Anglican TV Episode 42, June 2, 2012 June 2, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Church of Canada, Anglican Church of North America, Anglican Consultative Council, Anglican Covenant, Anglican.TV, Church of England, Property Litigation, Virginia, Women Priests.Tags: Diamond Jubilee
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So much news so little time. In this week’s Anglican Unscripted Kevin, George, Peter, and Alan bring you the latest Anglican News. Peter brings news of a Diamond Jubilee and Women Bishops in England. Alan delivers the latest supreme court news from The Falls Church. Kevin and George talk about a cancer in the Anglican Communion and updated betting on the next Archbishop of Canterbury.
The Vatican’s Women’s Page: Get Religion, June 2, 2012 June 2, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Get Religion, Press criticism, Roman Catholic Church.Tags: Artemesia Gentileschi, L’Osservatore Romano, women's page
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Judith Slaying Holofernes by Artemesia Gentileschi. c. 1612-1613, Museo di Capolodimonte, Naples.
L’Osservatore Romano reports that it has added a women’s page to its Italian-language edition. The four-page insert will be called “Women, Church, World” and will be written “by and for” Catholic women, and will appear on the last Thursday of the month, the semi-official Vatican newspaper reports.
The first issue was printed on 31 May 2012 (Feast of the Visitation of the Virgin Mary) and features an interview with Maria Voce, president of the Focolari Movement, an appreciation of the Baroque painter Artemisia Gentileschi, an essay on Joan of Arc, and other women-themed articles. If the first issue is any guide this section will be more of a feminist Catholic feuilleton rather than a throwback to the traditional women’s page of day’s past.
The front page article in L’Osservatore Romano announcing the new section states:
Historical research is showing how the emancipation and advancement of women is indebted to Christianity from its origins, despite contradictions down the centuries, due above all to the cultural context and, in our day, to persistent prejudices.
The article then notes the fullness of presence of women in the life of the church through history.
And although the female presence in the Church has in some periods seemed to be in the shadows, this makes it no less important. In the second half of the twentieth century the recognition of this element on the part of the Holy See became more decisive, as in 1963 when the new lead role of women in society, especially in that of Christian tradition, was recognized by John XXIII as one of the “signs of the times”.
Then in 1964 it was Paul VI who, with unprecedented determination, invited several women to take part in the Second Vatican Council and, in 1970, proclaimed two women saints Doctors of the Church: Catherine of Siena and Teresa of Avila. He was followed by John Paul II – who likewise proclaimed Thérèse of Lisieux a Doctor in 1997 – and by Benedict XVI who has decided on this solemn definition also for one of the greatest women of the Middle Ages, Hildegard of Bingen – as confirmation of an indispensable and valuable presence in Christ’s Church.
In an interview in the Italian language section of Zenit, Prof. Lucetta Scaraffia of La Sapienza University in Rome, the editor of the supplement, acknowledged the project will break stereotypes of Catholic women — inside and outside the church. She accepts that some will not be pleased.
The church world has traditionally misogynistic.Women have been seen as potential competitors for careers inside the church and accepted only if they cancel themselves out by playing a subordinate role. But this position in today’s world is unsustainable.
Prof. Scaraffia stated the new section:
will demonstrate how many women are involved in church life …
and will push for reform by lending:
a hand to a growing need for internal change.
She added that:
Religious and secular women are not only very numerous but they play important and interesting roles in the life of the Church. However, everyone thinks that the Church is made only of cardinals, bishops … so finally, at least once a month, we will open a window on the fundamental presence, past and present, of women in the Church.
The women’s page will also promote a modern Catholic feminism based upon the principle of complementarity — not interchangeability — of men and women.
Feminism was and is many things. First, it seeks recognition for the role of women, which often – and precisely in the Church – is undervalued and ignored. But there is a difference between feminism that seeks equality by flattening the distinction between women and men, thereby erasing women’s difference from men … Too often this difference has been synonymous with inequality, but we will defend it and advance a new feminism.
One not centered solely around careers, “sexual freedom, contraception and abortion,” she said.
From a journalistic perspective, the addition of a women’s page to advance a feminist agenda appears counter intuitive.
In the early Twentieth century women’s pages began to appear in the middle or back of newspapers and provided how-to-information to women on marriage, fashion, food, beauty, home improvement and the like. In some more progressive metropolitan newspapers the women’s page also ran features on social issues: domestic violence, women in politics, poverty among women, and reports on the growing feminist movements. It also provided an entry for women reporters into a hitherto male dominated profession.
In the 1970’s however, most American newspapers dropped the women’s page, replacing it with a Lifestyle section that produced soft news stories and features about the arts and personalities designed to attract men and women.
Is introducing a women’s page one Thursday a month a good idea? Tell me GetReligion readers, do you agree with the argument put forward by Prof. Scaraffia that this supplement will increase the profile of women in the church?
Or, do you share my disquiet that — while well intentioned — this creates a ghetto for women in L’Osservatore Romano? Should the types of articles that Prof. Scaraffia hopes to publish appear more than once a month? Or, should we accept that this is a start and that good writing and solid reporting will see women-themed stories move from the supplement into a regular slot in the news pages?
What say you GetReligion readers?
First printed in GetReligion.
Keep drug money out of church, bishop pleads: The Church of England Newspaper, May 31, 2012 May 31, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Church of England Newspaper, Church of the Province of the West Indies, Corruption.Tags: Diocese of Jamaica and the Cayman Islands, Howard Gregory
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Bishop Howard Gregory
The Bishop of Jamaica and the Cayman Islands, the Rt. Rev. & Hon. Howard Gregory called upon Anglicans to stand fast against the tide of corruption racing through the West Indian nation.
In his 18 May 2012 sermon at his service of institution as 14th bishop of Jamaica held at the Cathedral of St. Jago de la Vega in Spanish Town, Dr. Gregory said the church must recommit itself to preaching the Gospel with “power and effectiveness” to a “world that is desperately in need of the good news, even as it is being bombarded by secularism which, while seeking to undermine religious faith, has nothing to offer in filling the void it is creating in the life of persons seeking to find a sense of meaning and purpose.”
Christians are a “people called out and yet in the world,” the bishops said. And “this calls for an act of consecration of the self to God and to God’s service if this is to be realised.”
In Jamaica this consecration of the self must include a rejection of the culture of corruption that was ravaging the country.
“We live in a society which is permeated at every level by corruption, and in which we benefit co-operatively from ill-gotten gain, and not just the acts of corruption, supposedly restricted to politicians and those in the public service,” the bishop said.
“For example, the inflows into this country from the lotto scam has wide circulation within the economy, and there is not only a culture of silence around it among some persons, but there are many who would suggest that there is nothing wrong with it. When parents can accept the gift of a home from a 15-year-old who is not working, and be contented with it, and when teachers in our schools can tell us of the high school students who own their own substantial three-bedroom house, and multiple taxis plying routes, you know that things have gone terribly wrong in this country, where our values and morality are concerned,” the bishop said.
It was no good pointing the finger at others, Dr. Gregory said, as the church was caught up in this web also. “We, members of the Church, are caught up in the corruption or are benefiting from it.”
Church fundraising activities “need to be subjected to closer scrutiny, as they run the risk of bringing drug and other tainted money into the coffers of the Church. Likewise, while the Church seeks to minister to the spiritual needs of all people, we must be careful how we bend over backward to charge fees and to accommodate some funerals that are bashment affairs funded by money of dubious origin,” Dr. Gregory said.
The bishop also challenged Anglicans to “re-think the excesses and vulgarity which are attending many weddings and funerals, even as those making such expenditures and displays claim to have nothing to assist needy children and young people in our congregations and society.”
Some cultures believe that “nothing goes into the ground with the dead which cannot be of use to the next generation. We would do well to take a leaf out of their book so that we can invest in the creation of a community of love” and for a better Jamaica, the bishop said.
First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
Archbishop closes Kenya’s pulpits to politicians: The Church of England Newspaper, May 27, 2012 p 7. May 31, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Church of Kenya, Church of England Newspaper, Politics.Tags: Eliud Wabukala, Mwai Kibaki, Raila Odinga
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Archbishop Eliud Wabukala
The Primate of Kenya, Archbishop Eliud Wabukala has asked the country’s Anglican clergy to eschew partisan politics in the run up to the country’s General Elections and close their pulpits to politics.
Speaking at All Saints Cathedral in Nairobi on 20 May 2012, Archbishop Wabukala said the Anglican Church of Kenya will “remain non-partisan.”
“Politicians who want to divide Kenyans on tribal lines should be discouraged at all costs,” and not be allowed to speak from church pulpits in support of their political agendas as “we are aware that some of them may not mean well.”
In March the Kenyan electoral commission set 4 March 2013 as the date for the next presidential and parliamentary elections. It will be the first general election since the 2007 vote that triggered factional and ethnic fighting that left 1,220 people dead, and triggered indictments of several prominent Kenyan political figures by the International Criminal Court.
It will also be the first election since the east African country adopted a new constitution.
President Mwai Kibaki, who is barred from seeking a third term of office, and Prime Minister Raila Odinga, had been at loggerheads over the date of the election. In January the country’s High Court ruled the next elections should be held in 2013 and not in August 2012 as required by the constitution. However, if the coalition government formed by President Kibaki and Prime Minister Odinga collapses, an early vote may be held.
During the 2007 elections, a number of ACK bishops gave their public support to political groups – which are predominantly tribal based. This prompted sharp criticism from the wider Kenyan church and soul searching over the role of bishops, tribe and politics.
“We must embrace humility and become wiser as the country nears the General Elections,” Archbishop Wabukala told the congregation of All Saints Cathedral on Sunday,” and “we will not allow the church pulpits be used by politicians to attack each other.”
First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
Evangelical pressure on pro-gay Irish bishop: The Church of England Newspaper, May 27, 2012 p 7. May 31, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Church of England Newspaper, Church of Ireland, Human Sexuality --- The gay issue.Tags: Harold Miller, Michael Burrows, Reform Ireland, Tom Gordon
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Bishop Michael Burrows
Evangelical leaders in the Church of Ireland are pressing the church to question the Bishop of Cashel & Ossory and the Dean of Leithlin, asking that they clarify their actions and views on homosexuality.
In a statement printed on its website last week, Reform Ireland criticized the Bishop Michael Burrows of Cashel & Ossory for his support of gay clergy civil unions and his vote against Motion 8 at last week’s meeting of General Synod in Dublin.
The Bishop of Down & Dromore, the Rt. Rev. Harold Miller – a co-sponsor of Motion 8 with Archbishop Michael Jackson of Dublin – told the Belfast News Letter the man at the centre of the gay clergy civil union row, Dean Tom Gordon, should clarify whether his gay civil union was platonic or sexual.
The 10 May post on the conservative Evangelical group’s website was sharply critical of Bishop Burrows, who it called “one of the bishops at the centre of the homosexual row.”
His “unilateral actions instigated the greatest degree of disunity the Church of Ireland has seen in the modern era, was one of those whose remarks led to the motion, affirming the traditional Christian belief in marriage as outlined in Canon 31, being dismissed: this, despite the fact that the House of Bishops themselves had as a body brought the motion to the General Synod in the first place!”
“What a shambles! It was even applauded – at least by those keen to introduce homosexuality as a valid Christian lifestyle in the Church of Ireland,” Reform said, adding that it “begs the question what unity is there in the Church of Ireland and what sort of behaviour are the House of Bishops modelling?”
Bishop Burrows did not respond to a request for comments.
After being withdrawn from consideration Motion 8, which affirmed the church’s traditional moral teachings and implicitly rejected gay marriage and non-celibate gay clergy, was reintroduced by the bishops on the second day of synod with slight amendments, and was overwhelmingly approved by all houses of synod on the third day of proceedings following four hours of debate. Bishop Burrows, along with Bishop Paul Colton of Cork, Cloyne and Ross, voted against the motion.
In an interview published 15 May 2012 with the News Letter, Bishop Miller said he would like the Church of Ireland to adopt a policy like that of the Church of England which requires clergy who enter into civil unions to give assurances to their bishop that their private conduct is in conformance with the church’s standards of clergy conduct.
Bishop Miller said that “as I understand it,” the Church of England’s position is that “if a minister is in a civil partnership that person has to make it clear to their bishop that it’s not a sexual relationship.”
“The Church of Ireland has not yet made that clear,” the bishop said.
The recent vote by synod had made clear that “sexual intercourse is only properly within marriage, that marriage can only be defined as between one man and one woman for the Church of Ireland, so same-sex marriage is out and that outside marriage what is asked of people is that they live chaste lives,” the bishop said.
Dean Tom Gordon’s entering into a civil union was a “serious situation,” the bishop said.
“You can see what has happened in the church – and I think it would be very helpful to hear some clarification about the situation.
“I mean, I don’t know, for example, if Dean Tom Gordon would be prepared to clarify the situation and say: I am not living in a sexual relationship. That may well be the case,” Bishop Miller said.
First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
Porvoo consultation encourages churches to engage with diversity: The Church of England Newspaper, May 27, 2012 p 7. May 31, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Church of England, Church of England Newspaper, Porvoo.Tags: Porvoo Communion of Churches
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Migration and Diasporas were the focus of conversation for the bi-annual meeting of the Churches in the Porvoo Communion held 21 to 24 March 2012 in Uppsala.
A member of the Porvoo Communion of Churches – the communion of churches that have signed an agreement to “share a common life in mission and service” from the Anglican Churches in Europe and the Nordic and Baltic Lutheran churches, the Church of England was represented at the gathering by the Suffragan Bishop in Europe, the Rt. Rev. David Hamid.
Among the agreements is a commitment to “welcome diaspora congregations into the life of the indigenous church for mutual enrichment.” While the original agreement pertained to the movement of peoples in Europe, the Porvoo Group meeting has expanded this understanding to discuss the growing ethnic diversity found in Europe.
Barbara Moss from the Church of England’s Diocese in Europe addressed the consultation on “Challenges of Integration”, emphasizing that integration was not the same as assimilation. She argued that integration required both natives and migrants be transformed by the encounter with the other.
At the close of the meeting, the 22 delegates recommended the Porvoo Churches draw up guidelines for the sharing of church buildings between national and immigrant churches of the Porvoo group, the creation of databases of clergy and lay leaders who possess non-native language skills, and for programs to “encourage their clergy and ordinands to become competent in engaging with cultural differences.”
It also stated that the “changing patterns of migration have led to the formation of gathered congregations within Porvoo churches with a geographical parochial system, to ask those churches to reflect on how members of these diaspora congregations may be welcomed into membership of the host church in the place where they worship together.
First published in The Church of England Newspaper.
USA Today’s Islam-free 9/11: Get Religion, May 29, 2012 May 30, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Get Religion, Islam, Press criticism.Tags: 9/11, Charles Dickens, Oscar Wilde, The Old Curiosity Shop, USA Today
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She was dead.
Dear, gentle, patient, noble Nell, was dead.
Her little bird — a poor slight thing the pressure of a finger would have crushed — was stirring nimbly in its cage; and the strong heart of its child-mistress was mute and motionless for ever.
Charles Dickens, The Old Curiosity Shop (1841)
The Anglo-Irish playwright and bon vivant, Oscar Wilde, once observed that “one must have a heart of stone to read the death of Little Nell without laughing.”
On the surface, Wilde’s aphorism is wicked. Laughing at the death of an impossibly good child is a heartless act. Yet the strength of Wilde’s remarks — and their repetition to this day — comes not from the discovery that Little Nell’s death was funny. Rather it is the realization that Dicken’s depiction of Little Nell’s death was aesthetically flawed. So over the top, so one-dimensional that the power of the narrative collapsed under the weight of its treacly sentiment. It was bad art.
Reading an article in USA Today entitled: “Mosque projects face resistance in some U.S. communities” elicited the same response from me as Little Nell’s death did for Wilde.
One must have a heart of stone not to laugh at the persecution of Muslims in America as depicted by USA Today. This article is so bad, so one-sided, so inept that its ham-handed attempt to elicit sympathy by condemning prejudice felt by some Muslims in America brought me to tears — of laughter.
The article begins:
CHICAGO – Mohammed Labadi has a lot at stake when the DeKalb City Council votes Tuesday on a request from the Islamic Society of Northern Illinois University to build a two-story mosque.
Labadi, a businessman and Islamic Society board member, wants a bigger mosque to replace the small house where local Muslims now worship. He also hopes for affirmation that his neighbors and city officials have no fear of the Muslim community.
