of the Year nominees for its awards dinner next month, doesn't see it as a climbdown either. Another Hero of the Year, incidentally, is Bishop Gene Robinson, who is flying over specially for the ceremony at the V&A where Dud the Stud will be an honoured guest. Incidentally, I am honoured to bring you these beautiful, evocative photographs of the service in May, the first officially released, taken by the talented Polly Alexandre of Alexandre Weddings. Not just a real wedding, it seems, but a real Mass as well. What is the Church of England coming to!

England's 'Pittsburgh' unfolds as parishes seek new bishop

As we report, evangelicals from Reform are at present meeting in London at their annual conference. I'll be popping in for a coffee tomorrow morning, before going on to Lambeth Palace for a briefing on the important Common Word conferencethat has been taking place at Cambridge. But I've just received chairman Rod Thomas' address to the conference, which makes it clear that an 'English' version is being worked out of the solution to the present Anglican crisis, an English version of the 'solution' adopted so dramatically in Pittsburgh a few days ago. Rod, pictured here in Jerusalem during Gafcon, indicated that English parishes who have a bishop embracing 'unbiblical teaching' will seek alternative oversight. And they will go ahead with this, even if the Church, through its General Synod, cannot find a way to 'accommodate' it, he warned.

Dome of St Paul's to become a blog

An extraordinary art project is about to be unveiled at St Paul's in London. Or rather not so much 'at' the cathedral as on the very dome itself of Sir Christopher Wren's masterpiece. St Paul's is to be transformed from white into midnight blue by artist Martin Firrell. And the words of you, me or indeed anyone who contributes to the blog now up at Martin Firrell's website will be projected up there in white-on-blue for all to see. In other words, this great cathedral is to be turned into ... a weblog. A weblog on the Meaning of Life, but a weblog nonetheless.

Newman's death uncovered

As we reported in The Sunday Times and on a previous blog, attempts to exhume Cardinal John Henry Newman have failed because there is no body there to exhume. Libby Purves is among those who welcomed the end they hoped this would bring to a 'ghoulish side-show'. All that remains of this great churchman are a few tassels from his cardinal's hat. This picture shows the sarcophagus that has been built in Italy and can no longer be used to house a non-existent body at the Birmingham Oratory, as had been intended. It has been built, it is in Italy and the Cause will announce next week what is to become of it.

Lambeth Diary: Welcome to the Circus.

The Archbishop of Canterbury warned the 650 Lambeth Conference bishops tonight that the problems of the Anglican Communion are not going to be resolved in the next three weeks at Kent. The Lambeth Reader which we write about today, Thurs, gives some idea why in its essay on the role of bishops. Dr Rowan Williams was speaking at the reception for bishops in the big blue tent on campus at the university, on the outskirts of Canterbury, as news emerged from the US of plans to extend the Anglican Use scheme in the to allow ecclesial entities to go over to Rome. Cardinal Walter Kasper of the Vatican's Council for Christian Unity is at the Lambeth Conference, and senior sources at the conference denied the story was accurate. Clearly they had not read Newark Archbishop John J Myers' speech. It was delivered at the US Anglican Use conference last Friday. My earlier story highlighted some of the divisions that exist in the Vatican over how to respond to the Anglican crisis. Cardinal Kasper is speaking here on Saturday. Kasper doesn't want defectors encouraged because he doesn't want to exacerbate Anglican schism. Others in the Vatican believe the Anglican Communion is irrevocably ruptured and want to give the red carpet and even the red hat treatment to Anglican trads. Hence the imminent beatification of Newman that we wrote about this week. Cardinal Ivan Dias, who heads the Congregation for Evangelisaton, is here at Lambeth as an 'observer'. There are some suggesting that it's not the Anglicans he's observing so much as Cardinal Kasper.

Gene protester pinned

  A contact has shown me a picture of the same long-haired motorcycling protester as the heckler filmed by the BBC at the Gene Robinson service at Giles Fraser's St Mary's Putney. My last 'seeking Graham Maxwell' post produced an insant response from one Father Simon, who reckons it might be the same person.  I got the name slightly wrong, it is Max Maxwell not Graham. If you follow this link to Father Simon Rundell SCP, he's now blogged it himself as well, having been prompted by my enquiry to make the connection. He tells me that his church, St Thomas the Apostle in Gosport, Hants, is an ordinary, Anglo-Catholic parish that likes taking groups of children to Walsingham every now and again. The parish just happens to have nothing against gays. This was what first attracted Maxwell's attention. He pops up regularly on Fr Simon's blog, citing chunks of the King James Bible, most of which Father Simon removes. But one example still remains. I like the photo though, don't you? Good looking guy. Have sent him an email, awaiting a response. Will of course let all of you know what he says, when and if one ever comes! Or perhaps it is foolish to court trouble by inviting this person of extreme views onto this blog. I am relying on all my regulars to go to battle on behalf of reason, sanity and inclusivity, if and when he appears here.

