Free Republic

SNIP The 59-year-old unmarried vicar had arrived last July at the parish of St Mary’s in the quiet medieval market town of Thornbury in south Gloucestershire. It was to be, the former barrister had said, a “retirement posting”, closer to his extended family in Dorset than his previous incumbency in Essex. But that didn’t mean he was cutting any corners in his ministry. In a sermon last October, Mr Suddards spoke of what he called “his Christian duty” to open the door of his vicarage to all vulnerable strangers and offer them shelter and support. “It’s a bit risky,” he...

For the first ever in the United Kingdom, female priests’ vocations exceed those of their male “colleagues” GIACOMO GALEAZZIvatican city There is a female majority for the first time in the Church of England, with more women priests joining than men. This certainly bodes well for a final “yes” vote in next July’s Synod that would allow women into the Episcopate. “Official figures show that 290 women were ordained in 2010, the most recent year for which figures are available,” says British newspaper The Telegraph. “By contrast, just 273 men entered the priesthood.” This marks a historical moment. It is...

Two of Buffalo's most venerable mainline Protestant churches are in discussions to share space, staff and ministries -- with one of the congregations possibly selling off its buildings and moving into the landmark structure of the other congregation. Leadership of Trinity Episcopal Church on Delaware Avenue revealed the surprising proposal, which also involves First Presbyterian Church, in a letter this past weekend to Trinity church members. The proposal calls for First Presbyterian, the city's first congregation, dating from before the War of 1812, to sell its buildings on Symphony Circle and move to the Delaware campus of Trinity, which was...

In the fall of 1979, a cluster of Episcopalians made another trip to Rome seeking a haven for Anglo-Catholic believers anxious to exit their increasingly divided church. Vatican officials agreed that it was time to petition their new leader, the young Pope John Paul II. The document was prepared and then signed on the altar of the North American Martyrs at Rome's North American College. In it, members of the Society of St. Augustine of Canterbury and other like-minded clergy made a blunt request. "We pray and beseech your Holiness to receive and accept us into the Roman Catholic Church,"...

The Episcopal Church should be restored as the owner of several historic churches in Virginia, a judge has ruled, years after the denomination was essentially evicted by local congregations dismayed with Episcopal leadership's liberal theology. .. At issue is ownership of seven Virginia churches, including two prominent, historic congregations that trace their roots to George Washington: Truro Church in Fairfax and The Falls Church, for which the city of Falls Church is named. The disputes within the Episcopal Church have raged openly since 2003, when the denomination consecrated an openly gay bishop in New Hampshire. The issues have since broadened...

Over at the National catholic Fishwrap, which sports the word “Catholic� in their title despite having been explicitly told not to by the local bishop, has an amusingly flaky piece by Sr. Maureen Fiedler, whom we have seen several times in these electronic pages. Sr. Fiedler is worked up over the new Personal Ordinariate for Anglicans/Episcopalians in the USA.Why? Because we should not welcome anyone into our Church who are against human equality!These new Anglican Catholics are fleeing from a welcoming, inclusive, non-homophobic community into one which denies that women and the abnormal sex acronym crowd can be ordained. Get...

Twenty-six months since Anglicanorum coetibus laid the groundwork for groups of Anglicans to cross the Tiber whilst maintaining elements of their liturgical, spiritual, theological and canonical patrimony, the top-shelf papal project has taken a sizable leap this New Year's morning, with as the establishment of the venture's Stateside jurisdiction by the Holy See. In an unprecedented Sunday announcement -- a significant sign of Rome's degree of seriousness about the effort -- the Vatican's press bulletin gave official word of the erection of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St Peter, encompassing the territory of the United States. The...

...More than 1,300 Anglicans, including 100 Anglican priests, have applied to be part of the new body, essentially a diocese. Among them are members of St. Luke’s in Bladensburg, which this summer became the first group in the country to convert to Catholicism.St. Luke’s and Baltimore’s Mount Calvary, which also applied to join, were part of the Episcopal Church, the official wing of American Anglicanism. But most of those joining the new structure are Anglicans who aren’t part of the Episcopal Church.It’s unclear how many priests and their followers will ultimately convert to Catholicism. Compared with the tens of millions...