The article offers a protestation by Mr. Labadi of his American credentials — and then notes the zoning commission has approved the request for a new mosque. An inaspicious beginning for an article on prejudice against Muslims — but USA Today has a narrative arc in mind that will not be deflected by the facts in its lede.
The article then takes a bizarre turn. Starting with the plea by Mr. Labadi not to “look at me just as a Muslim, look at me as an American” and to “take the unfortunate stereotypes about Muslims out of the picture” the article then removes Islam from 9/11. It states:
Since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, which were carried out by hijackers from Arab countries, animosity toward Muslims sometimes has taken the form of opposition to construction of mosques and other Islamic facilities.
What is the author trying to say? Is it that 9/11 was really an Arab affair that has spawned unfortunate repercussions against Muslims? That Islam has nothing to do with it?
The article reports on “anti-mosque activity” in more than 25 states since 9/11, citing the ACLU as its source of information, and then quotes the director of the ACLU’s freedom of religion program as saying that some mosque opponents raise concerns about traffic and parking.
A lawyer for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) then enters the story, claiming prejudice — not zoning issues — lay behind the decision by DuPage County, Ill., to block a construction permit for a mosque.
Some DuPage County residents who objected to the permit “raised allegations of terrorism,” Vodak says. “The post-9/11 atmosphere has created a lot of fear and hysteria about Muslim institutions.”
The article does offer the voice of a neighbor to the proposed mosque, objecting to the building being located in a residential area — and then offers anecdotes of zoning concerns over proposed mosques in Connecticut and a successful zoning application in Wisconsin. The article then ends with comments from two Muslims a la Rodney King — “Why can’t we all get along”.
Still, says Othman Atta, the Islamic Society’s executive director, some opponents said the mosque would teach violence and impose Islamic law. “The level of knowledge about Muslims is pretty abysmal,” he says. “People, if they don’t understand something, they tend to fear it.”
Ebrahim Moosa, a Duke University professor of religion and Islamic studies, worries that discrimination against Muslims is growing. “Opposition to mosques,” he says, “is not a misunderstanding, because reasonable people can talk and mutually educate.”
Why the laughter? Why the sniggering? Because this is a mess of an article.
The news reported in this story is that two mosques have received zoning approval and two mosques have been denied zoning approval. The expert commentary offered in this story, however, comes only from those condemning anti-Muslim prejudice and ignorance — nothing from experts on religion and zoning.
A further problem with the story structure is that the article fails to offer any proven examples of prejudice and ignorance. We are offered a few factual crumbs courtesy of the ACLU, but they are not placed in any sort of context. How many mosques have been vandalized? Are Muslim hate crimes on the increase or decrease? Are hate crimes against Jews, Sikhs, Buddhist, Christians on the increase or decrease as well? What sort of Muslims are we talking about? Sunni, Shia, Ismaili, Ahmadiyya? Are mosques backed by Saudi money being built, but not those of other schools?
And CAIR? In an article complaining about the linkage between Islam and terrorism it is a bit much to have a group some members of Congress believe is a terrorist front organization put forward as a source without having any sort of context explaining from whom we are hearing.
This article is full of cliches and stock metaphors and uses these trite devices as well as an appeal to sentiment to advance an argument that it does neglects to support with facts.
Which takes me back to the death of Little Nell. The Old Curiosity Shop presented an unrealistic picture of death. Dickens offered the reader a child who on its death bed is uncomplaining — who as death approaches only increases in earnestness and gratitude for the little she has received in this life. There is no suffering, no pain, no loss. The only action found in the pages describing the death of Little Nell is the fluttering of an innocent bird hoping about its cage as life slips away.
Dickens depiction of death was so unconvincing, so trite and contrived that it was funny. Wilde’s bon mot was not heartless but an apt judgment on aesthetic failure — on the failure of Dickens as an artist in this passage from The Old Curiosity Shop.
While I concede that this article has no pretensions to being art, it too is an aesthetic failure. It is also a professional (journalistic) failure and a moral failure. It seeks not to establish the truth but to prove a point. All it succeeds in doing, however, is to glorify sentiment.
Oscar Wilde in a letter to Lord Alfred Douglas described the sentimentalist as one who
desires to have the luxury of an emotion without paying for it … Even the finest and most self-sacrificing emotions have to be paid for. Strangely enough, that is what makes them fine. The intellectual and emotional life of ordinary people is a very contemptible affair …. And remember that the sentimentalist is always a cynic at heart. Indeed sentimentality is merely the bank holiday of cynicism.
By crafting the story on a foundation of sentiment rather than fact, USA Today fell short in its reporting. There is a story to be told on the acculturation of Muslims in America in the wake of 9/11. What say you GetReligion readers, does this article help tell this story?
Mosque image courtesy of Shutterstock.
First printed in GetReligion.
Irish General Synod affirms traditional stance on marriage: The Church of England Newspaper, May 20, 2012 p 7. May 28, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Church of England Newspaper, Church of Ireland.Tags: Alan Harper, gay marriage, Harold Miller, human sexuality, Michael Burrows, Michael Jackson, Philip Patterson
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The General Synod of the Church of Ireland has re-affirmed its teachings on marriage and human sexuality, turning aside a procedural challenge brought by liberal members of Synod to silence debate. Following the lead of the House of Bishops, the Irish General Synod rejected gay marriage and gay clergy, but endorsed the creation of a “safe space” for further debate on these issues.
On the opening day of the meeting at Christ Church Cathedral in Dublin, the synod received for review Motion 8 proposed by the Archbishop of Dublin Dr. Michael Jackson and the Bishop of Down & Dromore Harold Miller in the name of the Church of Ireland’s Standing Committee. The three part motion entitled “Human Sexuality in the Context of Christian Belief” asked Synod to affirm that there is “no other understanding of marriage” than that found in Canon 31.
“The Church of Ireland affirms, according to our Lord’s teaching that marriage is in its purpose a union permanent and life-long, for better or worse, till death do them part, of one man with one woman, to the exclusion of all others on either side, for the procreation and nurture of children, for the hallowing and right direction of the natural instincts and affections, and for the mutual society, help and comfort which the one ought to have of the other, both in prosperity and adversity.”
The motion further asked the church to affirm that “faithfulness within marriage is the only normative context for sexual intercourse. Members of the Church of Ireland are required by the Catechism to keep their bodies in ‘temperance, soberness and chastity’. Clergy are called in the Ordinal to be ‘wholesome examples and patterns to the flock of Jesus Christ’.”
In the run up to the Dublin meeting, liberal advocacy groups have savaged the motion and a website, 8anoway.com, was set up to lobby for its defeat.
When the part A of Motion 8 was placed before synod on 10 May 2012, the Dean of Cork, the Very Rev. Nigel Dunne, raised a point of order.
He stated that he believed Motion 8 would introduce a change in the Church of Ireland’s teaching on the doctrine of marriage. “Canon 31 gives first place to the procreation and nurture of children,” the dean said.
However the Church of Ireland’s “Marriage Service II does not. Marriage Service II is quite clear that sex and sexual intercourse is firstly to strengthen the relationship. The procreation of children comes second.”
By endorsing Motion 8a, Dean Dunne argued, the General Synod would be voting for a “modification or alteration of doctrine,” a procedure not permitted under the rules of synod by a motion, but must be brought forward by a bill. In opposition to the Dean’s objection, other speakers noted that Motion 8a followed the precedence set in the Church of Ireland’s Rite I for marriage.
However, Lady Brenda Sheil said that the motion was “bringing forward a new thing which will need a Bill” argued the language of Motion 8a was creating new doctrine by privileging Rite I over Rite II.
Asked for his opinion, synod’s legal assessor stated that the Dean of Cork was correct in that a Bill was required that was endorsed by a two-thirds majority of synod to make a change in doctrine. However, the assessor stated he was not competent to determine whether the motion did change doctrine.
The Bishop of Cashel and Ossory, the Rt. Rev. Michael Burrows – whose tacit approval of the gay civil union of the Dean of Leithlin had brought the issue of gay marriage and gay clergy to a head last year – rose and told the synod he was “sorry to cause trouble.”
To which, the chair of the meeting, the Archbishop of Armagh, Dr. Alan Harper, responded “apology accepted.” Bishop Burrows then stated that in the light of the reference to the conference on sexuality in Cavan held by General Synod in March, the conventional wisdom was that Motion 8a was about homosexuality. As the Church of Ireland did not have a doctrine on homosexuality, the bishop argued, it was inappropriate to create new doctrine in this way.
Members of the Liturgical Advisory Committee which prepared Marriage Rite 2 for the 2004 Prayer Book stated there had been no intention to alter the church’s marriage doctrine by altering the order of the benefits of marriage in the ritual. Dr. Harper stated that it was his view that when the new prayer book was introduced there had been no intent to change the doctrine of marriage in the church.
However, when dealing with matters of such importance to the church the overriding concern is the avoidance of doubt. Consequently due to the issues raised by certain points in motion 8a Dr. Harper said he was going to rule that it could not be taken. He was sorry to have to take this step but it was necessary “for the avoidance of doubt” about variations in the doctrine of the church.
Dr. Jackson and Bishop Miller then withdrew motions 8b and 8c.
In its report the following day, the Belfast News Letter stated the decision was a “significant victory for liberals in the church who had been assiduously lobbying in the days leading up to the synod to have the motion defeated – and who were last night buoyant.”
However, evangelical members of synod told The Church of England Newspaper that the issue would not go away and that the bishops would “do something” to resurrect the motion. After the close of business for the first day’s session the bishops met in private with the two lay and two clergy Synod Secretaries. At the start of the second day, Dr. Harper told synod the bishops had dealt with the technical objections raised the previous day and would present an amended consolidated motion to the synod the next day.
On the final day of synod, 12 May 2012, a revised Motion 8 was introduced by Dr. Jackson and Bishop Miller. Dr. Jackson told the synod “this matter is a complex and sensitive one for many individuals and couples” and required the church to proceed in a “climate of critical trust and mutual respect”
In presenting the revised motion the bishops had the “firm and fervent desire of enabling members of our church to engage with what are some of the most complex, pressing and, to many, private aspects of contemporary life, understood from a sexual perspective. It is my hope, and that of the bishop of Down & Dromore, that we are, in fact, offering something of value to the Church of Ireland.”
Seconding the motion, Bishop Miller affirmed that “the essential contents of this motion have emerged from the corporate thinking of the bishops. They have been carefully crafted with a balance in content and wording which has been through many stages and revisions.”
The church would listen to all points of view on these issues, the bishop said, but listening did not imply that all points of view were equally valid. However, “we need to find a starting point for a way forward, to begin the journey together. I suggest this motion is our starting point, and the journey together will hopefully be both an interesting and productive one.”
Four hours of debate ensued. The Archdeacon of Kilmore refuted the notion that the Church of Ireland was divided on this issue between a conservative north and liberal south, saying the traditional view was the majority view across Ireland.
The Rev. Ali Calvin said she had received calls from people in the pews in Cork and Ossory who were dismayed because they wondered whether their leadership was teaching new things about sex and marriage — the Bishops of Cork and Cashel & Ossory are among the leaders of the liberal wing of the Irish church.
An ecumenical participant, Fr. Irenaeus of the Antiochian Orthodox Church, told synod this issue had been settled some 1700 years ago with the church’s debate about the imago dei. God’s image in us is marred and the likeness to God erased, but Orthodox spirituality was about recovering the likeness to be like God, he argued, and homosexuality was not part of this likeness.
The Bishop of Cork, the Rt. Rev. Paul Colton, called for rejection of the consolidated motion saying that sex had overshadowed the other work of the church. He was also concerned that “for the first time in our history that we are using a motion” to address a major issue. He was “not convinced that this was the right way”, and that “by affirming formularies we are in fact weakening them.”
Four amendments were put to synod, and voting by divisions was taken. All of the amendments failed and the motion was adopted by the clergy 81 – 53, laity 154 – 60, and the bishops 10 – 2.
Archdeacon Philip Patterson of Belfast told CEN the motion attempted three things:
“First to affirm the clear teaching of the Church that marriage is between one man and one woman, that it is in intent life-long and is the only appropriate context for sexual intercourse. Outside of marriage Christians are called to lead chaste lives.”
“Secondly to affirm that the Church is a place of welcome and discipleship for all who seek to follow the way of Christ, that there is real regret when the Church has sometimes failed to achieve this and that our attitudes must not be unbiblical or uncharitable.”
“Thirdly to chart a way forward to progress the discussion through a Church-wide debate, to that end the Standing Committee is tasked to bring back to next year’s Synod a proposed Select Committee with appropriate terms of reference.”
The synod had looked to their bishops for leadership, Archdeacon Patterson said, and have “found that leadership and have followed it.”
He noted that it was “astonishing that those who have so long called for a listening process, conversation and a safe place don’t see their desires fulfilled in the actions of the Synod.”
First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
Treasury admits out of date data used in Church VAT estimates: The Church of England Newspaper, May 20, 2012 p 4. May 28, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Church of England, Church of England Newspaper.Tags: church repair, David Gauke, Tony Baldry, VAT
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David Gauke MP
The government’s estimates as to the costs of the changes in VAT to the Church of England were based upon 12 year old date, Government ministers told Parliament last week.
The revelation that the government had used outdated information in calculating the impact of its proposals came in response to a question from the Second Church Estates Commissioner, Mr. Tony Baldry.
He asked the Chancellor “what estimate he has made of the revenue which will accrue to the Exchequer as a consequence of the removal of the zero VAT rate for alterations to listed buildings” and “what assessment he has made of the effect on listed places of worship of the removal of the zero VAT rate for alterations to listed buildings.”
Mr David Gauke, the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, responded on 30 April 2012 that a government report had set “out estimates for VAT which will be raised from approved alterations to listed buildings and a summary of impacts upon which comments are invited.”
According to the document, “Listed places of worship will also be affected by the change, although our evidence suggests that places of worship form only a small minority of the total number of listed properties in the UK.”
To “mitigate the impacts on these groups the DCMS is expanding the existing Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme which refunds the VAT on repairs and maintenance work, so that this includes approved alterations to listed buildings,” the Treasury report said.
However, no details as to the revenue which would accrue from taxing church renovations was provided in the report, though details on the tax on hair dressers’ chairs, self-storage units, and holiday caravan parks was provided.
Mr. Gauke added that “our original estimate, based on a church report produced in 2000, was that £5 million a year additional funding for the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme would be adequate compensation for listed places of worship for the impact of the VAT change. We are talking to churches and will increase this amount if there is evidence that the impact is greater.”
First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
ARCIC co-chair: Anglicans and Catholics do not share a common moral view on homosexuality: The Church of England Newspaper, May 20, 2012 p 6. May 28, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Communion, ARCIC, Church of England Newspaper, Human Sexuality --- The gay issue.Tags: David Moxon
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Participants of ARCIC III
Anglicans and Roman Catholics have differing views on the morality of homosexual behavior, the Anglican co-chair of the ARCIC talks claimed last week.
Archbishop David Moxon’s remarks came as members of the third session of the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC III) gathered in Hong Kong for their second session of ecumenical dialogue.
Meeting at the Mission to Seafarers in Kowloon from 3-10 May 2012, the commission released a statement saying the gathering “built upon the schema it had prepared at its first meeting. The schema seeks to address the interrelated ecclesiological and ethical questions of its mandate under four headings: the identity and mission of the Church; the patterning of the Church’s life that undergirds local and universal communion; shortcomings in the churches which obscure the glory of God; and ethical discernment and teaching. Members presented papers in each of these areas which were discussed both in plenary and in small groups.”
The communiqué stated that to “assist its own understanding, the Commission is preparing case studies in three ethical areas: matters which historically once seemed settled but which, upon reflection, have come to be viewed quite differently by both traditions.(slavery); issues on which Anglican and Roman Catholic teaching is at variance (divorce and remarriage, contraception); and evolving issues (a theology of work and the economy). It is not intended that the Commission will seek to resolve disputed ethical questions. Rather, its purpose is to analyze the means by which our two traditions have arrived at or are currently determining ‘right ethical teaching’.”
Speaking to the press after the meeting the Anglican co-chair, Archbishop Moxon stated that homosexuality was another ethical area where Anglicans and Roman Catholics diverged. He told ENI that it is easier for the two churches to have a common understanding on social ethics, but not sexual ethics and the topic of homosexuality. But he stressed that the study of some “first principles” from the two churches, like the study of the Bible, may help to build up common ground.
The Commission will prepare further papers, expand the case studies, and continue its work in preparation for its next meeting 29 April to 6 May 2013.
