Kenya’s bishops warn of election violence threat: The Church of England Newspaper, October 6, 2012, p 7 October 10, 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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The House of Bishops of the Anglican Church of Kenya has warned the East African nation it risks tribal and religious civil war over the forthcoming March 2013 General Elections if its political leaders do not pull back from hate speech.
In a statement read at the close of the House of Bishops meeting in Nakuru on 28 September 2012, Archbishop Eliud Wabukala said some politicians were guilty making “offensive political utterances with impunity” that strained “fragile inter-ethnic relations”. By appealing to race and religion, politicians were priming the country for an explosion akin to the violence that followed the 2008 elections, he warned.
The church called for the immediate appointment of a national Inspector General of Police before the elections, and urged the government to implement the reforms of the police services proposed by a blue ribbon commission. The bishops urged President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga to act now in preparing the security services to ensure a peaceful, free and fair General Election.
First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
Charles Bennison to resign: Anglican Ink, October 9, 2012 October 9, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Ink, Pennsylvania, The Episcopal Church.Tags: Charles Bennison
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The Rt. Rev. Charles E. Bennison, Jr.
The Bishop of Pennsylvania, the Rt. Rev. Charles E. Bennison, Jr., has announced that he will step down from office on 31 December 2012.
Bishop Bennison has had a rocky tenure as bishop of one of the church’s oldest and largest dioceses. The conflicts began during the race for his election as bishop when at the special convention held to elect a successor to Bishop Allen Bartlett, Charles Bennison promised members of the Episcopal Synod of the USA (now Forward in Faith) that he would honor Bishop Bartlett’s program of permitting Anglo-Catholic bishops from outside the diocese to exercise episcopal ministry on his behalf. After offering this pledge the Anglo-Catholic bloc in the diocese, led by the Rev. David L. Moyer, put their votes behind Bennison giving him the victory. After his consecration the new bishop declined to honor his election promise.
Some conservatives responded to Bishop Bennison’s actions and theological statements by refusing to allow him to visit their parishes. In one Easter letter to the diocese he observed that Jesus was a sinner like other men.
Read it all in Anglican Ink.
Indian bishop jailed for fraud: The Church of England Newspaper, October 7, 2012 p October 8, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Church of England Newspaper, Church of North India, Corruption.Tags: Afghan Memorial Church, Bombay Diocesan Trust Association Private Limited, Vijay Sathe
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Church of St John the Baptist (Afghan Memorial Church) in Bombay
The former Bishop of Pune has been jailed and several other serving and retired Church of North India bishops are accused of complicity in a scheme to sell churches to property developers and pocket the cash.
Last month the Bombay High Court ordered the Rt Rev Vijay Sathe to be remanded into custody on charges of fraud, forgery and breach of trust for allegedly seeking to sell the Afghan Memorial Church in Bombay to property developers and pocketing the proceeds.
The former bishops of Bombay, Pune and Gujarat are also being sought by police.
Prosecutors claim that up to a dozen senior church leaders who acted as trustees to a shell corporation alleged to have been created to divert church properties into private hands may be implicated in the scheme.
In their application to the court, prosecutors asked the bishop to be jailed to prevent his flight after a search of his home unearthed evidence it believed incriminated Bishop Sathe. A bail hearing was set for last Monday, 1 October 2012.
An investigation by the Maharashtra state charity commissioner found there was an ongoing pattern of fraud in the sale of church lands in Bombay. In a report dated April 18, 2009, VR Patil, the Maharashtra law and judiciary department’s legal adviser, found that a “bogus” corporation entitled the Bombay Diocesan Trust Association Private Limited had been created to “grab the properties of genuine Christian trusts” — the Bombay Diocesan Trust Association Limited (BDTA) and the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (SPG) in the Diocese of Bombay.
“The bogus trustees indulged in many illegal activities to grab the property of BDTA Ltd and SPG by taking advantage of the similarity in the name of the bogus trust with the complainant’s trust,” the Patil report said.
In 2004 the BDTA Private Limited group presented an application to the charity commissioners to redevelop the Afghan Memorial Church – a former Church of Scotland church built to honour the dead of the First Afghan War. The colonial church was in need of structural repair and was also located in what was now the heart of the city’s commercial district. In 2008 lay church activists filed a complaint with the charity commission saying BDTA Private Limited was not the owner of the church, the BDTA was. They also argued that under Indian law churches built on cantonment land – land set aside during the British colonial era for military purposes – reverted to the control of the government if they were no longer used for religious purposes.
Lawyers for the BDTA Private Limited trustees responded to the charge by bringing a charge of criminal liability against the lay activists and sought to lift an injunction against development imposed by the charity commissioners. However, in August 2012 the charity commissioners finalized their ruling and directed the courts and police to investigate the BDTA Private Limited trustees for fraud.
First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
Terror attack on Sunday School: The Church of England Newspaper, October 7, 2012 p 7. October 8, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Church of Kenya, Church of England Newspaper, Terrorism.Tags: al Shabaab
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One child has died and nine have been injured in an attack on a Sunday school class at St Cyprian’s Anglican Church in Nairobi.
On 30 Sept 2012 at approximately 10:30 local time, an explosion rocked the Christian education building of the congregation in the city’s Eastleigh District. Ian Morio (9) was killed in the blast and nine other children were wounded. Six of the injured are reported to be in critical condition and have been taken to Kenyatta National Hospital.
“Some witnesses are telling us they saw two men of Somali origin running towards the back of the church where explosion occurred,” Nairobi district police commissioner Wilfred Mbithi told reporters. A second report suggests the explosion was caused by a bomb planted in the building before the start of the class.
The bombing of St Cyprian’s is the latest in a series of grenade attacks and drive by shootings blamed on al-Shabaab since Kenya sent troops over the border into neighboring Somalia last year to restore order. Churches, bus stations and other public settings have been targeted in a low level terror campaign conducted by the Muslim terror group – an affiliate of al-Qaeda.
First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
Boston priest accused of abuse dies from drug overdose: The Church of England Newspaper, October 7, 2012 p 7. October 8, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Abuse, Church of England Newspaper, Massachusetts, The Episcopal Church.Tags: Paul LaCharite
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The Rev. Paul LaCharite. Photo: Somerville Police Dept.
The Boston priest accused of child rape has died of drug overdose, the Diocese of Massachusetts reports.
“With sorrow I received news this evening that the Rev. Paul LaCharite has died, an apparent suicide. This is a shocking tragedy, and I’ve asked our diocesan community to pray for everyone concerned,” Bishop M. Thomas Shaw said in a statement posted on the diocesan website on 26 September 2012.
Boston police are investigating the death of Fr. LaCharite, whose body was found at his home last week. On 7 Sept the Middlesex District Attorney’s office announced that the former rector fo St James Episcopal Church in Somerville, Massachusetts had been charged with multiple counts of child abuse, assault and battery and attempted rape of a young boy, now 26, over a period of ten years. The abuse began when the boy was 7 years of age and ended when Fr. LaCharite retired, the victim alleged.
“This is an unspeakable tragedy,” David Meier, a lawyer for LaCharite, told the Boston Herald. “Fr. Paul LaCharite was truly an innocent man who was driven to the depths of despair by a false accusation.”
First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
Theological college closes in Canada: The Church of England Newspaper, Oct 7, 2012 p 7. October 8, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Church of Canada, Church of England Newspaper.Tags: College of Emmanuel and St Chad, Fred Hiltz
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A Canadian theological school has announced that it will shut its doors at the end of the coming academic year.
The college council of the College of Emmanuel & St. Chad in Saskatoon voted to suspend operations at the end of June, 2013. College council president Bishop James Njegovan of Brandon said the decision to close had been made in light of the “current financial condition of the college, the ongoing decline in student enrolment, and the current and projected costs of operating the college.”
In 2006 the college, the official accredited theological college for the ecclesiastical province of Rupert’s Land, sold its buildings to the University of Saskatchewan and has been renting space from a Lutheran chapel and has been seeking to develop additional programmes to make up for the sharp decline of ordinands in training. However, the college council reported the school was unable to continue to operate with a deficit and must shut its doors.
The announcement comes amidst a worsening financial picture for the Anglican Church of Canada (ACA). In a speech to members of the synod of the ecclesiastical province of Canada last week in Montreal, Archbishop Fred Hiltz reported the ACA was running a deficit of C$900,000 after the first two quarters of 2012.
“The General Synod is struggling financially and if the truth be known we have been on this trajectory for a long time,” Archbishop Hiltz said, according to a report printed by the Montreal Anglican.
First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
Guardian ends the debate on abortion: Get Religion, October 7, 2012 October 8, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Get Religion, Press criticism.Tags: abortion, Guardian, Jeremy Hunt
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There are no valid pro-life arguments. All right thinking people have seen the light, the Guardian reports, with support for legal limitations on abortion limited to the slack jawed troglodytes of the political right, Conservative Party MPs (possibly the same thing) and religious loonies.
I may have overstated things somewhat, but that is what I have taken away from this story entitled “Jeremy Hunt backs 12-week legal limit on abortion.” Not the most striking of headlines, I admit, but here is the lede — trust me, it is worth diving in to this story as it is an object lesson in the difference between news reporting and advocacy journalism.
The health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, has said that he backs halving the legal time limit for women to have abortions, from 24 weeks to 12.
The intervention by Hunt reignited hostilities over one of the most polarising issues in politics on the eve of the Conservative party conference.
Coming just days after Maria Miller, the women’s minister, backed calls for a reduction in the legal limit for abortions, Hunt’s comments deepened fears among pro-choice campaigners that abortion laws are set to come under renewed assault.
Where do you thing this story is headed? A sober analysis of the state of the abortion debate in Britain, or rubbishing Jeremy Hunt for his views on abortion and for causing political mischief for the Conservative Party — why that would worry the Guardian is beyond me, but there it is. After this rather loaded introduction, the article offers some rather thin comments from the minister in support of his decision.
“I’m not someone who thinks that abortion should be made illegal. Everyone looks at the evidence and comes to a view about when that moment is and my own view is that 12 weeks is the right point for it.”
And this is followed by comments from the Labour Party’s shadow health minister. She calls the comments “shocking and alarming” and “another assault on women’s reproductive rights.” The opposition hammers Hunt for plucking 12 weeks “out of thin air” and not basing his decision on “medical evidence” — and true to form, we get an anti-American crack.
Let me say I do not find the shadow minister’s comments problematic. They are strong comments that candidly express the shadow minister for health’s views. What concerns me is that the Guardian gives her four paragraphs to critique the minister’s two paragraph opening quote.