(StAgustine.com) New Year’s Day ushers in a new era for Roman Catholics and members of the Anglican Church who will have the opportunity to enter into “corporate reunion� with the Holy See.An apostolic constitution, Anglicanorum coetibus, issued by Pope Benedict XVI, will lead to the creation of “personal ordinariates,� geographic regions similar to dioceses but typically national in scope.Parishes in these ordinariates are to be Catholic yet retain elements of the Anglican heritage and liturgical practices. They are to be led by an “ordinary� who will have a role similar to a bishop, but who may be either a...

At least 20 clergy and several hundred of their parishioners are already lined up to join the Ordinariate, the new structure set up by the Pope a year ago that allows them to remain some of their Anglican heritage while entering into full communion with the Holy See. But many more members of the Anglo-Catholic wing of the Church of England are likely to defect following a critical meeting of its governing body, the General Synod, if traditionalists who cannot accept the ordination of women are denied special provision. The head of the Ordinariate, Mgr Keith Newton, told The Daily...

Rome will formally announce appointment on New Year's DayFormer Episcopal Bishop of the Rio Grande, Jeffrey Steenson, is to be named the Ordinary when the Anglican Ordinariate is erected on January 1, 2012, sources tell VOL. Word seeped out from the Vatican late last week that Steenson -- who left The Episcopal Church in 2007 over TEC's polity - has been tapped for the new post as the Ordinariate gets its first foothold in the United States. The former Episcopal House of Bishops' member has been deeply concerned with the continued fracturing of Anglicanism. The Episcopal Church's insistence on autonomy...

CHICAGO -- For decades young people have flocked to seeker-friendly churches that feature culturally relevant services and a casual environment. Now, a new denomination that emphasizes tradition and centuries-old sacraments and practices is drawing them in. The Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) officially began in 2009 with hundreds of congregations that severed ties with the Episcopal Church. In Albany Park on Chicago's north side, a group of college students and recent graduates have started one of the ACNA's newest church plants. They worship on Sunday afternoons, renting a church building that's close to several university campuses. New Denomination, Old...

For months, they were the best of neighbors: the slapdash champions of economic equality, putting down stakes in an outdoor plaza, and the venerable Episcopal parish next door, whose munificence helped sustain the growing protest. But in the weeks since Occupy Wall Street was evicted from Zuccotti Park in Lower Manhattan, relations between the demonstrators and Trinity Wall Street, a church barely one block from the New York Stock Exchange, have reached a crossroads. The displaced occupiers had asked the church, one of the city’s largest landholders, to hand over a gravel lot, near Canal Street and Avenue of the...

Joanna Manning December 15, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) - For over three decades Joanna Manning, a former nun turned lesbian feminist pro-abortion activist, plagued faithful Catholics, causing scandal, embarrassment and much frustration.  On November 27 Manning was made a priest in the Anglican Church of Canada, a Church which has openly accepted homosexuality and abortion.  It was a day when, as her friend and fellow dissident Catholic Ted Schmidt wrote, “I am sure God smiled and the angels danced.” It’s a rare occurrence when I’m able to agree with Schmidt, but on this occasion, I do, and not for the reasons many...

Will the sun set on the Anglican communion?The archbishop of Canterbury is going to resign next year. At least that’s the story making the rounds of newspapers in London, and the interesting part is not that the 61-year-old Rowan Williams should be willing to give up another decade in the job. Or even, if the Telegraph is right, that the clergy and his fellow bishops are working to push him out. No, the interesting news about the looming resignation is how little attention anyone appears to be paying to it. The Church of England just doesn’t seem to matter all...

Bishop Kevin W. Vann of Fort Worth Baltimore, Md., Nov 17, 2011 / 11:01 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Bishop Kevin W. Vann of Fort Worth will be in charge of welcoming and forming Episcopal priests who wish to become Catholic priests under the recently announced U.S. Anglican ordinariate.The appointment, which was made by the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, was announced on Nov. 15 by Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl of Washington at the U.S. bishops’ fall general assembly in Baltimore. Cardinal Wuerl also announced that an Anglican ordinariate will be established in the U.S. on Jan. 1,...

Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl announces the U.S. Ordinariate will begin January 1, 2012 Baltimore, Md., Nov 15, 2011 / 06:15 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl announced today that an Anglican ordinariate in the United States will be canonically erected on Jan. 1, 2012, the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God.“I remain convinced this ordinariate will be a true expression of the Catholic Church,” said Cardinal Wuerl, who made the announcement Nov. 15 at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ fall general assembly in Baltimore.Cardinal Wuerl is serving as the Vatican's delegate for establishing a U.S. Anglican...

NEW YORK — Can an Anglican theologian from Britain revive an 80-year-old Catholic social justice theory and provide a solution to America’s economic woes and political polarization? Philosopher and political thinker Phillip Blond thinks so, and he’s giving it everything he’s got. Blond, who has been a counselor to British Prime Minister David Cameron, just wrapped up a two-week U.S. tour to pitch his retooled version of “distributism,” a theory that argues that both capitalism and government are out of control. In that sense, the thinking goes, both Occupy Wall Street and the Tea Party are right...

The first Anglican church in Western Canada, St. John's Anglican Cathedral is poised to make history again with the appointment of a Lutheran pastor as priest of the cathedral and dean of the diocese. Rev. Paul N. Johnson, an ordained minister in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, takes over as incumbent priest of the cathedral and dean of the diocese of Rupert's Land in January 2012, becoming the first Lutheran minister to hold those offices in Canada and perhaps the world. "This is the first time, as far as we know, that a Lutheran will be serving an Anglican...

Featured Term (selected at random):DISESTABLISHMENT Depriving a given religion of its right, privileges, or position as the established religion in a certain country. Applied especially to the disestablishment of the Anglican Church, which received the support through taxation of British subjects regardless of creed. The process of disestablishment is still going on in the British Commonwealth of Nations. All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

The spiritual head of the Anglican Communion, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, will resign his position next year almost a decade before he is due to retire in order to return to academic life, a newspaper reported on Sunday. Williams, 61, who has worked hard to prevent the worldwide Anglican community from splitting over the ordination of women and gay bishops, may take up a senior post at Cambridge University, the Sunday Telegraph said. ...Williams has regularly come under fire for his outspoken comments, most recently making headlines in June with an attack on the British government’s deficit-cutting austerity programme....

THE Archbishop of Canterbury will resign next year, almost a decade before he is due to step down, British media report. Dr Rowan Williams, 61, has been the head of the Church of England for about 10 years and although he is eligible to remain in the position until the age of 70, he is considering quitting, according to sources. Friends of the archbishop say that having overseen a period of turbulence in the church, he is considering a life of academia, British newspaper The Sunday Telegraph reports.

The Washington National Cathedral, in its commemoration of the 10th anniversary of 9/11, has deliberately and carefully excluded evangelicals from their multi-religious commemoration. The service includes Buddhists, Hindus, and Muslims, but not evangelical Christians. Mind you, I am opposed to interfaith services in any shape or form and that is why, in a previous blog, I stated that I was relieved that the mayor of New York spared us the agony of watching the One, True God of the Bible “worshipped” alongside false gods. National Cathedral (Washington, DC)The National Cathedral is a member of the Protestant Episcopal Cathedral Foundation. Having...

St Matthew-in-the-City Congratulates Anglican Diocese on Support for GLBT Members Saturday, September 3 was a huge day in the ongoing struggle to end discrimination against GLBT members of the Anglican Church. The Revd Glynn Cardy rejoiced that, “Never before has an Auckland Synod so clearly, overwhelmingly, and emphatically endorsed the being, relationships and ministry of its gay and lesbian memberships!” For the first time an Auckland Diocesan bishop publicly said he would be willing to discern and ordain GLBT candidates for ordained ministry, including if they were in committed same-sex relationships. The Revd Cardy observed, “We thank him for his...