First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
Bishops plea for peace in the Sudan: The Church of England Newspaper, May 20, 2012 p 6. May 28, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Church of England Newspaper, Roman Catholic Church, Episcopal Church of the Sudan.Tags: Daniel Deng, John Sentamu, National Islamic Front, South Sudan, Sudan, Sudan Peoples Liberation Movement
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The Anglican and Roman Catholic bishops of South Sudan, joined by the Archbishop of York, have issued a statement saying they “stand committed” to stop the outbreak of fighting between Sudan and South Sudan.
On 2 May 2012 the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution demanding that the two countries cease hostilities within 48 hours and return to the negotiations put forward by the African Union. The National Islamic Front government in Khartoum and SPLM government in Juba agreed to return to the negotiating table in Addis Abba, but on 3 May the Sudanese air force bombed troop positions in South Sudan and fighting continues across the disputed border regions.
The situation along the border is grim, the Bishop of Aweil reported in a letter posted on the website of the Diocese of Salisbury.
‘The war is back to us,” the bishop wrote and “many people are killed, wounded, displaced and their properties are looted or destroyed by the soldiers from Sudan government leaving them in horrible situation. As I write this letter many of displaced people go to bed everyday without food even one meal in a day is not there, leave alone shelters to protect them from the rains and no clothing to cover their skinny bodies. The displaced persons have experienced great trauma and great suffering now more than ever because no one was affecting war again soon,” Bishop Abraham Nhial wrote.
Meeting form 9 to 11 May in Yei in South Sudan, the country’s Anglican and Roman Catholic bishops pleaded for peace. “We dream of two nations which are democratic and free, where people of all religions, all ethnic groups, all cultures and all languages enjoy equal human rights based on citizenship.”
“Enough is enough. There should be no more war between Sudan and South Sudan,” the bishops said in their communiqué.
The bishops said they stood “committed to do all in our power to make our dream a reality. We believe that the people and government of South Sudan desperately want peace. We believe the same is true of the people and their liberation movements in the Nuba Mountains and Blue Nile.”
However “a lasting peace will come unless all parties act in good faith. Trust must be built, and this involves honesty, however painful that may be. We invite the International Community to walk with us on the painful journey of exploring the truth in competing claims and counter-claims, allegations and counter-allegations. We invite them to understand the peaceful aspirations of the ordinary people, and to reflect that in their statements and actions.”
In a statement released on 24 April 2012, Archbishop Daniel Deng said that war was not the answer. “We should learn from the 55 years of war not to return to it so hastily. The blood of those who fought for peace should not have been poured in vain. We call on all sides to exercise restraint and pursue peace at all costs. God is on the side of those who seek peace.”
First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
Send the unemployed home, archbishop says: The Church of England Newspaper, May 20, 2012 p 6. May 28, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Church of Melanesia, Church of England Newspaper, Crime.Tags: David Vunagi, Solomon Islands
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Archbishop David Vunagi
The Archbishop of Melanesia has urged the government of the Solomon Islands to halt the influx of rural villagers to the country’s capital Honiara saying there is neither work nor a place for them to live. The lack of opportunity has led to a sharp jump in crime, Archbishop David Vunagi told Radio Australia on 25 April 2012. He believed the capital was experiencing a spike in crime because of “the struggle to survive.”
“As long as we continue to have people who are doing nothing in Honiara, this is where all this criminal activity is beginning to develop; stealing, shoplifting, even snatching people’s bags as they walk past, all these things. And even worse, even wounding and killing,” the archbishop said.
“That’s why I think maybe these are people who are supposed to go back to the rural areas and use the subsistence lifestyle…where they can fish, they can grow something to eat … Coming to live in town they’re frustrated about life…they have to do something that is inappropriate for everybody,” the archbishop said.
Slowly recovering from a four year civil war and the effects of a 2007 tsunami, the Solomon Islands is classified as a less developed country with a per capita income of $600 per year. Over 75 per cent of the population is engaged in subsistence agriculture. Described as a “failed state” by political analysts, the Solomon Islands government is assisted by a Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI) with military and civilian assistance provided by Australia, New Zealand and other Pacific nations.
Archbishop Vunagi stated the church was doing what it could to help, but there were “members of the community, who escape the net of the church, and this is where I believe the government, the law of the country needs to be firm, needs to be articulate to address such issues.”
“Our country, Solomon Islands is a small country…we need to develop more human attitude and behaviour…so that our personal problems we should not push it onto others. We should not take it onto others,” the archbishop said.
First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
Chichester clergy abuse arrest: The Church of England Newspaper, May 20, 2012 p 6. May 28, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Abuse, Church of England, Church of England Newspaper.Tags: Diocese of Chichester, Keith Wilkie Denford
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A retired priest and an organist have been charged with having abused young boys over twenty years ago in West Sussex. The Rev. Keith Wilkie Denford (77) and Mr. Michael Mytton (68) had been arrested last November by detectives from the child protection unit of the Sussex Police and appeared answered bail at the Crawley police station on 8 May 2012.
A spokesman for Sussex Police stated: “Child protection detectives in West Sussex have charged two men with sexual offences allegedly committed between 22 and 25 years ago.
“Denford has been charged with three indecent assaults on a boy then under 16, two in or near Shoreham, and one in or near Cuckfield on dates between June 1987 and January 1990, and has also been charged with one indecent assault on another boy then aged under 16 in or near Cuckfield on dates between January 1987 and December 1990.
A spokesman for the Diocese of Chichester said both men had been suspended “from all duties immediately upon receiving advice from the local safeguarding authorities.”
The diocese said it had been “cooperating with the police and other related public authorities throughout the investigation.”
Both men have been released on bail and will appear at Mid Sussex Magistrates’ Court, Haywards Heath, on 22 May 2012.
First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
Anglican Unscripted Episode 41, May 25, 2012 May 27, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Church of Australia, Anglican Church of North America, Anglican.TV, Church of England, The Episcopal Church.add a comment
This weekend Kevin and George discuss Anglican’s first historian, the Tale of Two Ladies, and AUs new Canterbury Sweepstakes feature. Our Contributors bring news from England, Australia, and the USA. Comments to AnglicanUnscripted@gmail.com To donate to Georges trip to General Convention goto www.Anglican.tv/donate
When worlds collide – Scientology and the Nation of Islam: Get Religion, May 26, 2012 May 26, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Education, Get Religion, Islam, Press criticism, Scientology.Tags: L. Ron Hubbard, Louis Farrakhan, Tampa Bay Times
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The Tampa Bay Times reports the Pinellas County Florida Board of Education has revoked the license of a charter school that uses a religion-based curriculum after its students test poorly in the state-wide FCAT exams (Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test).
By itself this summary is not likely to generate more than local or even parental interest. However the title of the article contains a noun that perked my interest; “FCAT scores at Pinellas charter school that used Scientology ‘study tech’ are among lowest in Tampa Bay”, while the lede pulled me into the story.
DUNEDIN — When Hanan Islam and her management company took control of the struggling Life Force Arts and Technology charter school here last summer, she passed out lesson plans based on the work of Church of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard.
She said Hubbard’s “study technology” would enlighten children and help save the school. But grades from Florida’s standardized FCAT test released Thursday show that, in one year under Islam’s management, Life Force students’ education suffered.
The article did an excellent job in outlining the local issues involved and was able to pull strong quotes from supporters of the school, teachers and the school district. This comment from school district —
“It’s a classic case of how a management company mismanaged this school, was paid an extraordinarily large fee for dismal services, and the ultimate victims were those poor children,” said Dot Clark, the Pinellas County school district’s coordinator of partnership schools.
Islam’s company, Clark added, “promised the world and gave them nothing. … It breaks my heart.”
— is nicely paired with this one from a teacher:
Some blamed students’ poor marks on instability due to Islam’s repeated firings of, as third-grade teacher Lynne Kittredge said, “good, certified teachers, because they wouldn’t accept her Scientology stuff.”
“We worked our butts off. We did after-school, we did tutoring; we weren’t even being paid. But I’m not a miracle worker,” said Kittredge, who was hired in February. “By the time we came in, the best we could do was damage control.”
And stands well with these comments from the school:
Life Force board chairman Louis Muhammad, appointed by Islam in January, defended her management of the school, saying students’ scores would have drastically improved if study tech had been given more of a chance.
He also blamed the low scores on the Tampa Bay Times, saying the newspaper’s coverage of Life Force’s problems “caused confusion and, in other words, hindered the school.”
“You all put out this confusion on religion, and we’re not talking religion: we’re talking technology,” Muhammad said. “If you all had left the school alone, it would have been better.”
This aspect of the article is very well done. I applaud reporter Drew Harwell for doing a thorough job.
But I stopped short of giving full marks as the religion ghosts in this story were rattling their chains. For the casual reader two screamed out for attention: What is a Scientology-based curriculum and are we dealing with Muslim Scientologists?
I have no idea what a Scientology-based curriculum might be. The Washington DC Fox affiliate in 2010 ran a brief story over parent concerns over “study technology” after the DC school district approved the Scientology-based education program. The Tampa Bay Times article reports the school board chairman says this dispute is not over religion but technology. What does Mr. Muhammad mean by that?
And, the names in this story, Mr. Muhammad, Ms. Islam — to my eyes do not seem to belong to a Scientology story.
I checked Mr. Harwell’s past articles for the Tampa Bay Times and learned the failing was not the newspaper’s, but mine. I had come late into the game and had not read his February story that reported on parents complaining about the takeover of the school by the Nation of Islam and Scientologists.
Linking on its website or mentioning its past stories in the body of the article would have helped bring me (and I assume other readers) up to speed on the story. But I should say the Tampa Bay Times has done a superior job in reporting on Scientology and this article is further evidence of their fine work.
I have seldom reported on Scientology as it has not appeared on the radar that frequently in Europe. Reporting on the foibles of the Church of England is also a full time job. But when it does enter into a story my editors have always cautioned me to take special care as the group has a reputation for resorting to litigation when displeased.
What I have not seen before is a practical link between the Nation of Islam and Scientology. The Chicago Tribune reported last year on a speech given by Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakahan that touted its benefits for “white people”.
He praised Scientology and its founder, L. Ron Hubbard. Farrakhan extolled the virtues of Scientology and its auditing process, which is considered spiritual counseling by its members.
“L. Ron Hubbard is so exceedingly valuable to every Caucasian person on this Earth,” Farrakhan said.
“L. Ron Hubbard himself was and is trying to civilize white people and make them better human beings and take away from them their reactive minds. … Mr. Hubbard recognized that his people have to be civilized,” Farrakhan said to a cheering crowd.
The Nation of Islam is a black-nationalist or empowerment movement that does not allow for white members. Is Minister Farrakhan saying that those unable or unwilling to join the Nation of Islam consider Scientology? Is the Life Force Arts and Technology Charter School dispute a practical working out of this meeting of minds between the Nation of Islam and Scientology? How should reporters develop this story? Or is there even a story to develop?
Setting to one side the controversial public image of the two groups, the Nation of Islam and Scientology do share some common tenets including the place of UFOs in the great scheme of things.
The LA Times states that Scientology’s founder L. Ron Hubbard taught that:
Seventy-five million years ago a tyrant named Xenu (pronounced Zee-new) ruled the Galactic Confederation, an alliance of 76 planets, including Earth, then called Teegeeack.
To control overpopulation and solidify his power, Xenu instructed his loyal officers to capture beings of all shapes and sizes from the various planets, freeze them in a compound of alcohol and glycol and fly them by the billions to Earth in planes resembling DC-8s. Some of the beings were captured after they were duped into showing up for a phony tax investigation.
The beings were deposited or chained near 10 volcanoes scattered around the planet. After hydrogen bombs were dropped on them, their thetans were captured by Xenu’s forces and implanted with sexual perversion, religion and other notions to obscure their memory of what Xenu had done.
Soon after, a revolt erupted. Xenu was imprisoned in a wire cage within a mountain, where he remains today.
But the damage was done.
During the last 75 million years, these implanted thetans have affixed themselves by the thousands to people on Earth. Called “body thetans,” they overwhelm the main thetan who resides within a person, causing confusion and internal conflict.
In the Operating Thetan III course, Scientologists are taught to scan their bodies for “pressure points,” indicating the presence of these bad thetans. Using techniques prescribed by Hubbard, church members make telepathic contact with these thetans and remind them of Xenu’s treachery. With that, Hubbard said, the thetans detach themselves.
In the Chicago Tribune report of Minister Farrakhan’s 2011 speech we find this statement:
The keynote address, titled “God Will Send Saviours,” capped a weekend of workshops focused on health, preparing for natural disasters and unidentified flying objects. The Nation of Islam believes in a UFO called “the wheel” or “the Mother Plane.”
Farrakhan has described a 1985 religious experience in which he ascended into a flying saucer and heard the voice of Elijah Muhammad predicting events that came to pass.
A speech by Minister Farrakhan printed in the Final Call, the Nation of Islam’s newspaper, develops this theme:
The final thing is the destruction. The Honorable Elijah Muhammad told us of a giant Mother Plane that is made like the universe, spheres within spheres. White people call them unidentified flying objects (UFOs). Ezekiel, in the Old Testament, saw a wheel that looked like a cloud by day, but a pillar of fire by night. The Hon. Elijah Muhammad said that that wheel was built on the island of Nippon, which is now called Japan, by some of the original scientists. It took 15 billion dollars in gold at that time to build it. It is made of the toughest steel. America does not yet know the composition of the steel used to make an instrument like it. It is a circular plane, and the Bible says that it never makes turns. Because of its circular nature it can stop and travel in all directions at speeds of thousands of miles per hour. He said there are 1,500 small wheels in this Mother Wheel, which is a half mile by-a-half-mile. This Mother Wheel is like a small human built planet. Each one of these small planes carry three bombs.
What say you GetReligion readers? Are we seeing a meeting of minds? Or is this a local issue whose religious connotations can be exploited for sensationalist purposes? Or is this news?
First printed in GetReligion.
Cono Sur rejects election of Bishop of Uruguay: Anglican Ink, May 25, 2012 May 25, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Ink, La Iglesia Anglicana del Cono Sur de America.Tags: Michael Pollesel, Uruguay
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Michael Pollesel
The House of Bishops and provincial executive committee of the Iglesia Anglicana del Cono Sur (de América) have declined to ratify the election of the Ven. Michael Pollesel as Bishop of Uruguay.
At the close of their 21 – 25 May 2012 meeting in Montevideo the bishops released a statement saying that “after discussion and prayer and in accord with its canons the Provincial Executive of the Cono Sur together with its College of Bishops did not ratify the election of the Ven. Dr. Michael Pollesel as bishop-coadjutor for Uruguay”
The Cono Sur statement did not state why Dr. Pollesel’s election was rejected, but noted the province “promised its close cooperation with the diocese in its future decisions.”
Read it all in Anglican Ink.
Wycliffe Hall principal out: Anglican Ink, May 24, 2012 May 24, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Ink, Church of England.Tags: Richard Turnbull, theological education, Wycliffe Hall
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Dr. Richard Turnbull
The Principal of one of the Church of England’s leading evangelical theological colleges has taken a leave of absence. While this week’s announcement by the Wycliffe Hall council that Dr. Richard Turnbull’s duties would be assumed by Vice-Principal Simon Vibert follows reports of discord within the school, Anglican Ink has been told the principal’s departure is not related to the wider Anglican Communion’s political wars.
The last six years have been difficult for the school, Anglican Ink was told, and concerns over leadership style and management – not churchmanship – had led to this announcement.
Founded in 1877 to train Anglican clergy, Wycliffe Hall is a permanent private hall of Oxford University, that been able to matriculate its own theology students as members of the university since 1996. Among its former members are Lord Coggan, the late Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. N.T. Wright the former Bishop of Durham, and the Rev. Nicky Gumbel of Alpha Course fame.
Read it all in Anglican Ink.
Lady (Gaga) sings the blues: Get Religion, May 22, 2012 May 23, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Get Religion, Roman Catholic Church.Tags: Associated Press, Lady Gaga, MTV News, Philippines
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Ohohohoh, I’m in love with Judas
Ohohohoh, I’m in love with Judas
Judas! Judaas Judas! Judaas
Judas! Judaas Judas! GAGAWhen he comes to me I am ready
I’ll wash his feet with my hair if he needs
Forgive him when his tongue lies through his brain
Even after three times he betrays meI’ll bring him down, bring him down, down
A king with no crown, king with no crown[Chorus]
I’m just a Holy Fool, oh baby he’s so cruel
But I’m still in love with Judas, baby
I’m just a Holy Fool, oh baby he’s so cruel
But I’m still in love with Judas, baby
So goes the first stanza of the pop song “Judas” performed by Lady Gaga, the stage name of New York-born singer/song writer Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta. Lady Gaga’s work has won her fans round the world, but news reports from her tour of South East Asia indicates she has garnered a few enemies as well.