The article then moves on to an independent medical voice, who perversely claims the minister’s remarks will lead to more abortion. The story line then returns to the minister, who is asked whether he was now, or had ever been a member of the Communist Party Christian.
“I don’t think the reason I have that view is for religious reasons. There are some issues that cut across health and morality, a bit like capital punishment does for crime. There are all sorts of arguments in favour and against in terms of deterrence and justice, but also there is a fundamental moral issue that sits behind it. I think abortion is one of those issues.”
The Guardian tosses in a a few unsourced opinions.
Political commentators have questioned the wisdom of sparking a political row over such an emotive issue as the party heads into its conference.
And the article closes with a knife in Hunt’s back from Prime Minister David Cameron’s office.
A spokesman for No 10 said that the prime minister did not share Hunt’s view about a cut to 12 weeks. Cameron said during the last general election campaign that he would support a reduction to 20 or 22 weeks.
David Cameron does seem set on giving Edward Heath a run for the money as winner of the worst Conservative PM contest. But GetReligion reader, do you notice anything missing?
Might there be someone to speak to this issue other than a marginal Conservative MP whose endorsement does not help but hurts Hunt. Where is the smartest man in England, the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams? Dr. Williams’ views on the economy, foreign policy and other non-church topics are often solicited by the Guardian but we hear nothing from Labour’s favorite archbishop on an issue dear to his wooly heart. Where is the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Westminster Vincent Nichols or any other Catholic, Muslim, Sikh, Hindu, Jewish, Humanist or, heaven help us, conservative Christian voice speaking on this issue?
Is the science truly silent on this point? Was no one available from any of the government’s scientific quangos that have been studying embryology, medical ethics, or reproductive health care issues? Maybe a word from someone from the Christian Medical Fellowship — a coalition of Christian physicians in the U.K.? Might they have a view on the 12 vs 24 week mark?
It may be a sign of my age, but a line from a Monty Python record “Matching Tie and Handkerchief” ran through my mind as I read this story.
Man: I think all right thinking people in this country are sick and tired of being told that ordinary, decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired.
All: Yes, yes…
Man: I’m certainly not! And I’m sick and tired of being told that I am.
Interviewer: Mrs. Havoc-Jones?
Mrs. Havoc-Jones: Well, I meet a lot of people and I’m convinced that the vast majority of wrong thinking people are right.
Interviewer: There seems like a consensus there. Could we have the next question, please?
There is an absurdist quality to this article. The Guardian does not believe it is important to give both sides of an argument, or it believes there is no credible opposition to the view that abortion is a non-negotiable right. This is advocacy journalism or it is arrogance. It may be seeking to endorse a particular political outcome and has marshaled some facts and omitted others in support of its argument. Or, it truly believes that there are no credible arguments against abortion and only draws upon the fringe for comments.
My sense is that this story is a mixture of arrogance, disdain and advocacy. The Guardian has chosen a side in the culture wars, but in doing so, it has dropped any pretext that it is engaging in journalism in its reporting on this issue.
First printed in GetReligion.
Lies, Damn Lies and Polls: Get Religion, October 6, 2012 October 6, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Get Religion, Politics, Press criticism.Tags: Dick Morris, Knights of Columbus, Marist Institute for Public Opinion, polling, Religion News Service
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“Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain”, the voice of the great and powerful Wizard of Oz tells Dorothy and her companions amidst the clap of thunder, clouds of smoke and frightening images of power and omniscience.
Yet all things come to an end, and the wizard’s unmasking soon follows as Toto (a dog) pulls aside a curtain, revealing the great and powerful wizard is but a humbug. “I’m a good man,” he tells Dorothy, “but a very bad wizard.”
Fox News commentator and political analyst Dick Morris has a story out that pulls aside a curtain, telling his readers not to pay any attention to a slew of recent battleground state polls that show President Barack Obama leading challenger Gov. Mitt Romney. His story “Swing State Polls Are Rigged” states that:
From noted Republican pollster John McLaughlin comes a clear and convincing exposé of the bias of media polls in the swing states of Florida, Ohio, and Virginia.
Citing recent polls in Virginia, Florida and Ohio, Mr. Morris explains the pollsters’ error (bias?)
McLaughlin reviewed exit polls in each state for the past four elections. From this data about who actually voted, he found that the party divisions manifest on election day have little to do with the samples upon which the media is basing its polling. And, coincidentally, it is always the Republican vote that tends to be undercounted. … Things are no better in Ohio. Here, McLaughlin finds a 2 point Democratic edge in the past four elections (38% Dem, 36% Rep). But the media polls show vastly more Democrats and fewer Republicans in their samples:
9-26: CBS/NY Times = 35% Dem / 26% Rep; 9-23: Wash Post = 35% Dem / 27% Rep; 9-11: NBC/Wall St Journal = 38% Dem / 28% Rep
Interesting stuff this, but why, you might ask, is this a GetReligion story? Because, the man conducting the NBC/Wall Street Journal polls, Dr. Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist Institute for Public Opinion, along with his colleague Dr. Barbara Carvalho gave a briefing to the lunchtime session of the Religion Newswriters Association meeting.
This is my first RNA meeting and to my surprise I have enjoyed it greatly. My experience of mass gatherings of reporters has been filtered through my work for English and other overseas newspapers. British press “culture” is very different from that found at the RNA. More yoghurt, less alcohol — there is a reason why they call Fleet Street reporters “hacks”.
Meeting at a hotel in suburban Washington, over a hundred religion reporters (among whom are all the GetReligion team members) are participating in an assortment of briefings, seminar discussions and presentations on religion and the media. In a fascinating talk sponsored by the Knights of Columbus, Drs. Carvalho and Miringoff presented some of their research on the current campaign. Among their findings was a disgust for the negative politicking among the electorate, a sense of alienation between the issues the candidates are discussing and issues of concern to voters, along with data showing that attempts to describe the moral issues (abortion, gay marriage, etc.) in black and white terms — forcing the answer to are you against or for abortion to be a yes or no — does not faithfully paint a true picture of America.
The presentation, which was recorded by C-Span along with a panel discussion entitled “Whose First Amendment?”, are well worth watching for you political junkies out there. And it will also give you a glimpse of me asking Dr. Miringoff to respond to Dick Morris’ criticism of his polling.
When I was asking the question, Dr. Miringoff began to smile at me. Now I am a likeable fellow, all told, but his smile was not of bonhomie nor of Freemasons exchanging secret signs, but that of a cat who has a canary in his sights. Dr. Miringoff pounced on Dick Morris’ story — see the video for his full comments unfiltered by my note taking skills — and argued that 1) this was sour grapes on the part of a Republican strategist whose man was lagging in the polls. In 2004 the Democrats charged the polls were under reporting their voters — and now it was the Republicans’ turn. 2) Party identification is not a fixed component akin to age, race, or economic status as party affiliation changes over time and also at the whim of the voter. Comparing the exit poll data from discrete points of time with something as amorphous as party identification was not as straight forward as Dick Morris had claimed. And 3) new polls will be released this Sunday in the wake of the first presidential debate that will likely cause the Democrats to complain.
Dr. Miringoff and Dr. Carvalho discussed the methodology of their polling, but also spoke to some of the unique circumstances pollsters are facing in this election. Youth turnout is likely to decline relative to the 2008 election. Will the absence of young people at the ballot box next month spell defeat for Barack Obama? One can speculate, but Dr. Miringoff suggested it would be wise for the president if he spent some more time on college campuses.
So, should we pay no attention to the man behind the curtain as Dick Morris suggests, or are the polls showing the president leading in the battleground states a fair approximation of voter sentiment a month out from election day? What say you, GetReligion readers?
Archbishop’s warning to Britain’s “unreformed elites”: The Church of England Newspaper, September 30, 2012 p 5. October 5, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Church of England Newspaper, Church of Ireland, Politics.Tags: Alan Harper
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Dr Alan Harper (center) at St Patrick’s Cathedral in Armagh before the start of his final service as Primate of All Ireland
The Archbishop of Armagh celebrated his last Eucharist as Primate of All Ireland last week with an attack on the moral failure of British and Irish political leaders.
On 21 September 2012 civil and ecclesiastical dignitaries from across Ireland joined Dr. Alan Harper in his final service at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Armagh. In his sermon Dr. Harper noted “contemporary society” has been confronted by a “perfect storm of moral ambivalence, and that powerful people ruined the lives of others whilst assuming their own invulnerability through a culture of impunity.”
The Scriptures taught that “moral ambivalence and a culture of pragmatism and expediency within the body politic or among major organs of society visit disastrous consequences upon the nation, and especially upon the poor and the powerless,” Dr. Harper said. And “by contrast, moral and spiritual integrity in high places leads to the flowering of both the nation and individual citizens at every level.”
“So, what of today? People talk of the threat to society posed by moral decline. The Prime Minister speaks of a ‘broken society’: feckless parenting, feral children, moral indifferentism, marital breakdown, benefit dependency and fraud, the growth of a disenchanted, disengaged under class. He called the Tottenham riots a ‘wake up call’. He mentioned banking, MPs’ expenses, phone hacking, greed, irresponsibility and entitlement.”
“If it is the case that our society is broken, with the boundaries of moral rectitude dissolving into ambivalence, blame cannot be heaped solely on the poor and the powerless: it was the Liverpool families who told the truth, not the police! An unreformed elite cannot impose probity on a struggling underclass.
Dr. Harper said “probity must be modelled at the top and begin with the elite, otherwise there subsists no moral authority on the part of governors to justify an intent to restore the moral and social health of the governed. The governors – leaders in the political, institutional, commercial, and spiritual life of our nations, including those holding authority within the media, must address first and with the greatest urgency the poverty of their own moral precepts and the fragile state of their own moral condition.”
First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
Lost grave of Richard III unearthed; The Church of England Newspaper, September 30, 2012 p 3. October 5, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Church of England, Church of England Newspaper.Tags: Richard III, University of Leicester, Vivienne Faull
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Laurence Olivier as Richard III (1955)
Archeologists from the University of Leicester excavating the supposed site of the lost grave of King Richard III have unearthed a skeleton with battle wounds and curvature of the spine.
“We are not saying today that we have found King Richard III,” Richard Taylor, Director of Corporate Affairs at the University told a 12 Sept 2012 press conference. “What we are saying is that the Search for Richard III has entered a new phase. Our focus is shifting from the archaeological excavation to laboratory analysis.”
The last of the Plantagenet kings, Richard III (1452-1485) ruled for two years until his death at the Battle of Bosworth Field on 22 August 1485. After the battle he was interred in Grey Friars Church in in Leicester, but the location of the church and the grave were lost over time.