Will Rome really take our trads?

I asked this question of an extremely well-connected Roman Catholic friend and this was his response: 'I honestly don't think Rome will. Last thing we need. Their position was untenable in the 19th century, became ridiculous in 1992, and is now quite simply grotesque.'

Hmm. Being in a Resolution A parish myself, I am more sympathetic to their plight, but fear that those who fantasise a Flaminian Gate-style welcome are deluding themselves. A number of leading supporters of women bishops can't wait for them to up sticks and go to Rome, but they also might be counting their blessings too soon. Rome, it seems to me, is unlikely to want them much if at all. Better to look to the Bishop of London, summoning a 'sacred synod' in October to address the crisis in his intensely evo and trad diocese. 

Women bishops: the debate

Christina Rees of Watch is jubilant after the Church agreed to proceed with legislation to ordain women bishops. The women are prepared to work with the code of practice option, although they would have preferred nothing at all. The reaction of the traditionalists remains to be seen but can perhaps be predicted. I'll bring you more on that when I can speak to them tomorrow. If they're still here. Christina was up here in the press office just now however, where this quick snap was taken: 'It is the result we have been building up to for the last few years,' she said. 'It is very good for the Church, very good for women, very good for the established church, good for the whole nation. A vast majority have wanted this for so long.' She said there was 'absolute respect' for opponents and there would be 'adequate provisions' for them.

The full motion as amended is reproduced below, with the precise voting figures.

Summer of Schism: 'Why women must be bishops'

'Bad behavior in electoral synods is not the only thing that has distressed me here and made me VERY thoughtful. We need a process of re-education throughout the Communion, I think (as Rowan has said) and particularly in ‘liberal’ areas like this. The wide-spread ignorance of the basics of Anglicanism, how it came to be and therefore why it enshrines what it enshrines - the Anglican contribution to the coming great church - astounds me. However, there it is and one must soldier on.'

This is just one of the comments sent me by Christina Rees of Watch from the petition for women bishops launched earlier this week at Westminster Abbey. As we report today, there is a danger the legislation will fall completely on Monday. In 29 study groups today, Saturday, before the arguing starts in earnest, synod members are discussing 'to what extent should the Church of England seek to continue to accommodate the present diversity of views within its life on the issue of women's ordination' and 'what are the implications of that for any possible special arrangements for those who on grounds of theological conviction have difficulties over the ordination of women.' The groups have also been asked to consider whether, in the light of the pros and cons of the various options, synod members are clear about the choices they have to make.

All the comments are below. (I'll finish tidying them up later.) Some of them, you will surely agree, are quite moving. At the top is a Roman Catholic priest. It would be interesting if, were all the traditionalist Anglicans to go over to Rome, the debate went over with them. I've published the entire lot below.

Boris clergy scandal uncovered

(Update Friday morning: Why is Tom Ambrose's recent dispute relevant to this case? See below for details.)

When Church of England clergyman Ray Lewis was made deputy mayor for young people by Boris Johnson, a couple of people contacted me urging me to write about the powrful example being set for the church by this charismatic leader. I am rather glad I never found time to do it. Because today it has emerged that he was placed on the Lambeth List and barred from office for serious financial misconduct. More details appear in our story, now online. Boris has this afternoon launched an investigation. Lewis has condemned the claims as 'absolute rubbish' and denied he was ever suspended. True, technically he did resign. But Chelmsford diocese has promised full cooperation with Boris' office. And their statement, produced below, is pretty unequivocal.