MTV News (I think this is a first for GetReligion — linking to an MTV News story) reports:
Lady Gaga has had a rough couple of weeks. What should have been a celebratory kick-off to her “Born This Way Ball” has been marred in controversy, as the pop superstar has encountered protests from religious groups at nearly every turn.
The tour’s first show in Seoul, South Korea, was marred by protests from Christian groups saying Mother Monster was “obscene” and could “taint” young people with her performance. The protestors even managed to get the Korea Media Rating Board to elevate the age rating for the concert from 12 to 18, prohibiting minors from seeing the show.
The second leg of the tour, MTV reports, was equally difficult.
She encountered similar troubles in the Philippines, where her May 21 and 22 concerts in Manila were met with similar derision from Christian groups claiming her lyrics are blasphemous and that the sentiment behind songs like “Born this Way” promotes “promiscuity” and homosexuality. A few days before the first concert, anti-riot police were forced to stop hundreds of protestors from descending on the venue. Gaga responded to the hubbub today on Twitter, saying, “And don’t worry, if I get thrown in jail in Manila, Beyonce will just bail me out. Sold out night 2 in the Philippines. I love it here!”
A June show in Jakarta may be cancelled in the face of threats from militant Muslims.
”The Jakarta situation is 2-fold: Indonesian authorities demand I censor the show & religious extremist separately, are threatening violence,” Gaga tweeted earlier today.
A 17 May 2012 AP story gives further details of the protest in the Philippines. The version printed by the Washington Post began:
Scores of Christian youths in the Philippines chanted “Stop the Lady Gaga concerts” at a rally Friday calling for the pop diva’s shows here to be canceled despite assurances from authorities that they won’t allow nudity and lewd acts.
Christian youths — and they are exactly what? Paragraph three tells us more about these three score and 10 youths.
About 70 members of a group called Biblemode Youth Philippines rallied in front of the Pasay City Hall in metropolitan Manila. They said they were offended by Lady Gaga’s music and videos, in particular her song “Judas,” which they say mocks Jesus Christ.
And what is Biblemode Youth Philippines? The article does not say. But it later states:
Former Manila Mayor Jose Atienza said the singer and organizers can be punished for offending race or religion. Under the penal code in the conservative, majority Roman Catholic country, the penalty can range from six months to six years in prison, although no one has been convicted recently.
The narrative arc of the MTV story is sympathetic to Lady Gaga — as one would expect. The AP story adopts a neutral tone, but gives more space in the story to those offended by Lady Gaga’s musical act. Again, this is what one would expect as the story from the AP is focused on the protests.
However, I would have hoped the AP story would have gone a bit deeper in its reporting as this appeared to the be the source for MTV‘s report — and was the principle vehicle for this story in the American press. The AP story identifies the protestors in Manila as Christians and then as members of Biblemode Youth Philippines. But it stops there — save for noting the Philippines are a “conservative, majority Roman Catholic country.”
It would be natural to assume that these Christian youths are Catholic youths. Catholic youth movements are politically active in the Philippines — protesting the government’s recent contraception bill. But Biblemode Youth Philippines is not on the Catholic Church’s Federation of National Youth Organizations’ membership list.
A quick check of the group’s Facebook page shows that it is not a parish organization that would be below the level of groups in the national Catholic youth federation, but shows the members of Biblemode Youth Philippines are Baptists.
Where members of the “majority” Roman Catholic church among the protestors? Or was this a Protestant affair — or even a Baptist protest against Lady Gaga?
When saying “Christians are protesting”, is it responsible journalism to say what sort of Christians are protesting? I believe so.
There is the issue of precision. But there is also the underlying religious question. What is the significance of a minority Christian group leading the Manila protests against Lady Gaga? Is there silence from the Catholic Church on this issue? If so, why?
Which groups were leading the protests against Lady Gaga in Korea? Is there any link between the protestors in Korea and the Philippines? Does Lady Gaga offend against decency or good taste in an equal degree in the Philippines and Korea?
Are the protestors Westboro Baptist wannabees? Is there a link to the anti-American movement in the Philippines?
What exactly is going on here?
I ask you, GetReligion readers, am I making a mountain out of a molehill, or should we expect precision on this point?
Episcopal Church polity under scrutinty by the courts: The Church of England Newspaper, May 13, 2012 p 7. May 21, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Church of England Newspaper, Fort Worth, Property Litigation.Tags: Anglican Communion Institute, Bruce McPherson, Christopher Seitz, Daneil Martins, Diocese of Fort Worth, Ephraim Radner, Jack Iker, James Stanton, John W. Howe, Maurice Benetiz, Paul Lambert, Philip Turner, William Love
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Seven bishops of the Episcopal Church have filed a legal brief with the Texas Supreme Court urging it to reject the theory that the General Convention or the presiding bishop holds metropolitan authority over the church’s dioceses.
In an amicus brief filed on 23 April 2012 prepared by the Anglican Communion Institute in the case of the breakaway Diocese of Fort Worth, seven bishops and three leading Episcopal scholars argued the trial court misconstrued the church’s constitutions and canons by holding that the Episcopal Church was a hierarchical body with ultimate power vested in the General Convention.
The 29-page brief stated that attorneys for that national Episcopal Church sought “to establish an alternative authority to that of the diocesan bishop” in their pleadings, which they said was contrary to the church’s Constitution and Canons. Attorneys for the national church have argued the Episcopal Church possesses a unitary polity, where dioceses are creatures of the General Convention.
The ACI disagrees, citing the church’s history and constitution and canons. Its friend of the court pleading follows upon their 22 April 2009 paper endorsed by 15 Bishops entitled Bishops’ Statement on the Polity of the Episcopal Church that stated the “fundamental structure of the Episcopal Church from the outset has been that of a voluntary association of dioceses meeting together in a General Convention as equals.”
Signing the document were the Bishops of Albany, Springfield, Western Louisiana, Dallas, the Suffragan Bishop of Dallas and the retired Bishops of Central Florida and Texas, along with the Rev. Christopher R. Seitz, the Rev. Philip W. Turner, and the Rev. Ephraim Radner from the ACI.
Canon lawyer Allan Haley observed the amicus brief filed in the Fort Worth case “must be both an embarrassment, and also no small irritant. After all, if the “Church” is at the top of the ‘three-tiered hierarchy,’ why can’t the “Church” keeps its bishops and clergy in line?”
First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
Bloody Sunday in Nigeria: The Church of England Newspaper, May 13, 2012 p 7. May 21, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Church of England Newspaper, Church of Nigeria.Tags: Boko Haram, Goodluck Jonathan, James Oladunjoye, Somali Shabaab
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At least 20 people were killed in two attacks on churches by the militant Islamist terror group Boko Haram in Nigeria on Sunday, while Islamist extremists have been blamed for a Sunday morning attack on a church in Nairobi that has left one dead.
Four people were shot to death during a church service in the northeast town of Maiduguri. “Boko Haram who were six in number came in a Volkswagen Golf car and shot the pastor and three others while they were about to administer the Holy Communion to worshipers,” Maiduguri police spokesman Samuel Tizhe told Reuters.
The attack in Maiduguri in the northeastern Borno state – the home of Boko Haram – followed an attack earlier in the day in Kano. The Nigerian Red Cross reports sixteen people were dead following an attack by gunmen at a worship service held in a lecture hall at the city’s Bayero University.
Sunday’s shootings are the latest in a series of attacks that police blame on Boko Haram – a militant Muslim group that seeks to impose Sharia law on Nigeria and to expel or convert the country’s Christians. On Easter Sunday, 36 people were killed when a suspected Boko Haram militant detonated a car bomb inside a church compound in Kaduna, while on Christmas Day 37 people were killed in church bombings.
Kano has been the scene of sporadic fighting between Boko Haram and the security services. In January the sect killed 186 people in an attack on churches and government offices in Kano. Last week suicide car bombers attacked the offices of the pro-government newspaper This Day in Abuja and in Kaduna killing four.
In Kenya, in Nairobi, a grenade was thrown in Church linked to the congregation ‘God’s House of Miracles’ just before the start of services. At least one person died and more than ten people were injured, Kenyan press reports said. While no group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack, police suspect the militant Islamist group Somali Shabaab in this latest attack.
In a sermon delivered before the attacks on 22 April, the Bishop of Owo, the Rt. Rev. James Oladunjoye urged President Goodluck Jonathan to use the army to restore order. Boko Haram was like a cobra, the bishop said. Stroking its head to appease it would not work, as the snake would soon bite.
First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
Cardboard cathedral under construction in Christchurch: The Church of England Newspaper, May 13, 2012 p 7. May 21, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Church of Aotearoa New Zealand & Polynesia, Church of England Newspaper.Tags: Christchurch Cathedral, Diocese of Christchurch, Victoria Matthews
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An artists rendition of the cardboard cathedral. Photo: Christchurch Cathedral
Construction has begun on Christchurch’s “cardboard cathedral” – a transitional A-frame church built from 104 tubes of cardboard.
On 22 April 2012 a groundbreaking ceremony was held in Christchurch on the site of the new cathedral. “It’s a time of celebration and joy and we are full of hope,” Bishop Victoria Matthews told the congregation.
Expected to cast in excess of £2.75 million, the 700 seat church replaces the city’s Gothic cathedral which was heavily damaged in the 22 Feb 2011 earthquake. Designed by Japanese architect Shigeru Ban, the building has life expectancy of at least 20 years – and will house the cathedral congregation for the next ten years while a permanent replacement is built.
“Christchurch is moving forward,” the chairman of the cathedral’s rebuilding campaign, Richard Gray, said. The eco-friendly cathedral demonstrated that “people are finding solutions that are not only innovative but environment-friendly,” he added.
The phased demolition of the old cathedral has prompted protests from civil activists, however. On 26 April 2012 Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee stated that all the papers held by the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (CERA) would be released to the public.
Preservationists have challenged the diocese’s plans to demolish the cathedral and have called for the church to be rebuilt. Mr. Brownlee said there was a “range of views on the very difficult decision the Anglican Church has made about the future of its cathedral, and given the significance of the building this issue is of huge concern to many people in the community.”
However, a “demolition permit has been issued to deal with the dangerously unstable tower and further permits will be issued to partially deconstruct the building,” the minister said. Construction on the cardboard cathedral is expected to be completed by Christmas 2012.
Former Liberian president found guilty of war crimes: The Church of England Newspaper, May 13, 2012 p 7 May 21, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Church of England, Church of England Newspaper, Church of the Province of West Africa.Tags: Charles Taylor, Christopher Foster, Liberia, war crimes
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Former Liberian President Charles Taylor
Church leaders have applauded the guilty verdict handed down last week against former Liberian President Charles Taylor, saying the conviction of a former head of state for war-crimes is a landmark victory for the rule of law – and a warning to those responsible for atrocities that they will be held to account for their crimes.
“Charles Taylor’s conviction sends an important message not only to his victims and supporters but also to the wider world community that all deserve justice and that no one is beyond accountability for crimes against humanity,” said the Bishop of Portsmouth, the Rt. Rev. Christopher Foster, whose diocese is linked with the Church of the Province of West Africa.
Bishop Foster told The Church of England Newspaper: “This step towards justice will hopefully send a clear message and assist the growing stability of both Sierra Leone and Liberia.”
The Roman Catholic Bishop of Cape Palmas Andrew Karnley told the Catholic NGO Aid to the Church in Need the verdict sends a “strong signal, and not just for Liberia.”
“The important fact is that Taylor was taken to account. This is a clear signal: those who hold responsibility must take responsibility for their actions, Bishop Karnley said.
On 26 April 2012 the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) found Taylor guilty on multiple counts of war crimes – the first head of state convicted by an international tribunal since the Nuremberg trials. In March 2003 Taylor was indicted on multiple counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity. While serving as President of Liberia from 1997 to 2003, and as commander of the Libyan-backed rebel group the National Patriotic Front for Liberian from 1989 to 1997, Taylor was found to have helped plan, order and encourage the murder, rape, mutilation and terrorism of civilians, promoting sexual slavery and recruiting child soldiers.
Under the terms of the peace agreement that ended the civil war, Taylor left Liberia and went into exile in Nigeria. But in 2006 he was extradited to Sierra Leone at the request of Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf to stand trial for war crimes after he violated the terms of his exile by re-entering Liberian politics. A court set up by the government of Sierra Leone and the United Nations tried nine leaders including former President Taylor – but security concerns eventually prompted the trial to be moved from Freetown to The Hague, where the verdict was handed down last week.
The guilty verdict was a “watershed moment in the fight to hold high-level perpetrators accountable”, said Gilles Yabi, the International Crisis Group’s West Africa Project Director. “It is also a momentous day for the victims’ families, who have waited patiently for this ruling since the court began its work.”
First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
Anglican Unscripted Episode 40: May 21, 2012 May 21, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Church of North America, Anglican.TV, ARCIC, Church of England, Church of Ireland, New Hampshire.Tags: Baptism
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Kevin and George bring news from the Episcopal Church and a General Convention resolution to allow Communion without Baptism. Ireland passes motion 8 during their General Synod despite creative use of Roberts Rules. The Roman Catholic church met with Anglican leaders in Hong Kong for the third time. New Hampshire is going to elect a new Bishop tomorrow. Canon Phil Ashley explains how AMiA Bishops are moving into ACNA and which Canons are helping that transition.
Anglican Unscripted Episode 40: May 21, 2012 May 21, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Church of North America, Anglican.TV, ARCIC, Church of England, Church of Ireland, New Hampshire, The Episcopal Church.add a comment
Kevin and George bring news from the Episcopal Church and a General Convention resolution to allow Communion without Baptism. Ireland passes motion 8 during their General Synod despite creative use of Roberts Rules. The Roman Catholic church met with Anglican leaders in Hong Kong for the third time. New Hampshire is going to elect a new Bishop tomorrow. Canon Phil Ashley explains how AMiA Bishops are moving into ACNA and which Canons are helping that transition.
Has Time printed the worst Anglican article ever?: Get Religion, May 18, 2012. May 18, 2012
Posted by geoconger in GAFCON, Get Religion, Human Sexuality --- The gay issue, New Hampshire.Tags: Gene Robinson, Time Magazine
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“How Will Anglicans React if New Hampshire Episcopalians Elect Another Gay Bishop?” Time Magazine asks in a 17 May 2012 article printed on its website.
To which this Anglican responds, “Why don’t you ask them?”
Question headlines are often a flag of trouble ahead for an article — a signal that the article will be weak. The question is usually a rhetorical one — the answer is given by the editorial voice of the article. Or it is some sort of “come on” — an exaggerated statement to attract the reader’s attention.
No, this is not the worst Anglican article ever printed. There have been silly Anglican articles, wrong Anglican articles, dumb Anglican articles, partisan/hack job Anglican articles, and egregiously cruel and ignorant Anglican news articles printed over the past few decades, so it is false and unkind of me to say this is the worst Anglican article ever. Nor can the author be blamed for the silly headline, as reporters seldom write their own headlines.
But this article on the forthcoming episcopal election in the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire is a wreck. While the editorial voice of this ill-informed story supports the progressive agenda in the Episcopal Church, it does so by treating the actors in this drama as one dimensional creatures — cartoons who represent issues rather than people whose lives are not exclusively driven by issues in human sexuality.
The lede of this story begins:
In the summer of 1992, an Episcopalian priest in Baltimore officiated at the wedding of two female congregants. Though he had been “careful to obtain all the necessary permissions,” it wasn’t long before the Rev. William Rich found himself on the front page of the Baltimore Sun and at the center of a religious controversy. Rich was criticized by many in the community and church for performing a gay wedding ceremony, but he’s never regretted the move. …
First problem — the claim that Fr. Rich performed a wedding for two women is false. The 1992
Baltimore Sun article reported that a blessing ceremony took place — but also stated this ceremony was not a marriage and should not be construed as being a marriage.
Father Rich, who is a chaplain at Goucher College, says the ceremony he devised at the request of the women involved was not a wedding but “the blessing of two people committed to each other.”