The modern hunt for Richard III’s final resting place began Aug. 25, when a team of archaeologists led by Dr. Richard Buckley began excavating a Leicester City Council parking lot, the reputed location of the lost church.
Mr. Taylor reported that scientists from the University’s Department of Genetics and School of Archaeology and Ancient History had “exhumed one fully articulated skeleton” in what was believed to have been the Choir of Grey Friars church.
The skeleton of an adult male “appears to have suffered significant peri-mortem trauma to the skull which appears consistent with, although not certainly caused by, an injury received in battle. A bladed implement appears to have cleaved part of the rear of the skull,” he said, adding that a “barbed iron arrowhead was found between vertebrae of the skeleton’s upper back.”
The skeleton should signs of “severe scoliosis – which is a form of spinal curvature. This would have made his right shoulder appear visibly higher than the left shoulder. This is consistent with contemporary accounts of Richard’s appearance. The skeleton does not have kyphosis – a different form of spinal curvature.”
Unlike Shakespeare’s Richard III, “the man did not have the feature sometimes inappropriately known as a ‘hunchback’ and did not have a ‘withered arm’,” said Mr. Taylor. “This skeleton certainly has characteristics that warrant extensive further detailed examination.”
The University of Leicester archaeologist who led the search for Richard III, Dr. Richard Buckley said, “Whether or not we have found Richard III, this archaeological project has been exciting because of what it has uncovered about Leicester’s rich and varied past.”
The Very Rev Vivienne Faull, Dean of Leicester, told the news conference the cathedral had worked closely with the the university, city council and the Richard III society in the search for Richard III. “There has been a major memorial to King Richard at the heart of the cathedral and adjacent to the Herrick Chapel since 1980. This is the only cathedral memorial to Richard in the country and has been the focus for remembrance, particularly on the anniversary of the Battle of Bosworth. The memorial states that Richard was buried in the graveyard of the Church of the Grey Friars in the parish of St Martin (now the cathedral church).”
“If the identity of the remains is confirmed, Leicester Cathedral will continue to work with the Royal Household, and with the Richard III Society, to ensure that his remains are treated with dignity and respect and are reburied with the appropriate rites and ceremonies of the church,” Dean Faull said.
First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
Archbishop denounces govt AIDS sterilization programme: The Church of England Newspaper, September 30, 2012 p 6. October 5, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Church of Kenya, Church of England Newspaper, Health/HIV-AIDS.Tags: Benjamin Nzimbi
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Retired Kenyan Archbishop Benjamin Nzimbi
Church leaders in Kenya have denounced a government health programme to sterilize women with HIV/AIDS. In a statement released last week through the Kenya Network for Religious Leaders living with or affected by HIV and AIDS (KENERELA), the former primate of the Anglican Church of Kenya, Archbishop Benjamin Nzimbi said it was a “pity” that in a time of “great scientific advancement in human reproduction, someone can go ahead and sterilizes a woman because she is HIV positive.”
Archbishop Nzimbi was joined by Muslim and Christian leaders in condemning the plan. They alleged that government health workers had been coercing HIV positive women to be sterilized by offering free medical treatment or food and medical aid for their children in return for undergoing the procedure.
As women with AIDS can now give birth safely to children who will be free from the disease, “any attempt to bar a woman from having children through forced sterilization amounts to violation of their rights,” the archbishop said in a statement published on 19 Sept 2012.
First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
Liberia says no to gay marriage; The Church of England Newspaper, September 30, 2012, p 6. October 5, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Church of England Newspaper, Church of the Province of West Africa, Marriage.Tags: Diocese of Liberia, gay marriage
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Bishop Jonathan Hart of Liberia
The Anglican Bishop of Liberia, the Rt. Rev. Jonathan Hart, has been elected President of the Liberian Council of Churches (LCC). On 14 Sept 2012 the 28th General Assembly of the LCC elected Bishop Hart to a two year term as head of the West African nation’s umbrella organization for Christian churches.
Dr Hart’s first formal action as head of the LCC came within the week when he joined with the head of the National Muslim Council of Liberia (NMCL) and the Inter-Religious Council of Liberia in urging the government of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf not to allow Liberia to be drawn into disputes over gay marriage and sectarian religious disputes.
The LCC and the NMLS condemned homosexual acts as being contrary to Christian and Muslim doctrines and called upon the government to rebuff foreign pressure to legalize same-sex marriages in Liberia. They also rejected “all forms of attacks on religions and religious personalities” and called upon the press to be circumspect in their reporting and “regard peace as the yardstick against which they must measure the outcome of all their actions.”
First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
Pakistan President denounces church burning; The Church of England Newspaper, September 30, 2012, p 6. October 5, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Church of England Newspaper, Church of Pakistan, Persecution.Tags: Asif Ali Zardari, St Paul's Mardan
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St Paul’s Mardan after the 21 Sept 2012 attack
The President of Pakistan has condemned last week’s attack on a church in Mardan in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
A mob set fire to St. Paul’s Lutheran Church and looted St Paul’s High School in response to Western acts of “blasphemy” against Muhammad made in the “Innocence of Muslims” YouTube video.
On 23 September 2012 President Asif Ali Zardari said “vandalizing revered places of worship and inflicting damage in retaliation amounted to playing into the hands of perpetrators of the crime who produced the anti-Islam film.”
On 21 Sept a several thousand strong mob stormed the church compound after Friday prayers on Ishq-e-Rasool day. The Diocese of Peshawar reported the church was set alight and the homes of its two priests and the school’s headmaster were destroyed. The school, which serves the Christian and Muslim community, was ransacked and newly installed computers taken away by the mob.
Interior Minister Rehman Malik has ordered inquiry into the attack and has called for patience on the part of the Christian community, Express News reported.
“The damage has been very severe, and we will need to rebuild. We are asking for people around the world to keep us in your prayers,” said Bishop Humphrey Peters of Peshawar.
The Moderator of the Church of Pakistan, Bishop Samuel Azariah released a statement condemning the attack, saying the church burnings would damage “relations between the communities in Pakistan and around the world.
“The government and faith leaders in Pakistan have a role to play in education people that they have the right to protest, but to damage property and terrify people in this way is completely wrong. The government and faith leaders should provide the lead in preventing attacks,” Bishop Azariah said.
On 12 Sept 2012 a remote-controlled explosive device placed against the wall of St Paul’s detonated, causing one wall of the church to collapse.
First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
2 Dead in Nigerian Sectarian Bombings: The Church of England Newspaper, September 30, 2012 p 5. October 5, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Church of England Newspaper, Church of Nigeria, Persecution, Roman Catholic Church.Tags: Bauchi, Boko Haram, Institute on Religion and Public Policy
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Two people have been killed and 45 wounded in a car bomb attack on St John’s Catholic Church in the Northern Nigerian city of Bauchi.
On 23 September 2012, a car attempted to enter the church compound shortly after 9:00 am. Police report the driver detonated an explosive device and the car exploded in the church’s parking lot, killing him and one other person attending mass in the church. The militant Islamic group Boko Haram is suspected to be behind the attack.
The Bauchi bombing is the first major incident since the Nigerian army reported that it had killed several of the group’s leaders in a gun battle on 17 September outside of Kano. Boko Haram had switched tactics in recent weeks, also, destroying 30 mobile phone towers in Northern Nigeria, cutting off communications in some parts of the country.
The chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), the Rev. Pokti Lewis told Sahara Reporters, “we are sad but are appealing to all Christians to be calm and not seek revenge, we have not kicked against anyone and his or her religion but God is watching and time will tell.”
“Just few Sundays ago we lost nine persons in a suicide bombing and today again,” he said, warning Boko Haram was engaged in a war of religion. “This clearly cleansing agenda by those perpetrating this act” designed to convert, kill or drive out Northern Nigeria’s Christians.
First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
No proof of blasphemy in the Rimsha Masih case: The Church of England Newspaper, September 30, 2012 p 5. October 5, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Church of England Newspaper, Church of Pakistan.Tags: Blasphemy Laws, Rimsha Masih
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A police investigator has testified that there is no evidence that Rimsha Masih, the 11-year old Christian girl with Downs Syndrome, violated Pakistan’s blasphemy code.
On 16 August Rimsha was taken into custody after she was accused of burning pages of the Koran. The leader of mosque in Mehrabadi, a mixed Muslim-Christian neighborhood outside Islamabad, filed a complaint with the police alleging the young girl had committed blasphemy – a crime punishable by death under the Pakistani penal code.
An anti-Christian pogrom ensued in Mehrabadi and the Pakistani press reported that approximately 1000 Christian families fled the neighborhood in fear for their lives. Police held Rimsha and her mother in custody in Rawalpindi from 16 Aug to 7 Sept for their own protection after the riots, interior minister Rehman Malik told the senate last week, and released them after a Christian NGO made bail for the girl.
In the 22 Sept court hearing in Islamabad, police official Munir Hussain Jaffri said there was no evidence that Rimsha had burned a copy of a Koran. He also testified that the Muslim cleric who had brought the charges against the girl had been accused by three witnesses of fabricating the evidence against Rimsha.
However, Rao Abdul Raheem, the lawyer representing Muslim cleric Khalid Jadoon Chisthi who is now facing charges of perverting the course of justice warned the court that his client enjoyed wide popular support. Mr. Raheem told the court that just as the accused killer of Punjab’s Governor Salman Taseer, Mumtaz Qadris, was a hero to some for his actions – so too was his client.
The judge hearing the case ordered an adjournment until 24 Sept.
First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
Canterbury & Constantinople invited to Rome: The Church of England Newspaper, September 30, 2012 p 5. October 5, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Archbishop of Canterbury, Church of England Newspaper, Orthodox, Roman Catholic Church.Tags: Ecumenical Patriarch, Vatican II
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The Bishops at Vatican II
The Archbishop of Canterbury and the Ecumenical Patriarch have been invited to participate in the 50th anniversary celebrations of the opening of the Second Vatican Council.
Pope Benedict XVI has invited Dr. Rowan Williams and Patriarch Bartholomew to attend the mass at the Vatican marking the anniversary of the start of the 11 Oct 1962 council. Anglican and Orthodox observers took part in the 1962-1965 council that saw 2500 bishops from around the world reform the church and which also marked the start of the modern era of ecumenical relations between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox and Anglican world.
First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
Caretaker primate elected for Ireland: Anglican Ink, October 4, 2012 October 5, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Ink, Church of Ireland.Tags: Archbishop of Armagh, Richard Clarke
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The Irish House of Bishops has elected the Bishop of Meath and Kildare, the Most Rev Richard Clarke as the 105th Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland.