The Church in Wales says it is investigating after a Gwynedd rector burnt some pages from the Bible. The Reverend Geraint ap Iorwerth of St Peter ad Vincula Church, Pennal, also cut up pages from the King James Bible to create an artwork. Unveiling it at a church event, he said it revealed a "cruel and vile God". The Bishop of Bangor said: "Destroying parts of the Bible we don't like is disrespectful and will offend many people." Mr ap Iorwerth told BBC Wales he had burnt scraps of cut up the passages at the public event because he had...

A gay Bath resident has said a letter claiming that homosexuality can be "cured" is "absolutely disgraceful".Baz Harding said he was "shocked and dismayed" after the letter, titled 'It is still a sinful act', appeared in the Bath Chronicle earlier in July. It was written by Julie Trollope in response to a letter by gay church leaders claiming the Church of England was failing to embrace diversity. The newspaper said she had a right to have her views aired. Ms Trollope, who signs off the letter with Bath Christian, said she wrote it in response to an open letter to...

The headline on the July 14, 2011, edition of the British paper, The Telegraph, heralded some very bad news for British Anglicans. It declared, “Aging Church of England 'will be dead in 20 years.'” They buttressed their argument in two ways: 1. The average age of a Church of England attendee is 61 (you do the math).2. In the last 40 years, church attendance has been cut in half.You would think that the Archbishop of Canterbury would wake up and smell the coffee. Instead, a few weeks earlier, he finally came clean. Well, he was forced to come clean. For...

A 24-year-old Canberra man has pleaded guilty to vandalising historic gravestones at Canberra's oldest church.James Dudley March pleaded guilty to damaging 14 headstones in the graveyard beside the Anglican Church of St John the Baptist in Reid in May.Many of the headstones vandalised are more than 100 years old and of significant historic value. St John's was consecrated in 1845, 70 years before Canberra was named the national capital. The ACT Government has already pledged $20,000 to restore the headstones. Today in the ACT Magistrates Court, the prosecution indicated it will be seeking $30,200 from March in compensation for...

The Church of England will no longer be “functionally extant” in 20 years time according to some projections, a member of the General Synod has warned. The Rev Dr Patrick Richmond, from Norwich, told members of the Church’s national assembly that they were facing a “perfect storm” of ageing congregations and falling clergy numbers. The average age of congregations was 61, with many above that, he said. “These congregations will be led by fewer and fewer stipendiary clergy ... 2020 apparently is when our congregations start falling through the floor because of just natural wastage, that is people dying. “Another...

The Rt Rev Nick Baines, the Bishop of Bradford, said some parishes in his diocese were 95% Muslim but that this should not be seen as “a problem”.“This is a fantastic opportunity,” he told the General Synod, the Church of England’s national assembly, in York. “It is a challenge, yes, but it’s an opportunity to rethink what it means to be a Christian community. We often ask Muslims to learn what it is to be a Muslim as a minority culture....They voted overwhelmingly in favour of a plan to tackle the Church’s “pale, male and stale” image by using methods...

.........In addition to Catholics, attendees for annual event come from a variety of traditions, including Anglican, Lutheran and other Protestant denominations.With the beginning of the U.S. Anglican Ordinariate anticipated for the near future, attendees will be eager to hear the latest news on its establishmentThe original purpose of the Anglican Use Society, established in 2003, was to promote the usage of the liturgical practices contained in The Book of Divine Worship and evangelical outreach to members of the Anglican Communion seeking union with the Roman Catholic Church and to promote an understanding of the special pastoral provision initiated by Pope...

There have always been Anglicans "on the journey" to the Catholic Church and many have come into full communion over the years. With the exception of a handful of parishes that entered through the Pastoral Provision, most had to come in through a solitary journey and those who were clergy wondered if there might ever be another opportunity to offer the sacraments.The Anglican Ordinariate, however, through to the terms of the apostolic constitution, Anglicanorum coetibus, has given pilgrims a real sense "welcome" and expectation while they are on their way." Catholic parishes are opening their doors to Anglican Use liturgies...