The Bishop of Maryland told the Sun:
Bishop Eastman said he was assured by the priest “that the liturgy in question was not in any sense intended to be a marriage as Christians understand that sacrament.”
“It was meant to be a private event addressing personal, pastoral needs,” the bishop added. “Neither the two women involved nor Father Rich desired to advance a cause or make a public statement of any kind.”
There is a difference between marriage in a church and the blessing of two people in a same-gender relationship. It is a gross error to conflate the two.
The article then transitions into the story that Fr. Rich is one of three candidates standing for election as Bishop of New Hampshire. It reports that he is an “openly gay man” and and notes that delegates to the diocesan electoral convention:
… will cast their vote by secret ballot to choose a replacement for the current bishop, the retiring Gene Robinson, who is also gay. If a second gay man is elected to the post, the selection will likely reverberate through the staunchly conservative arms of the Anglican Communion, a global network of churches to which the Episcopalians belong. It could also widen a fissure in the network that’s been forming for quite some time.
Second problem — the analysis offered here is just plain dumb. Gay and lesbian clergy have stood for election in several dioceses of the Episcopal Church since Gene Robinson was elected in 2003, and one was elected suffragan or assistant bishop in the Diocese of Los Angeles in 2009. The news that a gay clergyman is standing for election as bishop of New Hampshire is hardly shocking to anyone who has any knowledge of the Episcopal Church or the wider Anglican Communion.
The assertion that the election of Fr. Rich would widen a “fissure in the network” is an equally silly statement. The Anglican Communion is not a network of churches but a communion of churches — this is a theological term. The Lutheran World Federation is a network of churches. The Roman Catholic Church is a single church — it would say it is the church. Anglicans like the Orthodox are in between. They see themselves as part of a single catholic church whose members reside in autonomous national churches — one of the battles being waged within the Anglican world is on the nature of this autonomy. Is it absolute or conditional?
To call Anglicans a network of churches implies Time has decided that it backs one side in the dispute — or is an indication of ignorance.
I suspect it is ignorance on Times’ part, as the impending fissure has already happened. Approximately 22 of the 38 provinces of the Anglican Communion are in some form of impaired communion with the Episcopal Church. This rupture has taken many forms, but the break has already occurred.
(Last October the Episcopal Church’s national office released talking points disputing the figure of 22 of 38 cited by GetReligion’s Mollie Ziegler Hemingway in an article she wrote for the Wall Street Journal. However, a little checking showed the Episcopal Church’s claim to be false.)
The current state of play is of a broken communion. One where some bishops will not attend meetings if other bishops, whom they regard as apostate, are present. A communion where its leaders can no longer worship together as they cannot all receive the Eucharist, Holy Communion, in the same service. As the former primate, (the archbishop or presiding bishop of a province) of the Province of the Southern Cone (the southern half of South America) told me in 2009, the traditionalists do not believe the leaders of the Episcopal Church are “Christians as we understand it.”
The article attempts to place what it thinks might be the impending split in historical context, stating the:
… crack in the Anglican community began to appear about nine years ago when Robinson became the first openly gay (and not celibate) man to be ordained as bishop.
Problem three — The crack has been around for almost 40 years and has been steadily widening. The consecration of Gene Robinson was a significant event, but hardly the first event in the splintering of the Anglican Communion. GetReligion’s tmatt has written extensively on this point and I need not restate the accurate Anglican timeline here.
The language used by this article is biased and ill-informed and full of questionable assumptions and conclusions. The story of Gene Robinson wearing a bullet-proof vest to his consecration is shared. And yes, it is true he wore such a vest. Yet the article does not go further in developing this point and the claims repeated over the years of physical danger. The only clergyman whose murder so far can be laid at the feet of the Anglican wars is Canon Rodney Hunter of Malawi. Popping in the death threat business without context speaks to the lack of knowledge of the subject under review.
Ignorance continues to drive this story to its end. It notes:
It doesn’t look like the issue is dying down, either. Last month, an ultra-conservative Anglican offshoot group, the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans, held a conference in London to address the gay bishop question.
Problem four — The FCA conference was not held to address the gay bishop question. The FCA seeks to reform and renew the Anglican Communion from within and by doing so, win souls for Christ. It is also laughable to call the FCA an “ultra-conservative Anglican offshoot group” as it leaders represents the majority of members of the Anglican Communion. One might was well say the Diocese of New Hampshire is an “ultra-liberal Anglican offshoot group”.
The article continues with silly statements and assertions about the structure of the Anglican Communion, why Archbishop Rowan Williams announced his retirement, but returns to New Hampshire for its close.
When asked about the potential for controversy if the diocese were to elect another gay bishop, Reverend Adrian Robbins-Cole, the president of the Standing Committee, insisted that the committee only felt excitement about Rich, as well as the other two candidates, Rev. Penelope Maud Bridges, and Rev. A. Robert Hirschfeld. “What we really focus on is trying to be guided by God to elect the bishop who we need in New Hampshire and whom we think is going to thrive and grow,” Robbins-Cole says. “That’s our real focus.”
A grammar point here. It should be “the Rev.”, never “Rev.”
I do feel sorry for Fr. Rich, Time is touting his candidacy in such a vulgar way that it might well trigger a backlash among New Hampshire voters. It also does a disservice to Fr. Rich’s candidacy as it turns him into a one dimensional figure whose only merit is that he is gay. Being classified as a novelty candidate, or a one issue priest, treats him as a token and implies the Diocese of New Hampshire sees only that aspect of his life and work.
What then can one say about this wreck? It is factually incorrect, ill-informed about the issue, dismissive and disparaging of one side, and condescending towards the other. It asks a question of Anglican conservatives, but goes for answer to a white Australian conservative — when the majority of voices arrayed against the liberal wing of the church are African, Asian and Indian.
This may not be the worst Anglican article ever written, but it comes close.
First printed in GetReligion.
Gay marriage and the French Catholic vote: Get Religion, May 17, 2012 May 17, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Get Religion, Politics, Press criticism, Roman Catholic Church.Tags: François Hollande, France, gay marriage, Nicolas Sarkozy
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In light of the media’s fascination with interplay between sex, the Catholic Church and politics, I am always surprised at its lack of curiosity when these worlds collide overseas.
The 6 May 2012 French presidential election is a case in point. Socialist Party (PS) candidate François Hollande captured 18 million votes to incumbent President Nicolas Sarkozy’s 16.8 million: 51.64 per cent to 48.36 per cent. The role religion played in the election has received little play in the U.S. save for conservative bloggers, who reported that 93 per cent of France’s 2 million Muslim voters went for Hollande.
Some liberal blogs are warning of the resurgence of a Catholic far right. Writing in the Huffington Post, Eric Margolis argued the National Front was one of the winners in the election, as a Socialist government would invigorate the conservative fringe parties at the expense of Sarkozy’s center-right Union pour un Mouvement Populaire (UMP) party.
But the National Front — xenophobic, racist, violently anti-Muslim and anti-Europe — is poison to moderate French and many members of the UMP. To no surprise, UMP may split, or disintegrate, over the issue of joining forces with the National Front, seen by many French as a reborn fascist movement. In fact, it’s not really fascist, but an avatar of the old 1940 far-right, ultra-conservative, ultra-Catholic movement.
It may very well transpire that a Socialist victory will empower the parties of the far right, but I believe Margolis is off the mark in lumping the far-right with the ultra-Catholic movement (and what exactly is the ultra-Catholic movement anyway?). As I noted in a pre-election post, the French Catholic Church did not endorse any one candidate for the election, but it made it clear that the policies of the National Front were not supported by the Church.
The first article I have seen that looked into how Catholics voted came in the Catholic weekly, La Vie — and its results were a surprise as they closely matched observations made by the editor of GetReligion Terry Mattingly about the American Catholic vote.
Roman Catholics who “go to mass as least once a month” voted 4 to 1 in favor of Sarkozy: 79 per cent to 21 per cent, according to a poll commissioned by Le Vie and conducted by the Harris Institute. Catholics who went to Mass less than once a month, voted 62 per cent to 38 per cent for Sarkozy. Those who self-identified as Catholics but who did not attend mass showed the same voting patters as the French population at large. Those who identified themselves as atheists voted 70 per cent to 30 per cent in favor of Hollande.
In an odd twist to the conventional media wisdom, Sarkozy increased his margins among mass-going Catholics in this election form 70 per cent in 2005 to 79 per cent this month. What was odd about this increase was that Hollande campaigned on a theme of personal probity — fostering a dour frugal image in contrast to the flamboyant Sarkozy.
Gay marriage was one of the reasons for the Catholic rejection of Hollande, the survey found. In an interview with the French gay-oriented glossy magazine TÊTU Hollande stated he would honor the PS’s campaign promise to legalize gay marriage and gay adoption — measures rejected by the UMP-dominated French parliament in 2011. The Harris survey found that mass-going Catholics were not keen on France’s new Socialist President because he was “in favor of same-sex marriage and adoption by same-sex couples.”
Last month the LA Times reported that:
A recent poll for the Journal du Dimanche newspaper found that 64% of French disapproved of Sarkozy. That’s higher even than the rating for the unpopular Valery Giscard d’Estaing during his tenure. Giscard was the last president to lose his reelection bid, in 1981.
The truth is that Sarkozy, 57, has never succeeded in shaking off the negative impression he made at the beginning of his five-year term, that the conservative leader was the “president of the rich.” That image plays badly, especially given that a few months after he took office, the global recession hit, leading to belt-tightening measures.
Before the 2007 election, he had hinted that he would go into retreat in the days before the transfer of power to consider how to lead France. Instead, he threw a party at Fouquet’s, one of the most ostentatious restaurants in France. Then he spent a few days vacationing in the Mediterranean on the yacht of a billionaire businessman friend.
Sarkozy, the French were told, had no hang-ups about celebrity or money; instead of reassuring them, however, the flashy watches and aviator sunglasses simply cemented his reputation as the “bling-bling” president.
Distaste among French voters concerned with social values — the segment were most mass-going Catholic voters can be found — for Sarkozy’s lifestyle appears not to have translated into more votes for Hollande.
La Vie explained the “massive” move to the right by practicing Catholics by stating:
Among the many factors to consider – sociological, economic and cultural – should undoubtedly include anthropological and ethical convictions of these strong Christians.
And for French Catholics gay marriage appeared to be key amongst these convictions. The American Catholic voter matrix created by Tmatt — with the Catholic vote divided amongst Ex-Catholics, Cultural Catholics, Sunday-morning American Catholics and “Sweats the details” Roman Catholic — appears to hold true for France also.
It may be that the sort of article that looks at the big picture of values voters is beyond a newspaper and lies in the realm of a monthly. However, I would welcome an acknowledgement in the American press that the issues that animate our political debates are not unique to these shores.
What say you GetReligion readers? Is this merely interesting ephemera, or a news angle that should be developed further?
First published in GetReligion.
Kunonga calls for a war on the “white man”: The Church of England Newspaper, May 13, 2012 p 6. May 17, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Church of England Newspaper, Church of the Province of Central Africa, Zimbabwe.Tags: Nolbert Kunonga, Robert Mugabe
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Dr Nolbert Kunonga
The former Bishop of Harare, Dr. Nolbert Kunonga, has urged Zimbabwe strongman Robert Mugabe to expel the few remaining white farmers from their lands, telling a gathering of ZANU (PF) supporters that “Whites like other aliens should not be allowed to own land and other properties in the country as they are strangers.”
In an account of his sermon printed in The Zimbabwean, Dr. Kunonga said that he too had been engaged in a campaign of expropriating white-owned properties. “I took 3800 church properties in the region since their title deeds were in my name. There was no way the properties could remain under charge of the church controlled by whites and their black puppets. Bishops such as Julius Makoni, Chad Gandiwa and others are MDC-T and furthered western interests,” he said.\
The controversial bishop, who was excommunicated by the Church of the Province of Central Africa after he quit the church to form his own Anglican Church of Zimbabwe, has waged a violent campaign of repression with the support of the security services against Anglicans who are loyal to the Bishop of Harare.
In 2011 the Archbishops of Canterbury, Central Africa, Southern Africa and Tanzania, along with local Anglican bishops, met with President Mugabe asking him to reassert the rule of law in Zimbabwe, and protect persecuted Anglicans from the depredations of Dr. Kunonga. The former bishop has been banned from travel to the U.S., the E.U. and the U.K. due to his complicity with the crimes of the Mugabe regime.
A long time supporter of the Zimbabwean president, Dr. Kunonga has campaigned against the opposition MDC party and its leader Morgan Tsvangirai. He told the gathering at the Dimbe Primary School near Marondera in Mashonaland East that MDC-T and “its western puppet, Morgan Tsvangirai, are agents of doom fighting to reverse the land reform programme and hand back land to the former colonial white masters.”
“Tsvangirai is a white man masked in black skin. He is like the Biblical Pharaoh who enjoyed the suffering and economic deprivation of his own people. On the other hand, Mugabe is the Biblical Daniel sent to suffer for the cause of his people,” said Dr. Kunonga.
The former bishop added that those who drive out white farmers, MDC supporters and foreigners from their lands “will enter the kingdom of God.”
“As Christians; we must gear ourselves for a bloody war against white interests,” he said.
First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
Settlements in 2 US property cases: The Church of England Newspaper, May 13, 2012 p 6. May 17, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Church of England Newspaper, Georgia, Property Litigation, Virginia.Tags: Christ Church Savannah, Marc Robertson, Scott Benhase, Shannon Johnston, Tory Baucam, Truro Parish
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Christ Church, Savanah
The Dioceses of Georgia and Virginia have settled lawsuits brought against two of their breakaway congregations, ending five years of litigation with Christ Church, Savannah and Truro Parish in Fairfax, Virginia.
On 3 May 2012 the Diocese of Georgia and Christ Church issues separate statements announcing that the parish was withdrawing its appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court of the November state court decision that ruled the property of Georgia’s oldest Anglican church – the one time home of John Wesley and George Whitfield – must remain in the Episcopal Church. Approximately 78 lawsuits have been brought by dioceses and the national Episcopal Church seeking to retain the property of breakaway congregations and dioceses.
Under the terms of the settlement agreement, the diocese agreed to withdraw its lawsuits seeking to recover approximately $1 million in legal costs from the vestry and rector. The agreement also allowed the congregation to keep the name “Christ Church” and the church’s historic ministries to the city.
The congregation vacated the building in December and will now turn over the endowments to the diocese. The Episcopal congregation retains the name Christ Church, Savannah, while the breakaway congregation will be called Christ Church Anglican.
“We are pleased that these remaining issues could be resolved and that all parties can move on,” Bishop Scott Benhase said.
The rector of Christ Church, the Rev. Marc Robertson, told the Church of England Newspaper that he expected there to be mixed views within the congregation over the decision to leave their building. However, it “was time” to move forward and focus on the work of the Gospel in Savannah, he said.
On 17 April 2012 the Diocese of Virginia and Truro parish released a joint statement announcing that they had settled their lawsuit. The statement said the diocese had given the parish a “rent-free lease of the church buildings” until June 2013, while the parish agreed to “deed the properties to the Diocese by April 30, 2012, and will pay the operating costs of the properties during the term of the lease.”
The diocese agreed to accept $50,000 in lieu of its claims for $700,000 of cash. But in a break with previous settlement agreements, the diocese has not attempted to force the congregation to withdraw from the Anglican Church of North America while it remains in the building. “Because the Diocese and Truro Anglican are part of different ecclesiastical bodies who share the Anglican tradition, they have
“This is an important step for the Diocese of Virginia and Truro Anglican,” Bishop Shannon Johnston said. “What the Diocese has sought since the court’s ruling has been a ‘witness’ and not merely an ‘outcome.’ The parties have carried on a public dispute for five years and it is important that we publicly begin to make peace.”
“We are grateful for the Diocese’s generosity in allowing us to continue to use the property for another 15 months at no cost,” said Truro rector the Rev. Tory Baucum. “This allows us time to make a good transition to interim facilities and then to our new church home.”
First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
Methodist “no” to homosexuality: The Church of England Newspaper, May 13, 2012 p 6. May 17, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Church of England Newspaper, Human Sexuality --- The gay issue, Methodism.comments closed
Gay activists demonstrating at the Methodist General Assembly
The General Conference of the United Methodist Church has reaffirmed its teaching that same-sex relationships are “incompatible with Christian teaching.”