The 4 Oct 2012 announcement elevates the church’s senior serving bishop to the top post, and postpones a potential North/South split within the Irish Church over homosexuality. Considered a liberal churchman within the House of Bishops, Dr. Clarke has moved to the center in recent years, supporting the course taken by his predecessor, Dr. Alan Harper in avoiding a clash between the liberal and conservative wings of the church.
Read it all in Anglican Ink.
Jesus Rifles Redux: Get Religion, October 3, 2012 October 4, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Get Religion, Press criticism.Tags: Jesus rifle, Military Times, NBC, Trijicom
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NBC has resurrected the “Jesus Rifles” story of 2010, reporting that some three years after the Pentagon began removing a “Bible code” stamped on rifle sights manufactured by Michigan company Trijicon, the job of erasing the Scripture references remains unfinished.
The article entitled “No fix for ‘Jesus rifles’ deploying to Afghanistan” is not what one would call balanced. It is written with a high degree of moral dudgeon and a breathless enthusiasm not merited by the underlying story. And, it is really rather shoddy reporting.
Here is how NBC starts off the story:
When the so-called “Jesus rifle” came to light in Jan. 2010, it sparked constitutional and security concerns, and a maelstrom of media coverage. The Pentagon ordered the removal of the secret code referring to Bible passages that the manufacturer had inscribed on the scopes of the standard issue rifles carried by U.S. soldiers into battle in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Nearly three years later — despite the military’s assertion that is making “good progress” — the code remains on many rifles deploying to Afghanistan, which some soldiers argue is endangering their lives by reinforcing suspicions that the United States is waging a crusade against Muslims.
“I honestly believe that this is a dangerous situation. It literally could be a matter of life and death for a soldier if he fell into the wrong hands,” said an Army officer who spoke to NBC News from Fort Hood, Texas. ”The fact that combatant commanders are not following (rules set by Department of Defense) commanders is very disturbing to me.”
The story is framed along these lines. Trijicon bad, Army slow, anonymous sources good. The unnamed Army officer at Fort Hood (who by his words appears to be from one of the non-combatant branches) offers his opinion, followed by comments from the omnipresent Mikey Weinstein of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation.
When the story first came out in 2010, Weinstein told ABC News the sights would be a provocation to militant Islamists:
It allows the Mujahedeen, the Taliban, al Qaeda and the insurrectionists and jihadists to claim they’re being shot by Jesus rifles … Coded biblical inscriptions play into the hands of “those who are calling this a Crusade” … We’re emboldening an enemy.
The passage of time has not softened Weinstein’s views. He told NBC last week:
“It’s constitutionally noxious,” said foundation president Mikey Weinstein. “It’s an embarrassment and makes us look exactly like the tenth incarnation of the crusades which launches 8 million new jihadist recruiting videos.”
The story is rounded out with the information the Army is working on erasing the Bible codes. Trijicon has no comment to make, while the anonymous Fort Hood officer gets one more chance to speak.
The article uses the phrase “Bible codes” to describe the markings. What is a Bible code? What message has been encoded? If these are Bible codes, it would have been helpful if NBC could provide a key to their meaning. Instead the network states the markings are “codes that point to passages in Matthew, Mark, Luke, Corinthians and Revelation.” It does not give examples of these codes.
A Military Times article from 2010 gives some examples of these codes:
In one example, an inscription included “JN8:12,” a reference to John 8:12, a Christian gospel passage: “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
The inscription on another optic includes “2COR4:6,” which refers to Second Corinthians 4:6 of the New Testament: “For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”
A Wikipedia article lists other passages of Scripture reportedly used by Trijicom, while the photo accompanying the article in the Military Times shows a gun sight with the inscription: PSA27:1.
Psalm 27:1 in the Book of Common Prayer reads: “The Lord is my light and my salvation/whom then shall I fear?/The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom then shall I be afraid?”
NBC seems remarkably incurious about these Bible codes. What was Trijicom’s purpose in embossing references to passages from the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament and the New Testament? And, why these particular passages from Scripture? Why is John 3:16 not present, while John 8:12 is present? NBC does not tell us, and appears not to have asked Trijicom this question.
I have no inside knowledge as to why Trijicom chose these passages, but I would note that each passage has the theme of “light”. “I am the light of the world”; “… commanded the light to shine out of darkness”; “the Lord is my light …”. A quick read of the Wikipedia page shows the theme of light in each of the Jesus Rifle codes. Not to get all Dan Brownish or anything, but perhaps an optics company owned by devout Christians whose products use light enhanced technologies was engaged in an inside joke — a Sunday School pun?
In addition to failing to ask questions about the Bible codes, the NBC article treats the assertions of Mikey Weinstein uncritically. Almost three years after the news of the Jesus Rifles were splashed across the internet, what evidence is there that al Qaeda, the Taliban, and other assorted Islamist radicals are outraged by Trijicom’s actions? Where are these millions of jihadists called to arms against America because of this gun sight? Surely after three years there would be some evidence, somewhere that this is a problem — and by evidence I do not mean the politically correct cringing of armchair officers or stateside non combatant Army officers.
The article starts off with references to “constitutional and security concerns” yet offers no evidence that these concerns appear anywhere other than in the minds of those disposed to think badly of religion. The bottom line is NBC appears to have made up its mind about what sort of story it wanted to write and then slotted in the facts to support its argument. This is called an editorial.There is a story to be written about the Jesus Rifle. This silly, silly story however is not it.
First printed in Get Religion.
Land dispute may be behind Kenyan church bombing: Anglican Ink, October 2, 2012 October 3, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Church of Kenya, Anglican Ink, Terrorism.Tags: al Shabaab, Diocese of Nairobi, Eliud Wabukala, Joel Waweru
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Bishop Joel Waweru of Nairobi and Archbishop Eliud Wabukala of Kenya visiting one of the victims of the 30 Sept 2012 bombing at St Cyprian’s Church
A property dispute is being investigated as an alternate theory of the crime in last Sunday bombing of St Cyprian’s Anglican Church in Nairobi which left one child dead and six seriously wounded.
While the 30 September 2012 attack on St Cyprian’s has all the hallmarks of an operation by the Somali-based Islamist group al-Shabaab, the question whether the bombing was related to a lawsuit between the church and a property developer pending in the Nairobi courts is also being considered.
Initial witness statements said two men of Somali appearance and dress were seen fleeing the scene after the explosion and were said to have thrown grenades. However other witness reports said no one was in the alley when the explosion took place.
Nairobi’s police commissioner Njoroge Ndirangu reported that an examination of the crime scene indicated a limpet mine or an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) containing nails, ball-bearings and other pieces of shrapnel was electronically detonated alongside the wall of the Christian education building of St Cyprian’s Anglican Church at approximately 10:30 local time. Shrapnel from the blast killed an eight year old boy and wounded several children attending a Bible study. Six children were taken in serious condition to the capital’s Kenyatta National Hospital for treatment.
Read it all in Anglican Ink.
Recife elects new bishop: The Church of England Newspaper, September 30, 2012 p 6. October 2, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Church of North America, Anglican Episcopal Church of Brazil, Church of England Newspaper, La Iglesia Anglicana del Cono Sur de America.Tags: Diocese of Recife, Miguel Uchoa
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Bishop-elect Miguel Uchoa of Recife
The rector of the largest Anglican parish in South America has been elected Bishop of Recife. On 15 Sept 2012 the Rev. Miguel Ângelo de Andrade Uchoa Cavalcanti, rector of the Paróquia Anglicana Espírito Santo in Jaboatão dos Guararapes in the state of Pernambuco was elected fourth bishop of the diocese in succession to the late Dr. Robinson Cavalcanti.
Two candidates stood for election and on the first ballot Fr. Uchoa received 79.5 per cent of the lay and 69.3 per cent of the clergy votes from the 58 lay and 52 clergy delegates present, defeating the rival candidate, suffragan Bishop Evilásio Tenório. In 2005, the bishop and almost all of the Recife clergy were expelled from the Anglican Episcopal Church of Brazil. Bishop Cavalcanti, his clergy and approximately 90 per cent of the congregations moved under the oversight of the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone and are linked to the Anglican Church in North America.
In a statement released after the synod, Bishop-elect Uchoa said he was humbled by his election. It was now his duty to “fulfill God’s call to this new phase of my life and ministry. But, I must emphasize, that the call does not just happen in my life. It is a call to our diocese, for the people, the clergy, the leaders of all communities, for the whole Church of Christ gathered in the Diocese of Recife” to “serve God and to align with His perfect will.”
First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
Election date set for Coptic Patriarch: The Church of England Newspaper, September 30, 2012 p 6 October 2, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Church of England Newspaper, Coptic Orthodox.Tags: Shenouda III
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Pope Shenouda III of Alexandria
The Coptic Orthodox Church has set 2 December 2012 as the date for the election to a successor to Pope Shenouda III of Alexandria.
According to the announcement distributed via the Egyptian State Information Service, the 2,405 members of the Holy Synod of the Coptic Orthodox Church and the church’s General Lay Council will cast ballots on 24 November to select three finalists drawn from a short list of candidates prepared on 4 Oct.
The names of three nominees will be written on three slips of paper and a blindfolded child will then chose one of the three slips of paper at random and by this action, symbolizing the power of the Holy Spirit, the winner will be named the 118th Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark.
First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
Supreme Court to hear Kunonga complaint: The Church of England Newspaper, September 30, 2012 p 6. October 2, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Church of England Newspaper, Church of the Province of Central Africa, Property Litigation, Zimbabwe.Tags: Chad Gandiya, Diocese of Harare, Nolbert Kunonga
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Dr Nolbert Kunonga
The Supreme Court of Zimbabwe has set a court date to adjudicate who is the lawful owner of the Diocese of Harare’s properties. In an email to the Church of England Newspaper, Harare Bishop Chad Gandiya reported “the Supreme Court hearing will take place from the 22 October 2012 and will last that week.”
Following his withdrawal from the Church of the Province of Central Africa and his excommunication, the former Bishop of Harare, Dr. Nolbert Kunonga, named himself Archbishop of the Anglican Church of Zimbabwe and proceeded to expropriate church properties. A supporter of President Robert Mugabe and the rulin ZANU-PF party, Dr. Kunonga was assisted in his takeover of church lands by the security services.
The CPCA asked the court to restrain Dr. Kunonga. However, rulings directing Dr. Kunonga to share church properties were ignored, while those giving him trusteeship of properties pending a final adjudication were enforced with violence by the security services.