Trads threaten walk-out over women

As we report exclusively today, more than 1,300 clergy and bishops in the Church of England, 60 per cent of whom are still serving, have written an open letter to the Archbishops of Canterbury and York threatening to leave the Church if women are consecrated bishops with no legal provisions for opponents. You can download here the full letter and list of signatories. The 11 bishops are the three flyers, Ebbsfleet, Richborough and Beverley, plus the flyer-without-wings Fulham, and then the suffragans and assistants Burnley, Horsham, Plymouth, Edmonton, Newcastle, Whitby and Pontefract. Two of them, Simon Morris of London and Philip Corbett of Southwell, both in their twenties, were only ordained last Sunday.

Update: from The Times leader today, 3 July: 'The more immediate challenge this weekend, however, comes not from Foca but from clergy unreconciled to women bishops. They want permanent, binding safeguards for traditionalists which Dr Williams and others are unwilling to concede for fear of enshrining discrimination. He must therefore address their defiance in York as vigorously as he has replied to the Gafcon rebels. On his performance hangs not only the unity of the Church of England but the prospects for the fractious Lambeth conference. Rarely has a challenge been as daunting.' Also in the same paper, George Walden says Dr Williams is a closet liberal, and that he must come out of the closet and campaign for full equality for homosexuals in the church, or resign.

Give trads their own diocese says Guildford bishop

If he was in a grave now, John Gladwin would be turning in it. At the least he must be spluttering into his coffee or tea or port or whatever it is bishops in Chelmsford prefer these days. His successor at Guildford, dear Christopher Hill, one of the goodest and truest of catholic men in England today, has posted a pastoral letter on his diocesan website making the case of structural provision for the opponents of women priests. In other words, an extra-geographical diocese as outlined in the Manchester report. He seems to think General Synod next month might even go for something like this, and warns a code of practice will not work, that it will in effect mean 'goodbye'. An interesting development I think, given what is happening in Jerusalem, where I am filing this from. Although it will be fiercely resisted by some, really it's not such a big deal. There are already two dioceses in Europe, one Episcopal, the other Anglican, overlapping each other completely. This perhaps could be a possible form for the church within a church model, for the ecclesial renewal that the Roffen has just spoken of here in Jerusalem, as recorded on my previous post.

Bishop of Durham sees the funny side

There's not much light relief around in Anglican affairs at the moment. Returning from Chris Morgan's requiem in Llandaff, a sad event, and heading off to Gafcon in a few hours, I was immensely cheered to see that one of my favourite bishops, Dr Tom Wright, has been persuaded onto the Colbert Show during his US tour for his new book. I must say, I never knew that theology could be so amusing. Watch, and see for yourself.

Gay blessing: 'Four bishops in the sanctuary'

The headline doesn't refer to the Bart's blessing, but to one of the many others there have been in the Church of England previously. Who can the bishops have been? That is what we religion writers are trying to establish, after this wonderfully provocative release came out from the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement who are, incidentally, sending a representative to Gafcon. I've posted it in full below, along with the legal opinion by diocesan chancellor James Behrens, commissioned by Anglican Mainstream.  He concludes that the service was illegal. We've also received the Bishop of London's letters to Father Martin Dudley and the diocese, which are up on Thinking Anglicans so I won't post them here.

'Dud the Stud': Why I did it.

The Archbishops of Canterbury and York have expressed 'great concern' about the gay 'marriage' presided at by Father Martin Dudley, Rector of St Bartholomew the Great in the City of London. Read on for the latest developments in this explosive story.

Sacked vicar wins case and accuses Bishop of Liverpool of 'lying'

Rev David Johnston, the communications officer sacked after a Sunday newspaper claimed falsely that he was having adulterous affair when in fact his marriage had broken up before his new relationship began, has won his case for unfair dismissal. He has been awarded more than £14,500 by an employment tribunal in Liverpool. Having accused Bishop Jones of lying, claimed the Bishop does not like Liverpool and was unhappy at not getting York, which went instead to Sentamu, Mr Johnston came out of the tribunal, victorious, and called on Bishop Jones to resign. As I related in a blog a couple of days ago, Mr Johnston set up a website and blog of his own to report the case. No-one expected it to end quite so quickly. What is particularly interesting to me though is that I understand that various canon lawyers from the traditionalist wing have been watching this case carefully. If next month's General Synod does indeed allow women to be bishops, without enshrining legal safeguards for traditionalists, it is not out of the question that a test case for constructive dismissal will be brought against the Church. In a statement last night, the diocese accepted the tribunal's decision but completely rejected the accusations made against the bishop at the hearing and stated that the bishop was and would continue to be a loyal ambassador for the City of Liverpool.