On 3 May 2012 delegates to the church assembly meeting in Tampa voted by a 60 per cent to 40 per cent margin to affirm the church’s traditional teaching in the Book of Discipline on human sexuality. The Book of Discipline, Paragraph 161F states: “The United Methodist Church does not condone the practice of homosexuality and considers this practice incompatible with Christian teaching.
As the vote was announced, gay activists clad in rainbow stoles took to the floor of the meeting in protest, temporarily suspending the proceedings. Resolutions asking the General Conference to state that it disagrees over the issue of homosexuality were also defeated.
With approximately 8 million members, the Methodist Church is among the largest denominations in the United States. However, almost half of its membership now resides overseas. While the issue may be brought back to the next meeting of the General Conference in 2016, it is unlikely to pass as the American half of the church has been in decline while the overseas half has grown rapidly.
The vote not to repudiate its teachings on homosexuality follows recent moves by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Presbyterian Church USA and the Episcopal Church to normalize homosexuality.
First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
Irish synod asked to affirm traditional marriage: The Church of England Newspaper, May 13, 2012 p 6 May 17, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Church of England Newspaper, Church of Ireland.Tags: gay marriage, Harold Miller, Irish General Synod, Michael Jackson
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Two senior bishops have asked the Church of Ireland to reaffirm the church’s traditional teachings on marriage, human sexuality and clergy continence.
Motion 8 entitled “Human Sexuality in the Context of Christian Belief” will be brought before the 10 May 2012 session of General Synod meeting in Dublin. The three part motion submitted by the Archbishop of Dublin, the Most Rev. Michael Jackson, and the Bishop of Down and Dromore, the Rt. Rev. Harold Miller asks Synod to affirm that there is “no other understanding of marriage” than that found in Canon 31.
“The Church of Ireland affirms, according to our Lord’s teaching that marriage is in its purpose a union permanent and life-long, for better or worse, till death do them part, of one man with one woman, to the exclusion of all others on either side, for the procreation and nurture of children, for the hallowing and right direction of the natural instincts and affections, and for the mutual society, help and comfort which the one ought to have of the other, both in prosperity and adversity.”
The motion further asks the church to affirm that “faithfulness within marriage is the only normative context for sexual intercourse. Members of the Church of Ireland are required by the Catechism to keep their bodies in ‘temperance, soberness and chastity’. Clergy are called in the Ordinal to be ‘wholesome examples and patterns to the flock of Jesus Christ’.”
The Church of Ireland has been threatened with schism between Ulster and the Republic of Ireland in the wake of revelations the Bishop of Cashel and Ossory permitted the Dean of Leithlin to register a same-sex civil union. The Primate of All-Ireland, the Archbishop of Armagh Dr. Alan Harper told the Sept 11 “Sunday Sequence” programme of BBC Radio Ulster he was “very, very concerned at the potential for division” within the church over homosexuality.
The outcry forced Bishop Michael Burrows to skip the consecration of the Bishop of Tuam and has sparked protests. A statement issued by the Church of Ireland Evangelical Fellowship, the Evangelical Fellowship of Irish Clergy, New Wine (Ireland) and Reform Ireland said: “If the orthodox view of marriage and sexuality is allowed to be shattered by the actions of Dean Gordon and others then it is difficult to see how a respectful fellowship can be maintained.”
In a pastoral letter released on 5 October 2011 the bishops called for a moratorium on clergy entering into same-sex civil partnerships and also asked critics of clergy civil unions to moderate their language while they debate the issue. The bishops called a special closed session of synod to meet in the Spring to “discuss the content of this Pastoral Letter, to assist the church in becoming more fully informed, and to explore wider issues related to human sexuality.”
Motion 8 asks synod to also foster an environment of safety within the Church of Ireland in support of its on-going reflection by affirming:
“A continuing commitment to love our neighbour, and opposition to all un-biblical and uncharitable actions and attitudes in respect of human sexuality from whatever perspective, including bigotry, hurtful words or actions, and demeaning or damaging language; a willingness to increase our awareness of the complex issues regarding human sexuality; and a determination to welcome and to make disciples of all people.”
First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
House of Bishops to take up women bishops Measure: Anglican Ink May 16, 2012 May 16, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Ink, Church of England, Women Priests.Tags: Women bishops
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The House of Bishops of the General Synod of the Church of England is scheduled to meet in private session next week to review the draft Bishops and Priests (Consecration and Ordinartion of Women) Measure debated by General Synod at its February 2012 session.
On May 21 and 22 the bishops will respond to the motion adopted by the February meeting of General Synod that the House of Bishops review the safeguards for those, who for theological reasons, are not able to receive the ministry of women bishops.
Read it all in Anglican Ink.
Pod people: Colorado Presbys and abuse in Ireland: Get Religion, May 13, 2012. May 14, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Get Religion, Presbyterian/Church of Scotland, Press criticism, Roman Catholic Church.Tags: Colorado Springs Gazette, First Presbyterian Church of Colorado Springs, Irish Times, Issues Etc., Sean Brady
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In this week’s podcast Issues Etc. host Todd Wilkin and I discussed two recent GetReligion stories: the withdrawal of First Presbyterian Church of Colorado Springs from the PC(USA) and the latest developments in the Irish abuse scandals.
As Nathaniel Campbell noted in his comment on the Colorado Springs article, the press frequently conflates the disputes within the mainline denominations into a single issue — homosexuality.
Campbell writes:
there are deeper but acknowledged issues here over hermeneutics and the evangelical insistence on privileging (often exclusionarily) a literal reading of Scripture.
In my estimation, at least, that is the major “ghost” behind a lot of mainstream/evangelical friction. While on the surface level it manifests as doctrinal disputes, I think it is at root a problem over how to read and understand Scripture.
Wilkin and I discuss the issue of press blindness, noting the divisions within the mainline churches do not stop at homosexuality as the breakaway groups are divided over another Scripture-driven issue: women clergy.
We also look at the coverage in the Irish Times over the fallout from the 1 May 2012 documentary “The Shame of the Catholic Church”, where the BBC claimed that as a young priest in the early 1970’s Cardinal Sean Brady failed to take sufficient action in the case of pedophile priest Brendan Smyth.
I argued that the advocacy journalism approach taken by the Irish Times in its reporting on the Catholic Church was self-defeating. By adopting a relentlessly hostile approach to coverage of the Catholic Church,the Irish Times was preaching to the choir. Those ill-disposed to the church would find confirmation of their views, while those supportive of the church would see their reporting as biased.
The comments to the story demonstrated this. As one commentator noted:
The Irish establishment, including their media, has long been anti Catholic, because the church stood in the way of Ireland becoming “modern” (read divorce, birth control and abortion). The “abuse” saga is a godsend to them to destroy the influence of the church, which was standing in the way of a modern forward looking culture. Perhaps this is why the story is made to sound as if the church is again being it’s old stubborn old fashioned self.
In its simplest sense, the problem with advocacy journalism is that it is based on the supposition that there is no one truth. Truth is subjective, or relative — I have my truth, you have yours. Why then should the journalist strive for balance or fairness, when at heart there is no single point of reference in which to frame a story?
First printed in GetReligion.
Anglican archbishop to address Catholic Conference on the Eucharist: The Church of England Newspaper, May 6, 2012 p 7. May 14, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Church of England Newspaper, Church of Ireland, Roman Catholic Church.Tags: 50th International Eucharistic Congress, Diarmuid Martin, eucharistic theology, Michael Jackson
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Dr. Michael Jackson
Communion need not only be expressed in the sacraments, the Anglican Archbishop of Dublin told Vatican Radio last week, but can be found in a communion of charity, action and relationship.
Dr. Michael Jackson’s remarks on the future of ecumenical relations come as the Roman Catholic Church prepares to hold its 50th International Eucharistic Congress in Dublin next month. The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Dublin Dr. Diarmuid Martin has asked Dr. Jackson to lead worship on 11 June 2012 on the first day of the conference which will explore the theme, Communion in One Baptism.
Dr. Jackson told Vatican Radio there was a “genuine sense of excitement and expectation right across the Christian traditions in Ireland” over the inclusion of non-Catholics in the 50th global gathering of the Catholic Church on the Eucharist. “This I think is a tremendous invitation to all of us who carry the Cross of Christ to make a contribution together to try to formulate and shape a fresh direction for our society”.
The Anglican archbishop said that he believed that “communion as understood more widely is at the very heart of this Congress. So Baptism as something which is recognised, respected and practised across the traditions in a very specific way is a wonderful way into the exploration of communion as shared life”
A new look at the sacraments will bring Ireland’s churches closer together, he said. “I think two things in particular will probably happen: there is an element of what I call internal instruction which is actually facilitating people who are faithful in the Catholic tradition to see communion as something beyond Eucharist, something within it and something beyond it, and to enable the rest of us to see it in the same light”.
He added that it was “important for us all to see beyond what to many people is an ecumenical logjam which is the fact that we do not together celebrate and share the Eucharist. I think what the Eucharistic Congress is encouraging us to do its to take the fullness of the Eucharist in the tradition of each of us, and actually to take that sense of belonging to Christ and share in that spirit more widely”.
Dr. Jackson noted that “many people are saddened and frustrated at the fact that it is not possible to officially share the Eucharist together. I can understand that pain… but I think that we need to work with a mixture of holy patience and holy impatience, and if this is the situation where institutionally the Churches are then we need to dig deeper and look for ways in which we can express that communion. There is of course a communion of the sacraments. But there is also a communion of charity, a communion of belonging to one another, there is a communion of faith and a communion of action”.
A “divided Christian witness convinces nobody,” Dr. Jackson concluded. “It doesn’t convince anyone in the Churches and it certainly doesn’t convince those who look quizzically at the Churches. We need to build in simplicity. Our smaller scale in Ireland means that we need to know one another.”
Abuse inquiry for Melbourne: The Church of England Newspaper, May 6, 2012 p 7. May 14, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Abuse, Anglican Church of Australia, Church of England Newspaper.Tags: Diocese of Melbourne, Diocese of Newcastle, James Michael Brown, Protecting Victoria’s Vulnerable Children Inquiry, Victoria
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The premier of Victoria has launched a parliamentary inquiry into the handling of sexual abuse complaints lodged against churches. The 17 April 2012 press statement said “a focus of the inquiry will be on identifying reforms that can and should be put in place to better protect children and ensure that instances of abuse are responded to properly and effectively. In doing so, the inquiry will have the power to consider evidence of past policies, practices and abuse.”
The announcement said the Victoria Coalition government had “decided to establish the inquiry after giving careful consideration to the report and recommendations” the Protecting Victoria’s Vulnerable Children Inquiry. “It is clear that there have been a substantial number of established complaints of sexual abuse of children by those who have taken advantage of positions of authority. This abuse has had traumatic consequences for victims and their families.”
The Diocese of Melbourne said it would give the inquiry its full cooperation and welcomed “this step to provide the community with confidence that churches and religious organisations will handle allegations of abuse with the utmost seriousness and concern, and with the best possible practices, policies and protocols for handling allegations of abuse, and for providing appropriate care for the victims of abuse.”
Prosecutors have lodged an appeal against the ten year term of imprisonment sentence handed down to a former church youth worker in Australia.
Last month the Director of Public Prosecutions in Newcastle, Australia announced his intention to appeal the sentence of James Michael Brown, 60, a former youth work and member of the staff of St Alban’s Boys’ Home in Aberdare, he pled guilty to charges that he molested 13 boys aged 11 to 17 from 1974 to 1996. The indictment includes 38 charges of sodomy and 60 indecent assault charges.
In a statement released after Mr. Brown’s in 2010, Newcastle Bishop Brian Farran confirmed Mr. Brown had worked for the diocese in the 1970s and early 1980s in a variety of duties, including youth work and as a carer at the St Alban’s Home. The diocese had assisted the police with their inquiries and was ‘‘strongly committed to addressing the issue of current and historical child sexual abuse in the church,” the bishop said.
A hearing has been scheduled for August to review the sentence.
First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
Newcastle dean loses abuse appeal: The Church of England Newspaper, May 6, 2012 p 7. May 14, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Abuse, Anglican Church of Australia, Church of England Newspaper.Tags: Diocese of Newcastle Graeme Sturt, Graeme Lawrence
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Dean Graeme Lawrence
The New South Wales Supreme has upheld the legality of the Anglican Church of Australia’s clergy disciplinary canons, dismissing a challenge brought by two clergymen disciplined by the Diocese of Newcastle’s Professional Standards Board.
Justice John Sackar held the civil courts did not have the authority to intervene in the church’s internal deliberations by issuing an order granting a permanent stay on the proceedings of the standards board, as the standards board was not a statutory tribunal subject to government oversight. His 27 April 2012 decision did not address the merits of the charges of abuse brought before the standards board, but held the board’s proceedings had not been arbitrary or capricious.
On 10 December 2010 the standards board held that Dean Lawrence and his partner, church organist Gregory Goyette, had engaged in sexual relations with a 17 year old boy at a church camp in 1984. Mr. Sturt was found to have observed the incident, but did not report the abuse.
The two clergymen denied all charges, but did not cooperate with the tribunal. The board recommended Dean Lawrence and Mr. Sturt be defrocked and Mr. Goyette prevented from working in the church. The two clergyman responded by filing suit against the board, saying its proceedings were arbitrary and capricious. .
Last year the court permitted Archbishop Phillip Aspinall of Brisbane to be joined as an additional defendant in the lawsuit. On 10 May 2011, Dr. Aspinall said an adverse ruling had the potential to force the church to re-write its clergy disciplinary code in order to comply with civil law.
The court found that the allegations of misconduct “if true or untrue” had “no doubt been distressing and potentially damaging” to Dean Lawrence and Mr. Sturt. And, “there also is no doubt that these events have arguably impacted upon the reputation of the Anglican Church of Australia.”
But the court’s 135 page decision found the standards board proceedings had not been biased. In a statement released after the decision, the Bishop of Newcastle, Dr. Brian Farran, said he was pleased with the ruling, noting the standards board “must take all allegations of sexual abuse seriously; this is in line with public expectations.”
“I hope all those directly or indirectly concerned with the litigation remain calm and prayerfully consider the effect of the judgment on the Diocese, the clergy concerned and others,” the bishop said.
Dean Lawrence and Mr. Sturt have not commented publicly on the ruling and are understood to be reviewing the decision.
First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
Episcopal bishops campaign against gay marriage ban: The Church of England Newspaper, May 6, 2012 p7. May 14, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Church of England Newspaper, Marriage, Politics, The Episcopal Church.Tags: Diocese of North Carolina, Franklin Graham, gay marriage, Michael Curry
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A proposed state constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriage has divided North Carolina’s three Episcopal bishops from other church leaders in the state.
Last week Bishops Michael Curry, Clifton Daniel and Porter Taylor released an open letter opposing Amendment 1, which will be put to the voters on May 8.
Their stance puts them at odds with a coalition of conservative church groups and the Vote For Marriage NC coalition. North Carolina law forbids gay marriage, but adding that ban to the state constitution would make it much harder for a court to force the change.
In their letter, the bishops wrote they opposed Amendment 1 “because the love of God and the way of love that has been revealed in Jesus of Nazareth compels us to do so.”
“We oppose Amendment 1 because every time we baptize someone in the Episcopal Church, the entire congregation vows to ‘strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being.’ We oppose Amendment 1 because it is unjust and it does not respect the dignity of every human being in the state of North Carolina. If passed, it will harm not only law-abiding gay and lesbian citizens but other men, women and innocent children in our state,” the three bishops form the church’s liberal wing said.
The Rev. Franklin Graham has recorded a message supporting a proposed amendment to North Carolina’s constitution that would make traditional marriage the only recognized domestic legal union in the state.
North Carolina resident Franklin Graham, the head of Samaritan’s Purse based in Boone released an audio message of support for Amendment 1 on 27 April 2012, urging voters to “take a stand on God’s definition of marriage.” Pollsters predict the ballot initiative will likely be endorsed by a majority of voters.
First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
Buddhists behaving badly: Get Religion, May 12, 2012 May 12, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Buddhism, Gambling, Get Religion, Press criticism.Tags: ethics, hypocrisy, Jogye Order, Korea Times
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Hypocrisy sells newspapers.
This is a conclusion I have drawn in my years as a religion reporter. Story proposals on a new doctrinal development or a report on a major church conference seldom excites the interest of an editor. [A story proposal about doctrinal development discussed at a conference in Canada is the kiss of death].
But if I can work in an angle about church leaders behaving badly, it may generate a return phone call. And if there is hypocrisy involved I’m just about home. I’ve even found that a long time staple of mine — the naughty vicar story — no longer generates the same level of interest. Sex does not sell by itself. You need an element of hypocrisy in the story to close the deal with a commissioning editor.