Speaking to a meeting of the Diocese of Natal clergy on 14 Sept 2012, Bishop Gandiya reported Dr. Kunonga had extended his reach to the diocese of Manicaland and Masvingo, taking over church properties from the Anglican bishops with the assistance of the police. An attempt to confiscate church properties was blocked by the local courts in the Diocese of Central Zimbabwe, while the breakaway bishop had yet to make a move in Matabeleland.
“If Bishop Nolbert Kunonga tries to take over the Anglican Church in Matabeleland, he will be playing with fire,” Bishop Gandiya said, according to the Diocese of Natal Inzibada.
“Given that Kunonga is Shona, and the history of atrocities that the [North Korean- trained, Shona] 5th Brigade committed in Matabeleland in the 1980s, the people of Matabeleland are most unlikely to stand for Kunonga’s interference there,” the bishop said.
“We look forward to getting back the properties that Kunonga stole from the CPCA. In the meantime he continues illegally to strip the church of assets by selling off its lands,” Bishop Gandiya told the Natal clergy.
In his email Bishop Gandiya said he was “appealing for any assistance towards covering our legal bills. Most importantly we are asking you all to join us in a week of prayer and fasting during the hearing period starting on the 22nd October. We want to thank you all for journeying with us during this difficult period in the history of our church.”
First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
Anglican-Muslim call to ban blasphemy: The Church of England Newspaper, September 30, 2012 p 2. October 2, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Church of England Newspaper, Episcopal Church in Jerusalem & the Middle East, Free Speech.Tags: Ahmed el-Tayyeb, Al Azhar, blasphemy, Diocese of Egypt, Mouneer Anis
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Four Anglican bishops from North Africa and Middle East have joined Muslim leaders in Egypt in writing to U.N. Secretary Ban Ki-moon urging the adoption of an international declaration against religious defamation.
On 16 the Egyptian State Information service reported the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Dr. Ahmed el-Tayyeb had written to the U.N. leader urging the adoption of an anti-blasphemy resolution that would criminalize insults to Islam and to its prophet, Muhammad. The government also reported that the Bishop of Egypt, Mouneer Anis had issued a similar call to the U.N. to ban blasphemy.
On 15 Sept 2012 Bishops Anis of Egypt, Michael Lewis of Cyprus and the Gulf, Bill Musk of North Africa and Grant LeMarquand of the Horn of Africa urged the U.N. to prohibit actions and language that denigrated all religious faiths.
In “view of the current inflamed situation in several countries in response to the production of a film in the USA which evidently intends to offend our Muslim brothers and sisters by insulting the Prophet Mohammed, and in view of the fact that in recent years similar offensive incidents have occurred in some European countries which evoked massive and violent responses worldwide, we hereby suggest that an international declaration be negotiated that outlaws the intentional and deliberate insulting or defamation of persons (such as prophets), symbols, texts and constructs of belief deemed holy by people of faith.”
They said such a declaration would not be a violation of the right of free speech, but would encourage people to be “responsible and self-restraining in expressing or promoting offensive or malicious opinions with regard to the religions of the world.”
The bishops said their aim in offering this suggestion was to build peaceful relations amongst the world’s religions and prevent “violence that may easily lead to wars between nations and conflicts between people from different cultural or philosophical backgrounds or followers of different faiths,” the bishops said.
First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
Silence from South Carolina on secession: The Church of England Newspaper, September 30, 2012 p 5 October 2, 2012
Posted by geoconger in 77th General Convention, Church of England Newspaper, South Carolina, The Episcopal Church.Tags: Mark Lawrence
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The Rt. Rev. Mark Lawrence
The Bishop of South Carolina has written to the clergy of the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina saying the diocesan leadership has made a decision on whether it will recommend secession from the Episcopal Church, but urged his clergy to hold fast as it would not be prudent to announce what it plans to do at this time.
In his 22 Sept 2012 announcement, Bishop Mark J. Lawrence wrote the diocesan “Standing Committee and I were in agreement on a course of action regarding the future of the Diocese of South Carolina and the challenges many of us face because of decisions by the recent General Convention of the Episcopal Church.”
“However, for many reasons it was then and is now, imprudent to reveal that course of action.”
On 11 July 2012, South Carolina’s four clergy and four lay deputies to the Episcopal Church’s General Convention said that that “due to the actions of General Convention” they “cannot and will not remain on the floor of the House and act as if all is normal.”
After addressing the bishops during their private session on 11 July, Bishop Lawrence withdrew from the House of Bishops as well, saying he was acting in pastoral solidarity with his deputation. “I am not leaving the Episcopal Church, but need to differentiate myself” from the actions taken this week by the General Convention, he told Anglican Ink.
Upon his return to South Carolina, Bishop Lawrence called a meeting of the clergy to discuss the implications of the General Convention vote and the place of the diocese in the wider life of the Episcopal Church. The bishop asked his clergy not to take any precipitous steps but wait until after his return from vacation at the end of August, when the diocesan standing committee and council would review their options.
In his latest letter, Bishop Lawrence said “Things are progressing—we have not stopped or dropped the ball. Please know that I understand the level of anxiety and concern of many in the diocese. Nevertheless I must ask you all for your continued patience and prayers as we seek to deal wisely and carefully with a fluid situation that requires great discernment and sensitivity on a regular basis. I will communicate to you the details at the very earliest moment such a communication is prudent.”
First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
Terror attack on Sunday School leaves 1 dead, 9 injured: Anglican Ink, September 30, 2012 October 2, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Church of Kenya, Anglican Ink, Terrorism.Tags: al Shabaab
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Gunmen belonging to the Somali terrorist group, al-Shabaab, have been blamed for an attack upon a Sunday School at St. Cyprian’s Anglican Church in the Eastleigh District of Nairobi that has left one child dead and nine injured.
“Some witnesses are telling us they saw two men of Somali origin running towards the back of the church where explosion occurred,” Nairobi district police commissioner Wilfred Mbithi told reporters.
Read it all in Anglican Ink.
Crazy Charlie: His cartoons are insane: Get Religion, September 29, 2012 September 29, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Free Speech, Get Religion, Islam.Tags: blasphemy, Charlie Hebdo, Crazy Eddie, El Jueves, Muhammad cartoons, Titanic
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In this week’s podcast Issues Etc. host Todd Wilkin and I discussed two of my recent GetReligion stories: “Charlie Hebdo’s Muhammad Cartoon Crassness” and “Foggy Bottom’s ‘pantywaist protocol pussy-footers’.” Starting with the press coverage on the attacks on the U.S. embassy in Cairo and consulate in Benghazi, the articles (and our discussion) moved on to the vexed question of how the Western media reports on blasphemy in an Islamic context.
I argued the early coverage on the Middle East stories was uneven. There were some great stories from the Washington Post, New York Times and other outlets from their reporters on the streets of Cairo. I also singled out for praise a CNN story that put the issue of blasphemy in context for an American audience — answering the question why the “Innocence of Muslims” movie would be so offensive.
The domestic reporting on the embassy attacks was not as strong. In my opinion, stateside reporters seemed to view this incident through the lens of the Presidential election campaign. They parroted the State Department’s claims the riots were spontaneous reactions to to the YouTube video — even though the same papers’ overseas reporters were writing there was evidence the riots were scripted and pre-planned, awaiting a suitable provocation.
The second story about the cartoons satirizing Muhammad as a gay porn star in the French magazine Charlie Hebdo reinforces the disconnect between the domestic and overseas reporting. The assertion that this was spontaneous, or some sort of religious flash mob, has not been borne out by the responses to the French cartons. The Charlie Hebdo cartoons are obscene, while the “Innocence of Muslims” video is dumb. The French government closed 20 embassies in the Muslim world in fear of attacks, yet nothing so far has happened (either in Metropolitan France or abroad).
Other European magazines have joined Charlie Hebdo in printing Muhammad cartoons. The German magazine Titanic pictured depicts Germany’s former “First Lady” Bettina Wulff, being threatened (or defended) by an armed Muslim. Is it Muhammad?
The Spanish magazine El Jueves last week published its Muhammad cover showing a line up of men in Islamic outfits. The cover says: “But how do they know which one is Muhammad?”
Writing in the Süddeutsche Zeitung, Hilmar Klute argued the Muhammad cartoons and videos — and the responses they have generated have become rather tiresome.
Seldom has satire been so much in the public spotlight as it has these days. Seldom have satirical drawings and cover pages in Germany and especially in France caused such a great stir. And rarely have so many supporters and opponents of satire popped up with a number of somewhat outrageous claims and warnings. Günter Wallraff wants to flood the European media with anti-Islamic cartoons to ensure that the “demonstration of liberty” – and he really means it – is not just the concern of a few friends of freedom.
This vibrant audacity is, in truth, the quivering anger of an over-excited neo-bourgeoisie that believes that the liberal order can be toppled by crazed Islamists and that we can also defend our open society with art. Sharpened quills versus the scimitar.
This is a pity because satire, precisely at a time when there’s so much material, has seldom been as mediocre as it is today. The mediocre craftsmanship of Charlie Hebdo cartoonist, Charb, is not the problem here. What’s sad is the intellectual laziness behind all these sensationalist pictures, photo-montages and jokes.
My sympathies lie with Mr. Klute. There is an air of unreality and lack of intellectual and moral seriousness about this controversy. Those who lived in the New York area in the 1980s will certainly remember “Crazy Eddie”. The discount electronics chain ended each of its high power, high volume advertisements with the tag line: “His prices are insane!”.
At times I feel Crazy Eddie has returned, but this time round he is peddling politics.
First published in GetReligion.
Crown Nominations Committee deadlocked over next Archbishop of Canterbury: Anglican Ink, September 28, 2012 September 28, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Ink, Archbishop of Canterbury, Church of England.Tags: Crown Nominations Committee
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The Archbishops of York & Canterbury
The Crown Nominations Commission (CNC) has been unable to agree upon a candidate for the post of Archbishop of Canterbury.
This week’s third and final meeting of the CNC was to have provided two names to Prime Minister David Cameron – a first choice and an alternate. However, on 28 Sept 2012 the Church of England press office released a statement at the close of the three day meeting of the Commission that indicated it had not been able to agree upon a candidate.
Read it all in Anglican Ink.
New Zealand diocese mulls closing half its parishes: The Church of England Newspaper, September 27, 2012 September 27, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Church of Aotearoa New Zealand & Polynesia, Church of England Newspaper.Tags: Diocese of Dunedin, Kelvin Wright
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The altar of St Paul’s Cathedral, Dunedin New Zealand
Empty pews, rising costs and a cash shortfall has led the Diocese of Dunedin on New Zealand’s South Island to consider a plan put forward by Bishop Kelvin Wright to close half the diocese’s parishes.