“As we began to think about certain matters, our hearts began to melt, and we moved towards Rome,” said Father Mark Lewis, rector of a church that was formerly St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Bladensburg, Md. St. Luke’s has made headlines as the first Episcopal church in the Washington, D.C., area and the second in the state of Maryland to avail itself of Pope Benedict XVI’s offer to Anglicans. That offer was outlined in Anglicanorum Coetibus, an apostolic constitution that makes it possible for groups of Anglican congregations to enter the Catholic Church For the St. Luke community, that will...

The fight over the Westside church on the hill has finally ended. The Episcopal Diocese of the Rio Grande has agreed to settle a 2008 lawsuit that challenged the ownership of St. Francis on the Hill Church. The settlement means the conservative breakaway Anglican group now occupying the church has to be out by the end of July. It also means a smaller group of Episcopalians who felt forced out of the church a few years ago will take control of the property, but not its financial assets.The departing Anglicans have found a new home down the hill, off Mesa...

I wrote an article on this site a few months ago in which I expressed a change of mind. After many years of kicking against my native Anglicanism, I found that the American version of it, the Episcopal church, was to my liking.As I previously explained, this church is proof that Anglicanism is not necessarily defined by the intolerable (to me) conservatism of the C of E. There is a world elsewhere. I always vaguely knew this on a theoretical level, but since moving to New York I have experienced its truth.....I've been attending a well-known arty-liberal church in Manhattan...

CNA STAFF, Jul 1, 2011 / 05:35 am (CNA).- Leaders representing 90 percent of all Christians worldwide issued guidelines on acceptable missionary conduct based on the witness of Christ and the early Church. “The example and teaching of Jesus Christ and of the early church must be the guides for Christian mission,” church leaders wrote.“Christian witness is always a sharing in his witness, which takes the form of proclamation of the kingdom, service to neighbor and the total gift of self even if that act of giving leads to the cross.”The document “Christian Witness in a Multi-Religious World” was issued...

In what is being billed as an "historic moment", the Archbishop of Nigeria Nicholas Okoh will visit Canada, but he will not see his counterpart, the Most Rev. Fred Hiltz, the Anglican Primate of Canada. In what can only be described as a deliberate snub by the African Archbishop, the head of 20 million Nigerian Anglicans, Archbishop Okoh will visit some of his CANA (Convocation of Anglicans in North America) Churches in Canada between July 15 - 25th, 2011. CANA was formed following a complete break from the Anglican Church of Canada (ACoC) as a result of its departure...

The Church of England is ready to approve the appointment of openly gay bishops, providing that they are celibate. Britain's established church was to publish its legal advice on the issue yesterday in an attempt to clarify its policy following years of controversy and debate. The document, Choosing Bishops - The Equality Act 2010, summarises the points that those involved in the nomination process ''need to keep in mind'' when considering candidates in order to avoid breaking the law. It states there is no bar to the promotion of gay clergy to a bishopric as long as they are not...

Church of England To Allow Gay Clergy To Become Bishops The Church of England is using the Equality Act as a “smokescreen” for allowing gay clergymen to become bishops, according to the leader of the National Secular Society. By Donna Bowater 19 Jun 2011 Guidance due to be published on Monday was expected to pave the way for homosexual clerics in civil partnerships to become bishops provided they remained celibate. The document, published in response to last year’s Equality Act, will be sent to the General Synod before it meets in York next month. The paper said: "Someone in a...

Seven former Anglican clergy were ordained to the Catholic priesthood for the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham by Archbishop Peter Smith in Saint George's Cathedral  Southwark, on Saturday, 4 June. In his homily Archbishop Peter promised them the support of the Archdiocese: "...you know you will have the companionship and support of the people to whom you have been pastors for many years, as well as the wider community, God's people in the Archdiocese - priests, deacons, religious and laity." He concluded: "I pray that your example and way of life as shepherds of the flock will bring...