All of which brings me to a great story from The Korea Times. While there is no sex, it has the next best thing: monks behaving badly.
Here is the lede from the article entitled from the 11 May 2012 story “Jogye Order in disarray over gambling monks”:
The leadership of Jogye, the nation’s largest Buddhist order, is being thrown into question following the disclosure Thursday of a video clip showing monks gambling, drinking and smoking in a hotel room.
The monks were seen playing poker with hundreds of millions of won, which is believed to be from donations from believers.
Many within and outside the Buddhist circle sees the case as only the tip of the iceberg, saying the government must take action to address corrupt practices in religious groups. Some activists urged the government to introduce a “tax on religion” in a bid to make their spending of donations and expenditure transparent.
Behind the revelation is an internal conflict between the head of the Jogye Order, Ven. Jaseung, and his critics.
The article lays out the disputes within the Jogye Order, which have led to lawsuits between the various factions (Who says Episcopalians have all the fun in suing each other?) And reports that the leader of the Jogye Order has issued an apology for the actions of his worldly clerics.
We deeply apologize for the behavior of several monks in our order. The monks who have caused public concern are currently being investigated and will be punished according to Buddhist regulations as soon as the truth is verified by the prosecution,” said Ven. Jaseung in a statement.
He added that his order will conduct a 108-bows ritual for 100 days starting next Tuesday to repent the misbehavior of the monks.
The Korea Times also reports on how the film of the monks made it into the public eye. It reported that the leader of the dissident faction within the Jogye Order gave the film clip to government prosecutors after he “found a USB drive containing the footage on the floor of his temple.”
I give the Korea Times great credit for playing the article straight. Imagine what another newspaper whose name contains the word “Times” would do with this story about hypocrisy in top religious leaders coupled with a extraordinary explanation of how the tape came into the possession of the dissident faction. He might as well have said it fell off the back of a truck.
The article closes with a comment from an advocate for the reform of the Buddhist orders who states:
“In Europe, religions pay taxes to the government on donations from believers and that money is redistributed to religious groups. In Korea, there’s no such system so temples or churches are not properly monitored. It’s not like the monks make money out of farming or any other work. So basically all the money comes from donations,” said Chung.
“The Jogye Order and its monks must make their financial affairs transparent and rethink the role of Buddhism in society.”
All in all this was a great article. There were opportunities galore to be cynical or to advance an agenda, but The Korea Times allowed the facts to tell the story, provided the context of the internal feuds within the Jongye Order, and closed with a note about the scandals relevance to the Korean religious scene. No hyperbole — just solid reporting. Well done.
As this article was written for an English-speaking Korean audience, or for resident foreigners in Korea, there was one angle that is not mentioned in the story that would have been helpful for a foreign reader. Is gambling, smoking and drinking problematic for Jogye Order monks? One can deduce that this is so, but it isn’t spelled out in full.
This is not a problem for a Korean newspaper as the answer would likely be self-evident in a Korean context. However, this issue leads me to a deeper journalistic issue. It begins with the question as to whether there are universal human norms of moral conduct. Couched in journalistic terms — should a reporter assume that an action that is regarded as bad behavior in the West be labeled a bad behavior when it occurs in the non-Western world? In the Christian, or post-Christian, or Jude0-Christian West hypocrisy is regarded as sinful, or bad conduct. Can we assume that this is so in non-Western cultures?
In this particular case, the Western conception of bad behavior is in line with the Buddhist, both have clearly defined standards of ethical conduct. In the Simile of the Cloth, the Buddha lists the sixteen defilements of the mind of which number 9, maya, is hypocrisy:
1. Thus have I heard. Once the Blessed One was staying at Savatthi, in Jeta’s Grove, Anathapindika’s monastery. There he addressed the monks thus: “Monks.” — “Venerable sir,” they replied. The Blessed One said this:
2. “Monks, suppose a cloth were stained and dirty, and a dyer dipped it in some dye or other, whether blue or yellow or red or pink, it would take the dye badly and be impure in color. And why is that? Because the cloth was not clean. So too, monks, when the mind is defiled, an unhappy destination [in a future existence] may be expected.
“Monks, suppose a cloth were clean and bright, and a dyer dipped it in some dye or other, whether blue or yellow or red or pink, it would take the dye well and be pure in color. And why is that? Because the cloth was clean. So too, monks, when the mind is undefiled, a happy destination [in a future existence] may be expected.
3. “And what, monks, are the defilements of the mind? (1) Covetousness and unrighteous greed are a defilement of the mind; (2) ill will is a defilement of the mind; (3) anger is a defilement of the mind; (4) hostility…(5) denigration…(6) domineering…(7) envy…(8) jealousy…(9) hypocrisy…(10) fraud…(11) obstinacy…(12) presumption…(13) conceit…(14) arrogance…(15) vanity…(16) negligence is a defilement of the mind.
4. “Knowing, monks, covetousness and unrighteous greed to be a defilement of the mind, the monk abandons them …
There are hypocritical Buddhists just as there are hypocritical Christians, but the way this hypocrisy works itself out has different theological connotations. Shallow Buddhists have not renounced their selfish desires. Shallow Christians have not surrendered their lives to Christ’s authority.
While Western and Buddhist ethical standards matched up in this instance, they do not always do so — nor do the ethical constructs of other thought or religious systems always line up with Christian or Jewish moral teachings. If a reporter does not address this issue, is he not guilty of some form of imperialistic thinking? Is he not saying “the world operates according to my culture’s norms and shall be judged by my standards”?
In writing a story of less than 500 words a reporter is not given the opportunity to speculate on the nature of truth. Should he not then have a line in a story that states why a particular behavior offends in non-Western cultures? Or, is this stating the obvious? Or, are there non-negotiable moral norms that are present through out humanity?
What say you GetReligion readers? What is truth and where can it be found?
First printed in GetReligion.
Interview: Issues, Etc. March 29, 2012 May 12, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Interviews/Citations, Issues Etc, Press criticism, Religion Reporting.Tags: New York Times
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Here is a link to a radio interview I gave to Lutheran Public Radio‘s Issues, Etc. program first broadcast on March 29, 2012.
The topics was the New York Times coverage of religion news.
Interview: Issues Etc, May 11, 2012 May 12, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Interviews/Citations, Issues Etc, Presbyterian/Church of Scotland, Roman Catholic Church.Tags: Colorado Springs Gazette, First Presbyterian Church of Colorado Springs, Irish Times, Sean Brady
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Here is a link to a radio interview I gave to Lutheran Public Radio‘s Issues, Etc. program first broadcast on May 11, 2012.
The topics were the vote by First Presbyterian Church of Colorado Springs to withdraw from the PCUSA and the press coverage of the Irish clergy abuse scandal.
Anglican Unscripted Episode 39, May 11, 2012 May 11, 2012
Posted by geoconger in AMiA, Anglican Church of Canada, Anglican Church of North America, Anglican.TV, Church of Ireland, Property Litigation, The Episcopal Church.comments closed
Kevin and George are at it again. This week they tackle the tough topic of people in purple, The Anglican Mission in America, Same Sex Marriage, and communication in in the church. Peter has breaking news from Ireland and AS Haley brings legal news from Orange Beach California. Comments to AnglicanUnscripted@gmail.com and twitter #au39
Wales votes “not yet” on the Anglican Covenant: The Church of England Newspaper, May 6, 2012 p 6. May 11, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Covenant, Church in Wales, Church of England Newspaper.Tags: Gregory Cameron, Helen Biggin, John Davies, Philip Price
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The Church in Wales has declined to endorse the Anglican Covenant. The Governing Body – the Welsh church’s general synod – on 18 April 2012 passed a motion calling for further study of the covenant in light of its failure to be affirmed by a majority of dioceses of the Church of England.
The original motion proposed by the Bishop of St Asaph, the Rt. Rev. Gregoy Cameron and Mrs. Helen Biggin of the Diocese of Llandaff asked the church to subscribe to the covenant. In support of the motion, Bishop Cameron stated the “Covenant is Anglican, setting out the wells from which we draw out faith.”
“It is an affirmation of the Lambeth Quadrilateral, of Bible, Sacraments, Creeds and Apostolic Succession. To these are added the tradition of Common Prayer and the Anglican way of teaching from scripture, reason and tradition.”
He added the covenant was “about communion, sustaining one another, working with one another, taking one another seriously.”
Bishop Cameron noted the covenant “not a law, about relationships not legalities—a commitment to work with one another. It gives us a modest framework to hold the churches of the Communion together in mutual respect and cooperation. It gives us the pathways rather than to shout at each other. It sets out the foundation of our common life, rather than the drama of boycotts. It gives something for the whole of the Communion and not just a part, a flexible commitment and not a partisan declaration.”
Mrs. Biggen asked the Governing Body not to be swayed by the Church of England’s apparent rejection of the covenant, saying ““this is not game over”.
The bishop of Swansea and Brecon, the Rt. Rev. John Davies moved an amendment to the motion, saying he believed a pause was in order. The bishop believed the covenant was too “legalistic” and would stifle the communion, not strengthen it.
The amended text proposed by Bishop Davies read:
That the Governing Body: (i) affirm the commitment of the Church in Wales to the life of the Anglican Communion; (ii) affirm its readiness to engage with any ongoing process of consideration of the Anglican Communion Covenant; (iii) request clarification from the 15th meeting of the Anglican Consultative Council as to the status and direction of the Covenant process in the light of the position of the Church of England; (iv) urge upon the instruments of Communion a course of action which continues to seek reconciliation and the preservation of the Communion as a family of interdependent but autonomous Churches.”
Rising in support of the amended motion, Philip Price QC, chairman of the Standing Committee, stated the covenant did not address the problems besetting the communion. ““We have to consider still how to consult together, how to manage disagreement—and that remains a priority. We must continue to go down that road, exploring what it means to be Anglican. The Covenant has been hugely useful as a focus for asking the question and answering it in discussion with each other—what it means to be Anglican in the rough and tumble of the raw, everyday world in which we have to engage?”
The amended motion was put to a vote and passed by a strong margin.
Bishop Cameron sought to put a good face on the vote noting the Governing Body had given an “amber light” instead of the “green light.”
“However, I think we need to reaffirm our strong commitment to each other through the saving power of Christ revealed in the Gospels. That is what I believe the Covenant ultimately calls us to do and I hope one day the Church in Wales will be able to vote for it,” Bishop Cameron said.
First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
Church VAT meeting with George Osborne: The Church of England Newspaper, May 6, 2012 p 6. May 11, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Church of England, Church of England Newspaper, Development/Economics/Govt Finances, Politics.Tags: George Osborne, Richard Chartres, Tony Baldry, VAT
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The Second Church Estates Commissioner and the Bishop of London have asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Mr. George Osborne, for a “full exemption” for churches on the government’s plans to impose VAT on church alterations.
Speaking to the House of Commons on 26 April 2012, Mr. Tony Baldry said the meeting with the chancellor had been “helpful and constructive.”
The chancellor had given a “commitment to ensuring that listed places of worship would not be adversely affected by the Budget proposal, and I am sure that he will do everything he can to deliver on that commitment,” Mr. Baldry said.
The Church Commissioners were “pushing for full exemption. The listed places of worship scheme is welcome, but it is very volatile and uncertain at the moment because people are never quite clear how much they will receive back under the scheme, he said.
Mr. Baldry and Bishop Richard Chartres “made it clear why we believed it to be in the best interests of the community to continue to exempt alterations to listed places of worship from VAT. We gave the Chancellor a full written submission” and he “undertook to consider our submission carefully and made clear the Government’s commitment to ensuring that listed places of worship are not adversely affected by the Budget proposal. I anticipate a further meeting with the Chancellor and the Exchequer Secretary in due course,” the Second Church Estates Commissioner said.
The member for Bermondsey and Old Southwark, Simon Hughes (LD) asked if Mr. Baldry would “apply pressure” on the Government so that it understands “that simply extending the scheme’s remit to give money, when the budget has been cut, does not solve the problem, unless the rules are changed.”
Mr. Baldry concurred, saying “we are keen that the Chancellor maintains the VAT exemption for church alterations is the certainty it brings. However much money is put into the listed places of worship scheme, it has its own inherent volatility and uncertainty, and no one is sure until after the event how much the refund will be. In the last quarter, for example, only just over half of the money for the listed places of worship scheme was refunded.”
The member for Congleton, Fiona Bruce (Con.) questioned the feasibility of the government’s plans. “The Treasury has said that there will be an exemption from the new rules for contracts that have already been signed, but many churches have already undertaken ongoing works. Could there be some flexibility in that respect? Secondly, if the grant scheme is to be reviewed, could it be so over a period of several years, not just one or two years, so that there can be certainty? Works often take many years.”
Mr. Baldry stated that he agreed that it was “important to get the transitional relief right. We made it clear” to Mr. Osborne “that if he was not minded to follow us on continuing the exemption, but wanted to increase the grant under the listed places of worship scheme, we would want to see certainty over the sum, not just for this year but for a whole number of years to come.”
First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
Treasury to reimburse Church on new VAT: The Church of England Newspaper, May 4, 2012 May 11, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Church of England, Church of England Newspaper, Development/Economics/Govt Finances, Politics.Tags: Lord Sassoon, Richard Chartres, Tony Baldry, VAT
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The Chancellor of the Exchequer has promised to reimburse listed churches for the costs of VAT for church improvements.
Speaking in the House of Lords on 24 April 2012, Treasury minister Lord Sassoon confirmed that an agreement had been reached the previous day by the Bishop of London, the Second Church Estates Commissioner and the Chancellor, Mr. George Osborne.
“The Government are fully compensating churches for the changes in VAT,” Lord Sassoon told the Lords. Asked how the Treasury would mitigate the £20 million in additional cost to churches in its budget proposals, Lord Sassoon said the Chancellor “made it clear” in his meeting with Bishop Richard Chartres and Tony Baldy MP “that the £5 million which the Government have committed to the listed places of worship grant scheme in the Budget is on top of the £12 million which the scheme already had.”
“We accept, having seen the churches’ numbers, that the VAT change will indeed be more than £5 million and that we need to commit more money, and discussions will continue next week to look at what the projected numbers and our commitment should be,” the minister said.
Lord Sassoon further stated that projects already underway would not be subject to the tax.
“Contracts in place on [Budget day] will retain the zero rate if the work is performed by 20 March 2013.”
In last month’s Budget, Mr Osborne announced a 20 per cent tax on alteration work on listed buildings. The Treasury said the new tax would be imposed to remove a “glaring anomaly”, where alterations to listed building were exempt from VAT, but repair and maintenance work was not. It was also couched in terms of fairness, with Coalition spokesmen saying it would prevent the owners of listed mansions avoiding paying VAT if they added a swimming pool.
However, the plan would also tax churches. The Bishop of Bath & Wells asked Lord Sassoon whether the government had thought through the implications of its decision, suggesting that it was at odds with its Big Society agenda. “Of the 563 churches in my diocese, 503 are listed-some 89 per cent. Their upkeep relies almost entirely on voluntary fundraising and support from their congregations. In promoting the big society, many wish to open those buildings to wider community use. What incentive does the minister believe is being created for congregations to do so by making them pay VAT up front only to claim it back through a scheme that is not adequately funded,” the bishop asked.
Lord Sassoon responded the government did not “want to see anything that incentivises people against repairing and maintaining and therefore preserving the core heritage features of the property, so we think that it is right to put alterations, repairs and maintenance on an even basis.”
However, a spokesman for the Archbishops’ Council told ThirdSector the reimbursement scheme was not ideal. “As a sort of concession it seems the Chancellor has said expenditure on alterations, as well as repairs, will now be eligible for this scheme, and it will have some extra money,” he said.
“But it’s pretty easy for the government to get rid of public expenditure. This scheme has already got less generous since it was introduced. It’s already being used pretty much at capacity,” the spokesman said.
First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
Irish reflections in a jaundiced eye: Get Religion, May 8, 2012 May 9, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Abuse, Get Religion, Roman Catholic Church.Tags: Brenday Smyth, Irish Times, Sean Brady
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The Roman Catholic Church in Ireland has been having a run of bad press of late. The clergy pedophile scandal and the church’s inadequate response has left it deeply wounded. The latest scandal involves Cardinal Seán Brady, the Catholic Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland, and his actions in the Brendan Smyth case.