Delegates to the diocese’s synod held on 15 Sept 2012 accepted a draft plan for study that would reduce the number of congregations from 32 to 15 and cut the number of stipendiary parochial clergy from 20 to 17. The diocese’s administrative offices would also be reorganized and redundant churches closed.
In a May 2012 letter to his diocese subsequently posted on his blog, Dr. Wright warned the diocese was “two years out from a crisis.”
“For many years, the diocese has been in decline on any parameter that could be named … attendances, numbers of families served and the real level of giving have all been steadily dropping over the years to the point where several of our parishes are on the very edge of ceasing to exist altogether,” he wrote.
The diocese’s 32 parishes supported 60 churches, many of which had been damaged in the 2011 Christchurch earthquake. Insurance costs had risen by 60 per cent in the aftermath of the earthquake and each building required an inspection that would cost upwards of £1500, while one church needed £100,000 in repairs to remain open.
“We’ve got to ask the hard questions. These people go to church for spiritual and social reasons. They did not sign up to be the custodians of historical buildings,” the bishop said, but noted the cash crunch may be a “blessing in disguise” as once congregations are free from the cost of maintaining crumbling buildings “they may be stronger for it.”
“We are about two years out from a crisis, but we’ve got to make the changes now while we’ve still got a bit of wiggle room,” the bishop said.
The Dunedin synod accepted the bishop’s proposal for reorganization and has asked parish councils to offer their responses within the next sixty days. A committee will then begin work on a restructuring plan for the diocese. Considered one of New Zealand’s more progressive dioceses, Dunedin elected the first diocesan woman bishop in the Anglican Communion in 1990, Dr. Penelope Jamieson. In 2006 her successor, Bishop George Connor, ordained New Zealand’s first openly gay clergyman, the Rev. Juan Kinnear.
First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
Boston priest accused of child rape found dead: Anglican Ink, September 27, 2012 September 27, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Abuse, Anglican Ink, Massachusetts, The Episcopal Church.Tags: M. Thomas Shaw, Paul LaCharite
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Paul LaCharite. Photo: Somerville Police Department
The Massachusetts priest facing charges of attempted child rape and sexual abuse has died.
“With sorrow I received news this evening that the Rev. Paul LaCharite has died, an apparent suicide. This is a shocking tragedy, and I’ve asked our diocesan community to pray for everyone concerned,” the Bishop of Massachusetts, the Rt. Rev. M. Thomas Shaw, said last night.
Read it all in Anglican Ink.
Archbishop welcomes Loyalist parade apology: The Church of England Newspaper, September 23, 2012 p 6. September 27, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Church of England Newspaper, Church of Ireland.Tags: Alan Harper, Northern Ireland, Parades Commission, Royal Black Institution
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Members of the Royal Black Institution parading in Lisburn in 2007
The Archbishop of Armagh, Dr. Alan Harper, has welcomed the public statement of apology from a loyalist group that last month violated a Parades Commission order not to play music outside a Catholic Church in Belfast.
The Parades Commission had placed restrictions on the 25 August march of the Royal Black Institution after riots erupted on 12 July after loyalist band of the Orange Order played a sectarian song outside a Catholic Church.
The band of the Royal Black Institution ignored the ban and other bands, which were restricted to the playing of a single drum beat, also breached the ruling. This led to a sectarian confrontation which left seven police officers injured as they attempted to restore order.
Dr. Harper said he welcomed the statement of regret from the Royal Black Institution for “any offence caused to the clergy and parishioners of St Patrick’s Church last weekend and which states the desire for the Institution to play its part in a peaceful civic society. I also welcome the Institution’s request to meet with Protestant Church leaders such as myself as I believe that we must all engage in peaceful and constructive dialogue in our society. I trust that everyone respects cultural and religious freedom and that Christian people display respect, generosity and love to others.”
First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
United chaplaincies for Queen’s University Belfast: The Church of England Newspaper, September 23, 2012 p 6. September 27, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Church of England Newspaper, Church of Ireland, Methodism.Tags: Alan Abernethy, Diocese of Connor, Queen's University Belfast
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Signing the Covenant at Queen’s University Belfast: back, from left: Rev John Alderdice, Methodist Chaplain at Queen’s; Prof Alan Hibbert, Chair, Church of Ireland Executive Committee; Rev Donald Ker, Methodist chair of the Chaplaincy Committee; Rev Barry Forde, Church of Ireland Chaplain at Queen’s. Front, L–R The Rt Rev Alan Abernethy, Bishop of Connor and Rev Heather Morris, Methodist District Superintendent. Photo: Church of Ireland Press Office
A Local Covenant Partnership has been signed between the Church of Ireland and the Methodist Church to amalgamate their chaplaincies at Queen’s University, Belfast.
Last week the Bishop of Connor Alan Abernethy and the District Superintendent of the Belfast Methodist Circuit the Rev Heather Morris signed on behalf of their churches, which will see a common worship, mission and outreach programmes, student centres and accommodation schemes for the two churches.
The Rev Barry Forde, vicar of Church of the Resurrection, Belfast and Anglican Chaplain at the university said he and Methodist Chaplain the Rev John Alderdice will be “forming a single Covenant Management Group to oversee the life, vision and mission of the Student Centre, and as such marks the end of the beginning of what we hope and pray will be a Spirit–filled, Christ–following, and God–glorifying future for the work of the Chaplaincies at Queens.”
First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
Virginia Supreme Court schedules hearing for The Falls Church case September 26, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Church of North America, Anglican Ink, Property Litigation, The Episcopal Church, Virginia.comments closed
The Rev. John Yates and The Falls Church
The Supreme Court of Virginia has directed The Falls Church to present oral argument to a writ panel on 16 October 2012 in support of its petition to throw out a lower court decision turning over its property to the Diocese of Virginia.
In a 25 September 2012 statement, Henry Burt, secretary of the Diocese of Virginia said The Falls Church attorneys will be given ten minutes of oral argument to “persuade the Court to hear their appeal on the merits. The Supreme Court will decide whether it will hear the case in a few weeks after the hearing. If the appeal is accepted for argument, it is likely to be heard in the first half of next year.”
Read it all in Anglican Ink.
Final meeting to choose the next Archbishop of Canterbury begins today: Anglican Ink, September 26, 2012 September 26, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Ink, Archbishop of Canterbury, Church of England.Tags: Crown Nominations Committee, Lord Luce
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Lord Luce
The Crown Nominations Committee starts a three day meeting today to finalize its selection of two names to present to the Primate Minister for appointment as Archbishop of Canterbury.
The location of the 26-28 September 2012 meeting has been kept secret as has its deliberations. Rumors as to the names under consideration have circulated freely over the past few months, with some candidates rising and falling in popularity among punters.
Read it all in Anglican Ink.
Golden anniversary services for Lusaka cathedral: The Church of England Newspaper, September 23, 2012 p 6. September 26, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Church of England Newspaper, Church of the Province of Central Africa.Tags: Cathedral of the Holy Cross Lusaka, Princess Anne, Zambia
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Cathedral of the Holy Cross, Lusaka
The Princess Royal will mark the 50th anniversary of the 14 Sept 1962 consecration of the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Lusaka this month, as part of her trip to Zambia and Mozambique in celebration of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. In 1957 the Queen Mother laid the foundation stone for Northern Rhodesia’s cathedral and twenty-two years later, the Queen attended services in conjunction with the 1979 Commonwealth Heads of State and Government Summit.
Holy Cross Dean Charley Thomas reports that Princess Anne’s visit will be part of a month long series of concerts, dinners, and services highlighting the cathedral’s role as the focus of national and ecumenical worship including Pope John Paul II’s 1989 visit to Zambia and the interfaith service of thanksgiving marking the start of multi-party politics in the country on 23 Oct 1990.
First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
New York seminary sells Desmond Tutu Center: The Church of England Newspaper, September 23, 2012 p 6. September 26, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Church of England Newspaper, The Episcopal Church.Tags: General Theological Seminary, theological education
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The Desmond Tutu Center at the General Theological Seminary in New York
The Episcopal Church’s General Theological Seminary (GTS) in New York has sold the bulk of its Desmond Tutu Center to hotel developers. On 13 Sept 2012 GTS president the Rev. Lang Lowery announced that the “hotel” portion of the Tutu Center, consisting of 60 guestrooms, had been sold to The Brodsky Organization for use as a commercial hotel. The seminary’s refectory, two conference spaces and some smaller rooms housed in the Tutu Center will remain with the school.
The sale is part of the 194-year old school’s Plan to Choose Life programme to eliminate debt. Funds from real estate sales have enabled it to rebuild its endowment, refurbish student accommodation and hire three new instructors.
“I have been privileged to serve in this time of amazing turnaround for General Seminary,” said President Lowrey,who added “We just need to remember that the Seminary is by no means fully self-sufficient financially. We must increase the endowment, and we still have a material way to go to reach a balanced budget.”
First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
CSI moderator to clean up the Indian church: The Church of England Newspaper, September 23, 2012 p 6. September 26, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Church of England Newspaper, Church of South India, Corruption.Tags: Adrian Rozario, Gnanasigamony Devakadasham, Pauline Sathiamurthy
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Former CSI General Secretary Pauline Sathiamurthy
Anti-corruption activists in the Church of South India have applauded a series of reforms instituted by the church’s new moderator the Bishop in Kanyakumari, Gnanasigamony Devakadasham, to clean up the scandal plagued church.
Bishop Devakadasham has appointed Adrian Rozario to serve as the CSI synod’s chief legal adviser, the Youth4CSI website reports. Mr. Rozario spearheaded the investigation into the misappropriation of Tsunami relief funds donated by Episcopal Relief and Development to the Church of South India.
In 2009 detectives from the Central Crime Branch of the Madras police arrested the former General Secretary of the Church of South India (CSI) Dr Pauline Sathiamurthy on charges of stealing almost £1 million of the £2.2 million donated by Episcopal Relief & Development (ERD) to the CSI to help in relief efforts following the 2004 tsunami.
Dr Sathiamurthy, her husband, daughter and nephew were arrested on 13 Oct 2009 following a 10-month investigation by police. The alleged thefts came to light in 2007 when the Rev Moses Jayakumar was appointed General Secretary of the CSI in succession to Dr Sathiamurthy. Upon assuming office Fr Jayakumar found that a request for an accounting for the funds from ERD had been ignored by Dr Sathiamurthy and that the NGO had cut off funding pending an audit.
The CSI asked retired Madras High Court Judge J Kanagaraj to head the committee charged with investigating the defalcation. Dr Sathiamurthy declined to cooperate but Judge Kanagaraj found that she had appointed her husband to oversee the construction of houses built for survivors of the tsunami, her daughter to head up medical relief efforts, and her nephew to serve as a liaison officer for tsunami rehabilitation work — all at inflated salaries.
In December 2008 Fr Jayakumar turned the Judge Kanagaraj’s report over to the police and appointed Mr. Rozario to serve as the church’s attorney in the affair. The police began a criminal investigation and arrested Dr. Sathiamurthy. The daughter of the former moderator of the CSI and Bishop in Tiruchi-Thanjavur, Dr. Solomon Doraisawmy, Dr. Sathiamurthy was subsequently released on bail and has since absconded.
Following the election of the Bishop in Karnataka Central Diocese S. Vasanthakumar as moderator of the CSI in January 2010, the new moderator replaced Mr. Rozario as the church’s attorney. Bishop Vasanthakumar, who was the subject of corruption and abuse of office claims and whose election as moderator was marred by accusations of vote buying, served as Deputy Moderator of the CSI when the Tsunami funds were stolen.
Under Bishop Vasanthakumar, the CSI declined to press the police to track down Dr. Sathiamurthy and recover the stolen funds. With Mr. Rozario’s return to office, anti-corruption activists hope new interest will be shown by the church in resolving the scandal.
How many gays in Hampstead?: Get Religion, September 26, 2012 September 26, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Get Religion, Press criticism, Unitarian Universalist Church.Tags: Australian Longitudinal Study of Health and Relationships, gay marriage, Guardian, Ham & High, Office of National Statistics
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Here is a craft question for you, GetReligion readers. No I don’t mean freemasonry but journalism. When should a reporter use his editorial voice to correct or challenge an assertion made by the subject of his story? What if the assertion is not central to the story at hand? What if the assertion is in line with convention wisdom, but is not true?
This item in a suburban newspaper serving the Hampstead and Highgate area of the London borough of Camden, Ham & High, tees up this question nicely. Under the headline of “Hampstead church first in London to allow same-sex civil partnership ceremonies”, Ham & High reports that Rossyln Hill Chapel, a Unitarian congregation, has voted to permit its American minister, the Rev. Patrick O’Neill, to solemnize same-sex civil partnerships. The lede states:
A Hampstead church could become the first in London to hold civil partnership ceremonies in its chapel following an unprecedented vote.
The article recounts the congregations internal deliberations on offering same-sex blessings for civil partnerships and Dr. O’Neill’s application to the Camden Council for a license to perform the ceremonies.The congregation voted unamimously in support of the innovation, and Dr. O’Neill explained the decision was motivated in part by the church’s belief that it should be a prophetic voice to the community on this issue.
Our motivation for this is always to be pressing for greater equality for all people which is very much consistent with our basic values as a church,” he explained. “The issue for us now is setting an example for the wider community.
The article also offers background on the issue of same-sex blessings under English law and notes the coalition government has allowed religious institutions to solemnize same-sex civil partnerships. It also gives Dr. O’Neill space to discuss his views on same-sex blessings and lets him distinguish his denomination’s stance from the Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church, which do not permit its clergy to solemnize civil partnerships.
The article is nicely constructed with strong quotes, good context and an explanation of motivation. Who, what, when, where, why are all here.
There is also this quote from Dr. O’Neill:
He added: “We need to raise cultural awareness and recognise that in our society ten to 15 per cent of people are gay, lesbian or bisexual”. He said: “It affects many families, whether they recognise it or not.”
Is this true? I have no reason to suppose that Dr. O’Neill has been quoted incorrectly. What I mean by my question is “10 to 15 per cent” of the population gay/lesbian? This is a hotly debated point and has been since the Kinsey studies were published in the late 40′s which first posited the 10 to 15 per cent figure. However in 2010 the Office for National Statistics in the U.K. reported that 1.5 per cent of the British population is gay.
In its account of the ONS study, the Guardian wrote:
How many people are gay in Britain? It’s a question which has vexed government and the tabloid press alike for some time. Estimates vary from around 5% to 7% (from a Treasury assessment before the civil partnership act in 2004) through to a much lower 2.2% from the latest British crime survey.
Well, today, the Office for National Statistics has published the most comprehensive breakdown on the question yet. It survey 238,206 people across Britain – dwarfing even the mighty British crime survey, which ‘only’ asks 22,995 people. In fact, the sample is slightly smaller, once you discount don’t knows, refusals and non-responses – but still a large 247,623.
It’s part of the ONS’ Integrated Household Survey, which comes out once a year to a normally muted response, largely because it’s buried on the terrible ONS website. The questioning involved showing people a card of options and asking them to indicate which category they fitted into. As a result, the ONS is highly confident about the results. Extrapolated nationally, they suggest a population of 726,000 gay, lesbian or bisexual people in the UK.
This also raises the question of what does it mean to be gay? Is it purely self-identification, or does inclination and past experience determine what it means to be gay/lesbian?
In its 2006 study on human sexuality, the Australian Longitudinal Study of Health and Relationships reported that .66 per cent of women and 1.03 per cent of men self-identified as gay/lesbian. This study, in conjunction with the ONS report and other studies would seem to dismiss the claims of Dr. O’Neill.
Yet if you go deeper into the Australian study and look at Table 3 you will see the question of sexual identity is rather more nuanced.
Table 3: Sexual Identity, Attraction and Experience of Respondents
|
Sex
|
||||
| Female | Male | Total | ||
| Sexual identity | Heterosexual | 98.08 | 97.72 | 8,027 |
| Homosexual | 0.66 | 1.03 | 69 | |
| Bisexual | 1.26 | 1.23 | 102 | |
| Queer | 0 | 0.02 | 1 | |
| Total | 4,121 | 4,078 | 8,199 | |
| Sexual attraction | Opposite sex | 90.6 | 95.88 | 7,642 |
| Both sexes | 8.89 | 3.31 | 501 | |
| Same sex | 0.22 | 0.64 | 35 | |
| Neither sex | 0.29 | 0.17 | 19 | |
| Total | 4,117 | 4,080 | 8,197 | |
| Sexual experience | Opposite sex | 89.94 | 91.08 | 7,418 |
| Both sexes | 7.21 | 6.06 | 544 | |
| Same sex | 0.1 | 0.37 | 19 | |
| Neither sex | 2.74 | 2.5 | 215 | |
| Total | 4,117 | 4,079 | 8,196 | |
While the rate of self-identification as gay/lesbian in the population hovers at around 1 per cent, the rates for sexual attraction to the same sex and sexual experience are much higher.
The journalism question I have is: should the author have responded to Dr. O’Neill’s claim of 10 to 15 per cent? In defense of the reporter, the issue of the proportion of gays and lesbians in the population is not the central subject of the story. And, chasing down every claim and statement made by a subject in a story can distract from the central issue — which here was that a Hampstead church will be the first in London to offer gay blessings.
Yet the veracity of the proportion of gays in society claim touches upon the motivation for the congregation of Rosslyn Hill Chapel. Should an assertion that something is true be challenged when there is evidence that it is not true? Or, would it suffice to say the question is disputed?
What say you GetReligion readers? Should you believe everything you read in the newspapers or expect the newspapers to make sure everything presented to you is true?
Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.
Gloomy financial future facing the Anglican Church of Canada: Anglican Ink, September 25, 2012 September 25, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Church of Canada, Anglican Ink.Tags: College of Emmanuel and St Chad, Dennis Drainville, Fred Hiltz
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Archbishop Fred Hiltz
A strict regime of cost cutting and layoffs has not cured the Anglican Church of Canada’s cash crunch, the primate Archbishop Fred Hiltz told members of the synod of the ecclesiastical province of Canada last week in Montreal.
Archbishop Hiltz stated that the close of the second quarter of 2012, the Anglican Church of Canada was running a deficit of C$900,000. The national offices of the Anglican Church of Canada are not the only institutions facing financial shortfalls, dioceses and church institutions are reporting a decline in income, and last week a seminary announced it was closing its doors.
“The General Synod is struggling financially and if the truth be known we have been on this trajectory for a long time,” Archbishop Hiltz according a report printed by the Montreal Anglican.
Read it all in Anglican Ink.
Interview: Issues, Etc., September 24, 2012 September 25, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Interviews/Citations, Issues Etc, Politics, Press criticism.comments closed
Here is a link to an interview I gave to the Issues, Etc. show of Lutheran Public Radio broadcast on Sept 24, 2012.
2. Media Coverage of the Cairo and Behghazi Attacks, and Mohammad Cartoons in a French Magazine – George Conger, 9/24/12
India’s Christian Divorce Act questioned: The Church of England Newspaper, September 23, 2012 p 6. September 25, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Church of England Newspaper, Church of South India.Tags: divorce, Indian Divorce Act 1869
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The Karnataka High Court has asked the Church of South India and the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Bangalore to respond to a challenge to the constitutionality of the Indian Divorce Act.
Section 10A of the Indian Divorce Act 1869 requires a two year separation before a decree of divorce is granted to Christian couples. Attorneys have challenged the two year rule, noting that the Hindu and Parsi Marriage Act have a one year separation rule. The Kerala High Court has already ruled the Act discriminates against Christians under Articles 14 and 21 of the country’s constitution.
On 14 Sept 2012 Chief Justice Vikramajit Sen declined to follow the Kerala decision, ruling the country’s principle Christian churches should be solicited for their views before a decision is made. “Divorce in haste makes a marriage waste,” the Chief Justice noted.
First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
Triple consecration in Delhi: The Church of England Newspaper, September 23, 2012 p 6. September 25, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Church of England Newspaper, Church of North India.Tags: Andrew Rathod, Diocese of Bhopal, Diocese of Gujarat, Diocese of Pune, Robert Ali, Silvans Christian
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Cathedral of the Redemption, Delhi
Three bishops were consecrated last month at an unusual triple ceremony at the Cathedral of the Redemption in Delhi. On 28 Aug 2012 the Moderator of the Church of North India, Dr. Philip Marandih laid hands on the Rev. Silvans Christian for the Diocese of Gujarat, the Rev Andrew Rathod for the Diocese of Pune and the Rev Robert Ali for the Diocese of Bhopal.
“The Church has a responsibility to take care of God’s sheep in different areas of live. It is very difficult to take the cross and walk. However, we must strive to be good witnesses in our own respective places,” Bishop Marandih said in his sermon.
CNI general secretary, Alwan Masih noted the ceremony was “unique as it was the first time three bishops were consecrated on the same day, especially in the presence of two former Moderators, all members of the Executive Committee and CNI Bishops and Office Bearers of CNI Synod”.