Outrage over the Smyth case led to the collapse of the Irish government in 1994 and may force Cardinal Brady to step down. Smyth, a Norbertine priest who abused more than 100 children in Ireland and the U.S. over the course of 40 years, died a month after he entered prison in 1997.
In a 1 May 2012 documentary entitled “The Shame of the Catholic Church”, the BBC reported that as a young priest in the early 1970′s, Brady served as the notary to an investigative committee that reviewed complaints that Smyth had abused a 15 year old boy. Brady interviewed the 15 year old and reported the victim’s testimony of abuse to his bishop. However the boy’s parents were not informed. Smyth remained a priest and abused children for a further 13 years.
This is a terrible story of abuse, incompetence and inertia. Watch the BBC documentary if you can. But that is not the focus of this post. Newspaper reputations are established by consistently good work. When a newspaper engages in advocacy journalism on small stories, its readers are less likely to accept its version of events when the blockbuster stories come along.
The Brady/Smyth story is a blockbuster. But its importance — and the Irish Times‘ credibility — some would argue has been damaged by what has come before.
Last week’s news article entitled “Fr D’Arcy ‘saddened’ at Vatican censure over articles” reports on moves against a priest with a newspaper column. The lede introduces us to Fr. Brian D’Arcy who reports he was:
“saddened and disappointed” at his censure by the Vatican over articles he wrote for a Sunday newspaper. The cleric and media commentator writes for the Sunday World, where he has been a regular columnist since 1976.
It emerged yesterday that he had been censured by the Vatican over four articles he wrote in 2010. The four articles by Fr D’Arcy concerned how the Vatican dealt with the issue of women priests; why US Catholics were leaving the church; why the church had to take responsibility for clerical child sex abuse; and homosexuality.
The Vatican is also understood to have complained about headlines on some of the articles, which would have been written by editorial staff at the Sunday World. Currently, in instances where he addresses matters of faith and morals in his writings or broadcasts, he must first submit these to a third party for clearance.
The article cites a statement from Fr. D’Arcy that speaks of his having to live with the “the pain of censure for 14 months and will have to live with it for the rest of my priestly life.” The priest defends his journalism and his “ministry in communication,” while the article notes that news of the censure came via the head of his order, who was summoned to the Vatican for a dressing down. A fellow Irish priest then speaks (in support of Fr. D’Arcy).
Fr Peter McVerry branded the Vatican’s actions as “horrific”.
“They are terrified that if they speak publicly they will get their heads chopped off,” he said.
And the article then closes with the names of five other Irish clerics censured by the Vatican. What the story does not have is any comment or explanation from the hierarchy or the Vatican.
Nor does the article question or substantiate the claims of censorship. A quick run through the archives of Fr. D’Arcy’s articles shows that he has not been shy of criticizing the Catholic Church’s leadership in Ireland and in Rome. If someone from the chancellery is reading Fr. D’Arcy’s articles before they are published with an eye towards reigning him in, they have been somewhat lax. In a 23 April 2012 column that discusses popular attitudes toward married priests, Fr. D’Arcy states the hierarchy is deaf to the concerns of the laity:
Sadly in our church now, it has become impossible to be open and honest about what good people are convinced of. It’s as if merely stating unpalatable facts is in itself disloyal.
In this article, an assertion is made, facts and opinion from one side are offered in support, but no contrary views are presented nor are the claims tested. On one side we have a supporter of Fr. D’Arcy saying his treatment has been “horrific” and that critics of the church’s party line will have their head chopped off. Against that we have — nothing. What are we to make of Fr. McVerry? Is he an idiot? Is he being prophetic? What is clear is the bias against the Catholic Church from the Irish Times.
Now we are in the midst of a newspaper feeding frenzy over the fallout of the Shame of the Catholic Church. What trust should a reader place in the Irish Times‘ coverage? The stories from the newspaper’s religion correspondent Patsy McGarry on the Brady/Smyth affair are well written, well sourced and eminently readable. McGarry is a pro whose work I have enjoyed for many years.
But his latest round of stories will be read in conjunction with his 18 April 2012 opinion piece. In this pre-Shame of the Catholic Church story, McGarry takes a hammer to Pope Benedict XVI and beats.
Benedict was a “divisive figure” possessed of “rigid certainties” whose election “represented the final defeat of that liberal Catholicism ushered in following Vatican II.”
Cardinal Ratzinger was an enemy of the “porous, inclusive Catholicism of the previous generation.” As Pope John Paul II’s “enforcer” he “closed many windows thrown open by Pope John XXIII and Vatican II” through such action as “infamous Dominus Iesus document of 2000.”
On celibacy, women priests or women in the diaconate, he was immovable. Similarly on the use of condoms even to combat Aids. On homosexuality he was virulent. In 1986, he described it as a “strong tendency ordered towards an intrinsic moral evil; and thus the inclination itself must be seen as an objective disorder”.
Where dissent was concerned he brooked no hostages. It extended to former colleagues such as Hans Küng. In 1966, at Küng’s instigation, the Catholic faculty at Germany’s Tübingen university appointed Fr Ratzinger professor of dogmatics. In 1979, Küng was stripped of his licence to teach because he challenged papal infallibility. In 1981, when Ratzinger became dean of the CDF, he upheld that decision.
The pope continues to take a pounding from Mr. McGarry. But the story then takes a turn towards the Irish church where she speaks to the “silencing” of Irish clergy who had “sought their way to a more compassionate, Christian understanding of human life.” He adds that:
In each case too, those of us in the media aware of it were asked not to write about this lest the sky fall and bring further misery on the already crushed. So Rome has had its way and through exploiting finer human emotions such as loyalty and respect. Clever? Yes, but hardly Christian.
Strong stuff this. One could say extraordinary when you consider that this was penned by the newspaper’s religion correspondent. If this is the worldview through which the newspaper’s religion reporter views the pope and the Vatican, how then should one read the Irish Times‘ news coverage of the Catholic Church?
The approach taken by the Irish Times has been self-defeating. By engaging in advocacy journalism, letting opinions drive the story rather than the facts, readers who are well disposed to the Irish Times editorial voice will find their views confirmed.
Those who object to its characterizations and treatment of the Catholic Church may respond to these latest scandals with a “well they would say that, wouldn’t they” about the Irish Times‘ coverage. The truth winds up getting lost in advocacy journalism and it ultimately fails in its mission as no minds are changed or views shifted.
Read the Irish Times on Catholicism — but read it with a jaundiced eye is my advice.
First published in GetReligion.
Bishop Todd Hunter joins the ACNA: Anglican Ink, May 8, 2012 May 8, 2012
Posted by geoconger in AMiA, Anglican Church of North America, Anglican Church of the Congo, Anglican Ink.Tags: Chuck Murphy, Robert Duncan, Todd Hunter
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Bishop Todd Hunter
Bishop Todd Hunter of the Anglican Mission in America (AMiA) has been received by the Anglican Church in North America and will serve as an assistant bishop in the office of the primate, the Most Rev. Robert Duncan.
On 4 May 2012 the California-based bishop held a conference call with Archbishop Duncan, Bishop Chuck Murphy of the AMiA, and Bishop Terrell Glenn of PEAR-USA/ACNA to discuss his future plans.
Bishop Hunter stated that he had a “warm and collegial conversations” with the three bishops and “articulated for each of them my vision of C4SO becoming a servant to all the various Anglican entities within North America. C4SO will happily plant churches in partnership with PEARUSA, TheAm and the ACNA.”
C4SO – Churches for the Sake of Others – is a church planting initiative run by Bishop Hunter that will now move under the ecclesial oversight of the ACNA.
Read it all in Anglican Ink.
Religion law expert: Govt assurances on gay marriage have no legal merit: The Church of England Newspaper, April 29, 2012 p 6. May 6, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Church of England, Church of England Newspaper, Marriage, Politics.Tags: Gas and Dubois v France, gay marriage, Ladelle v Islington Council, Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, Neil Addison
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Neil Addison
The government’s contention that the adoption of gay civil marriage laws would not affect religious marriage is not supported by recent U.K. Court of Appeals and European Court of Human Rights Rulings, religion law expert Neil Addison writes.
“It is fair to say that the entire subject is not as legally straight forward as the Government is suggesting,” Mr. Addison, author of the Religion Law Blog he told The Church of England Newspaper.
“In order to permit same sex couples to marry the Government merely needs to repeal s11(c) Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 which says ‘11 Grounds on which a marriage is void; c)that the parties are not respectively male and female’.”
“However if it does repeal that sub section then those organisations and individuals which are authorised to register Marriage (which of course includes Church of England Priests by virtue of their office) would at that point be obliged to perform Same Sex marriages unless there is a specific statutory exemption,” he said.
The current state of the law, Mr. Addison wrote on his blog was that there was no difference between “Civil” as opposed to “Religious” marriage [as] both are in law the same thing and merely take place in different premises.”
In the case of Gas and Dubois v France 25951/07 the European Court of Human Rights reaffirmed its earlier decision in Schalk and Kopf v. Austria 30141/04 that there is no obligation under the Convention for States to legalise same sex marriage or indeed to legalise same sex civil partnerships, Mr. Addison said.
“The important point,” he told CEN is that under law “you either have same sex marriage which is identical to heterosexual marriage in all respects or you don’t have same sex marriage. What you can’t do is create same sex marriage and then give it different rules.”
While, the government’s consultation states “the legalisation of same sex marriage would ‘make no changes to religious marriages. This will continue to only be legally possible between a man and a woman.’ But this assurance is completely at odds with the European Courts decision in both the Schalk and Gas cases,” he said.
He noted the laws governing marriage in the U.K. would differ from Spain and other countries which had adopted gay marriage. In 2009 the U.K. Court of Appeal in the case of Ladelle v Islington Council held the “orthodox Christian view that marriage is the union of one man and one woman for life” was “not a core part” of the Christian religion.
Given this Court of Appeal precedent, if “Churches are told that they have to be willing to perform same sex marriage ceremonies they will have little legal ground to resist,” he said.
First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
Religious oppostion to gay marriage “Orwellian” minister says: The Church of England Newspaper, April 29, 2012 p 6. May 6, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Church of England, Church of England Newspaper, Marriage, Politics.Tags: gay marriage, Lynne Featherstone
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Lynne Featherstone MP
Equalities Minister Lynne Featherstone has rejected suggestions Church of England clergy will be compelled to solemnize same-sex marriages, saying it would be the U.K. government, not the church, who would “stand in the dock” to fight any potential EU directive. The minister also chided religious opponents of same-sex marriage their preference of traditional views of marriage over the government’s view was Orwellian.
On 19 April 2012, the member for Esher and Walton, Mr. Dominic Raab (Cons.) asked the minister “What plans she has to bring forward legislative proposals on same-sex marriage.”
She responded that the “Government believe that if a couple love each other and want to commit to a life together, they should have the option of a civil marriage regardless of their gender or sexual orientation.
“Our current priority is the consultation,” she said, which opened on 15 March and runs until 14 June, “and we want to hear from all those with an interest in this matter.”
Mr. Raab stated that whilst he supported the proposal to allow gay civil marriage ceremonies, he was concerned the Human Rights Act 1998 and the Equality Act 2010 may “expose churches and other religious institutions to legal challenge and force them to marry gay couples.”
“Will the Minister give a clear assurance that our churches will not end up in the dock in Strasbourg,” he asked.
Ms. Featherstone stated the government “will ensure that there is no risk of successful legal challenge against religious organisations that do not marry same-sex couples. It would not be religious organisations, but the United Kingdom Government in the dock in Strasbourg. We respect and understand the concerns of religious organisations, and we want to work closely with them to give them that reassurance.”
In response to a question from the member for St Austell and Newquay, Stephen Gilbert (LD), the minister stated the government’s proposal was “not touching religious marriage or redefining marriage. Religious people may continue to believe that marriage can be only between a man and a woman. That is not the state’s view. We do not take the Orwellian view that ‘All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others’.”
First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
CoE facing £20 million VAT bill: The Church of England Newspaper, April 29, 2012, p 6. May 6, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Church of England, Church of England Newspaper, Development/Economics/Govt Finances.Tags: Tax policy, Tony Baldry, VAT
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Tony Baldry MP
The Government’s plan to end the VAT exemption for listed building alterations will cost the Church of England an additional £20 million per year, the Second Church Estates Commissioner told Parliament last week.
On 18 April 2012 Mr. Tony Baldry responded to a written question from the member for The Wrekin, Mr. Mark Pritchard (Cons.) asking whether the Church Commissioners would speak to the Chancellor about the financial effects “of VAT changes to repairs for listed church buildings in the diocese of Hereford and Lichfield.”
Mr. Baldry stated that he wrote to the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 22 March and intended to “follow this up with discussions soon.”
Ending the VAT exemption was likely to cost the Church of England £20 million per year as it had “responsibility for the care and upkeep of 12,500 listed churches and cathedrals across England.”
There repairs were “largely met by the voluntary giving and activity of its congregations,” he said, noting the “large majority of alterations” took place “order to improve access to them and to broaden their use by the wider community.”
The cost to Hereford under the proposed VAT changes would cost the cathedral “an extra estimated £160,000 to complete its existing plans to improve its sound, lighting and heating systems.”
Mr. Baldry said that of the Hereford’s 423 buildings, 360 were listed churches. He cited the case of St John the Evangelist in Shobdon, which was “currently completing a £900,000 restoration project of which only 10% has been completed. The application of VAT to the total cost is likely to prove a significant setback.”
In the Diocese of Lichfield the proposed changes would add a further £240,000 to its costs of adding “toilets and facilities for the disabled” and renovations to the Close. Of Lichfield’s 450 buildings, 315 were churches who would be affected by the changes. “No specific figures are available for projects in 2012, but across the diocese a conservative estimate of over £300,000 was spent on alterations to parish churches in 2011,” he said.
The Second Church Estates Commission noted that “though proposals in the Budget impact mostly on alterations to listed church buildings—as distinct from repairs—in that they remove the zero VAT rating for all listed building alteration works, the Church of England is concerned that the money available to reimburse churches for VAT charged for repair work will also be affected as a consequence of the extra demands placed on the Listed Places of Worship Grant scheme, which is to have eligibility widened to include alterations.”
First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
Irish parliament rejects abortion bill: The Church of England Newspaper, April 29, 2012 p 7. May 6, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Abortion/Euthanasia/Biotechnology, Church of England Newspaper, Church of Ireland.Tags: Clare Daley
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Clare Daley TD
The lower house of the Irish Parliament has rejected a private member’s bill to ease the Republic’s abortion laws. In a vote of 109 to 20, the Dáil rejected the bill brought by Clare Daly of the opposition Socialist Party that would permit “termination of pregnancy where a real and substantial risk to the life of the pregnant woman exists.”
Ms Daly had urged the Dáil to bring Ireland in line with a 2010 European Court of Human Rights ruled that held the country’s failure to implement the existing constitutional “right” to abortion was a breach of the European Convention on Human Rights. In 1992 the Irish courts legalized abortion in limited circumstances in the “X” case. However, successive governments have declined to enact legislation codifying the country’s abortion laws.
“We believe that it is only a first step for abortion to be legalized in Ireland in all circumstances. We have waited long enough,” Ms. Daly said before the vote.
“Over 100,000 Irish abortions have taken place in Britain for many different reasons, none of them easy, all of them valid. The hypocrisy, injustice and expense of having to travel to England for terminations, away from family and friends, is a disgrace,” she said.
Minister for Health Dr James Reilly rejected the Bill on the grounds that the House should await the report of an expert group commissioned by the government in response to the ECHR ruling.
A spokesman for the Church of Ireland told The Church of England Newspaper noted that as this was a private members bill, there had been no government consultation and no opportunity for the church to address the legislation.
However, the Church of Ireland had made submissions on abortion to the Oireachtas Éireann, the upper and lower houses of Parliament, in 2011, the spokesman said.
“The Lambeth Declaration on Abortion remains the Church of Ireland’s officially stated and essential position: ‘In the strongest terms, Christians reject the practice of induced abortion, or infanticide, which involves the killing of a life already conceived (as well as the violation of the personality of the mother) save at the dictate of strict and undeniable medical necessity’,” the spokesman said.
He added that “within the Church there is probably a diversity of opinions on certain aspects of the abortion issue – areas of disagreement in exceptions of lethal or severe congenital abnormality of the foetus; pregnancy after incest; pregnancy after rape.”
However, “it has been the Church of Ireland view that the constitutional way is not the best method of dealing with the abortion issue,” the spokesman from the Church of Ireland Press Office said.
First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