First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
Bishop’s apologia for gay marriage released this week: The Church of England Newspaper, September 23, 2012, p 6. September 24, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Church of England Newspaper, Human Sexuality --- The gay issue, New Hampshire, The Episcopal Church.Tags: gay marriage, Gene Robinson
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Scriptural condemnations of homosexuality are cultural constructs that are products of their time, not eternal truths the Rt. Rev. V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire argues in a new book set for release on 18 Sept 2012.
Bishop Robinson made headlines in 2003 when he became the first openly non-celibate gay clergyman consecrated as a bishop in the Anglican Communion. At his diocesan convention last year, he announced he would step down from office at the end of January, 2013.
In his book God Believes in Love: Straight Talk About Gay Marriage (Alfred A. Knopf, $24) Bishop Robinson discussed his views on same-sex marriage and cited his own domestic arrangements in support of changing church teachings on marriage. When he met his partner, Mark, “for the first time, I was able to express my love for someone through my body. … I experienced a wholeness and integration between body and spirit I had only dreamed about. I remember thinking, ‘So this is what all the fuss is about! No wonder people like — and hallow — this!’” he wrote.
First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
Egyptian bishop backs blasphemy ban: The Church of England Newspaper, September 23, 2012 p 5. September 24, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Church of England Newspaper, Episcopal Church in Jerusalem & the Middle East, Islam.Tags: Ban K-moon, blasphemy, Diocese of Egypt, Mouneer Anis, United Nations
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Bishop Mouneer Anis
The Government of Egypt reports the Anglican Bishop of Egypt, Dr. Mouneer Anis, has written to U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon endorsing the call made by Islamic member states to ban blasphemy. The government statement comes as part of the Muslim Brotherhood government’s media response to the attack on the U.S. embassy in Cairo by Muslim militants last week ostensibly in response to a YouTube video that defamed Mohammad.
In a statement released on 16 Sept 2012, the Egyptian State Information Service said Dr. Anis had written to the U.N. chief the previous day urging him to “issue a declaration that prohibits blasphemy.”
The Egyptian government said that in his letter, Dr. Anis said a ban on blasphemy would “not run counter to freedom of speech, but it prevents using this right to insult religious sanctities. ‘We believe that mutual respect is the only way for peaceful coexistence’.”
The Church of England Newspaper has not been able to confirm with Dr. Anis or the Diocese of Egypt the veracity of the state information service’s claim, or whether Dr. Anis’ letter was an endorsement of the resolution adopted by the U.N. General Assembly on 19 Dec 2011 condemning the stereotyping, negative profiling and stigmatization of people based on their religion, and urging countries to take effective steps “to address and combat such incidents.”
Similar resolutions had been brought to the U.N. each year since 1999 by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) – a 56 member block of Muslim nation-states, but had been opposed by Western states.
However, in 2011 the language of the resolution was changed with language condemning the “defamation” of religion dropped and a clause inserted that reaffirmed “the positive role that the exercise of the right to freedom of opinion and expression and the full respect for the freedom to seek, receive and impart information can play in strengthening democracy and combating religious intolerance.”
The amended resolution received the backing of the U.S. and U.K. and the E.U., though Poland’s ambassador questioned whether this resolution favored one religion over others. After the vote, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said “the best way to treat offensive speech is by people either ignoring it or combating it with good arguments and good speech that overwhelms it.”
First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
Civil insurrection warnings from South Africa: The Church of England Newspaper, September 23, 2012 p 7. September 24, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Church of Southern Africa, Church of England Newspaper.Tags: Jacob Zuma, Marakina Mine shooting, Rubin Phillip, Thabo Makgoba
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The Archbishop of Cape Town has urged the government of President Jacob Zuma to take immediate steps to address the unrest in Marikana in South Africa’s North-West Province following last month’s police shooting of 34 striking miners, warning the community is on “knife edge” with the situation set to spin out of control.
On 5 September 2012 Archbishop Thabo Makgoba, accompanied by the Bishop of Pretoria Johannes Seoka – the president of the South African Council of Churches (SACC) – participated in talks between management, labour and the government to resolve the tensions.
“Finding a peaceful way forward was the prime concern of almost everyone present, though the atmosphere of hope was accompanied by the sort of robust speaking that can sound threatening, even terrifying, to those not used to South Africans’ frank talk,” the archbishop said.
As he drove home from the meetings past the Markana Mine where the shootings took place, the archbishop said his heart was telling him “all is not well.”
“I could not help but fear we are living in the calm before a storm. We are on a knife edge. The dire states of everything from living conditions to issues in the mining community are the stuff from which revulsion follows and revolution is too easily made.”
In an interview with the Daily Mail, the Bishop of Natal, the Rt. Rev. Rubin Phillip said he was afraid the situation would get worse. The African National Congress government’s failure to address poverty, substandard health and education programmes, and communal violence had left the country unsettled.
“The feeling on the street is one of very deep anger and you don’t want an angry people for too long,” he said.
Unless the politicians and businessmen address the imbalance in the economy, we are going to see many more Marikanas coming up. Not just in the mines, but in the informal sectors as well.
“I think we are sitting on a powder keg situation and we need to address that,” the bishop said, and unless the government fulfilled its promises to the electorate, South Africa “could end up with a scenario that would be very tragic for all of us”.
Archbishop Makgoba said that he, nevertheless, remained optimistic. “Because I have faith in the living God, whose word to us is peace and hope and new life, I am optimistic that a better future is possible.”
But his visit to Marikana “left me with the sense that this country is like a smouldering log that, left unattended, lies ready to ignite at the slightest wind. There is real urgency in these matters. This is not a message of doom – it is a call to wake up and act.”
First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
America says farewell to Neil Armstrong: The Church of England Newspaper, September 23, 2012 p 7. September 24, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Church of England Newspaper, Washington.Tags: Neil Armstrong, Washington National Cathedral
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The Space Window at Washington’s National Cathedral
America honored the first man to walk on the moon this week, with a memorial service for Neil Armstrong at Washington’s National Cathedral on 13 Sept 2012.
Neil Armstrong “embodied all that is good and all that is great about America,” said Apollo 17 mission commander and last man to walk on the moon, Eugene Cernan. He “can now finally put out [his] hand and touch the face of God,” Cernan told the cathedral congregation during the service.
Armstrong, who died on 25 August 2012 following heart surgery, was buried at sea on 14 Sept. On 29 July 1969, Armstrong and co-pilot Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin of Apollo 11 landed on the southwestern shore of the Sea of Tranquility, becoming the first men to walk on the moon.
Michael Collins who remained in lunar orbit on Apollo 11 while Armstrong and Aldrin were on the moon, led prayers during the service with the Bishop of Washington Mariann Budde presiding. He thanked God “for your servant Neil Armstrong, who with courage and humility first set foot upon the moon. Following his example, save us from arrogance, lest we forget that our achievements are grounded in you; and by the grace of your Holy Spirit, protect our travels beyond the reaches of the earth, that we may glory ever more in the wonder of your creation.”
First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
Irish church teachers colleges to merge: The Church of England Newspaper, September 23, 2012 p 7 September 24, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Church of England Newspaper, Church of Ireland, Education.Tags: Church of Ireland College of Education
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The Church of Ireland College of Education (CICE) will join two Catholic and a secular institution to form a University level college for teacher training in the Republic. CICE will amalgamate with St Patrick’s College, Drumcondra, Mater Dei Institute of Education and Dublin City University to form the new university, the heads of the schools announced on 5 Sept 2012.
The Anglican Archbishop of Dublin, Michael Jackson, who serves as chairman of the Board of Governors of CICE welcomed the project. “To be part of such an exciting development nationally for Initial Teacher Education is the opening of a new chapter for CICE. As an institution, we have embraced change and development positively at various points throughout our history and are committed to doing so again.’
The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin said he was “very pleased at the new opportunities offered with the participation of CICE. This is a further sign of a new level of ecumenical cooperation between Archbishop Jackson and myself.”
The President of DCU, Prof Brian MacCraith, noted the “proposed research–led Institute of Education has the potential to play a central role in transforming the future of Irish education.”
First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
Creeping Pentecostalism charges laid against bishop: The Church of England Newspaper, September 23, 2012 p September 23, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Church of Tanzania, Church of England Newspaper.Tags: Boniface Kwangu, Diocese of Victoria Nyanza, glossolalia, Pentecostalism
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Bishop Boniface Kwangu of Victoria Nyanza, Tanzania
An affinity for Pentecostal-style worship has landed the Bishop of the Tanzanian Diocese of Victoria Nyanza in hot water with his clergy. Twenty four priests and deacons – a majority of the clergy of his diocese – have endorsed an open letter calling for the Rt. Rev. Boniface Kwangu to resign.
In a statement released on 9 Sept 2012 in Mwanza, the see city of the diocese, the clergy charged the bishop with introducing glossolalia and other Pentecostal-charismatic practices into the Eucharist service. Evangelized by the Universities Mission to Central Africa, Western Tanzania has traditionally been an Anglo-Catholic stronghold in Africa and the province is one of the few in Africa that has declined to ordain women clergy.
Bishop Kwangu declined to comment, saying he was up country at present and had not seen the letter.
First printed in the Church of England Newspaper.
ICAODT meets in Chester: The Church of England Newspaper, September 20, 2012 September 23, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Communion, Church of England Newspaper, Ecumenical.Tags: International Commission for Anglican-Orthodox Theological Dialogue
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Members of the ICAOTD visiting St Asaph’s Cathedral
The International Commission for Anglican-Orthodox Theological Dialogue (ICAOTD) met last week at the University of Chester to continue its work on a preparing a common study of Christian Anthropology.
A statement released by the commission, whose Anglican co-chairman is the Archbishop of Perth Roger Herft released a statement at the close of its 3-10 Sept 2012 meeting saying its conversations focused on “what it means to be a human person created in the image and likeness of God. The Commission discussed the draft of its joint theological work on this subject, developed through the collaborative studies of previous meetings and enriched by presentations at this meeting on nature and grace, marriage, celibacy and friendship, and creation.”
The next meeting of ICAOTD is scheduled for September 2013 in Novi Sad, Serbia.
First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
Anglican Unscripted: September 22, 2012 September 23, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Ink, Fort Worth, Property Litigation, The Episcopal Church.Tags: ACC-15, Jesus' wife, Mouneer Anis, Neil Armstrong
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Kevin and George cover a breadth of topics this week: The crisis in the middle east, Jesus’ wife and what was her name, and some very important domestic conversations.
Conger 