Overall more than 50 former Anglican clergy will complete their defection over the next two weeks in a series of Pentecost ordinations. The first of these will see seven former Church of England clergy be ordained in London by the Most Rev. Peter Smith, Archbishop of Southwark. The event will further establish the new Ordinariate formed by Pope Benedict XVI for Anglicans that wished to defect from the Anglican Church of England in protest against its moves to accept women bishops. In excess of 900 laity have already moved to the Catholic Church and have been waiting for their clergy...

The Anglican Church in Zimbabwe is being harrassed by police and an ex-communicated bishop(AP) The Anglican Church in Zimbabwe is facing a tough battle against state authorities and an ex-communicated bishop trying to take away its property and its freedom to worship. In the latest incident, sixteen churchgoers, including an elderly woman, were arrested and detained, and several priests turned out of their homes in the Diocese of Harare. The Anglican Church of Zimbabwe has faced attacks, police raids and random arrests since the excommunication of former Bishop of Harare, Dr Norbert Kunonga. Dr Kunonga, a staunch ally of President...

FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) — A years-long fight between The Episcopal Church and several conservative congregations has landed back in a courtroom in Virginia. Several prominent congregations with roots dating to Colonial times, including Truro Church in Fairfax and The Falls Church, voted in 2006 to split from The Episcopal Church and align with a group of conservative Anglican churches. The congregations disagreed with what their members felt was liberal Episcopal doctrine on homosexuality and other issues.

The spiritual leader of the Anglican Communion admitted on Thursday that he felt “very uncomfortable” with the killing of Osama bin Laden when he was unarmed. Contrary to initial reports that bin Laden had engaged in a 40-minute gun fight with U.S. Navy Seals, it emerged on Wednesday that the al-Qaida leader had been unarmed when he was shot dead in his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, on Sunday. Answering a question about the killing at a press briefing, Archbishop of Canterbury Dr. Rowan Williams also criticized conflicting reports coming from the White House about the events surrounding bin Laden’s death....

The Archbishop of York has given his backing to Prince William and Kate Middleton’s decision to live together before marriage.The Archbishop of York backed Prince William and Kate Middleton’s decision to live together before marriage, saying that many modern couples want to “test the milk before they buy the cow”. Dr John Sentamu argued that the royal couple’s public commitment to live their lives together today would be more important than their past. But Anglican traditionalists criticised the Archbishop, the second most senior cleric in the Church of England, for failing to reinforce Christian teaching which prohibits sex outside marriage....

The evening was hot and sultry, the first really warm day of the year. The church was an ugly modern one, with fans whirling in the ceiling in an unsuccessful attempt to keep the heat at bay.But nothing could spoil the sense of being at a moment of history. There are occasions when you can hear, even in surroundings that do not seem very grand or important, the beat of time in a special sense. This was one such evening. We were there to witness the uniting of a group of former Anglicans into full communion with the Catholic...

Church Blocks Reforms Over Royal Marriages The Church of England has blocked a Government move to scrap a centuries-old law which prevents members of the Royal family from marrying Roman Catholics, The Daily Telegraph has learnt. If the Supreme Governor of the Church of England was a Roman Catholic, they would ultimately be answerable to a separate sovereign leader, the Pope, and the Vatican. 24 Apr 2011 Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister, began work towards repealing the 1701 Act of Settlement, under which heirs to the throne must renounce their claim on marrying a Roman Catholic, in order to...

The historical evidence contradicts this popular notion.Anyone encountering anti-Christian polemics will quickly come up against the accusation that a major festival practiced by Christians across the globe, namely, Easter, was actually borrowed or rather usurped from a pagan celebration. I often encounter this idea among Muslims who claim that later Christians compromised with paganism to dilute the original faith of Jesus.

Featured Term (selected at random):CANTERBURY From A.D. 597, when the Roman Benedictine who became St. Augustine went to England, until 1558, when Cardinal Reginald Pole (1500-58) died, Canterbury was the primatial Catholic see of England. With the establishment of Anglicanism as the state religion, Canterbury became the world center of the Anglican Communion. All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

Nero and his friends are among us Anglican bishop compares Rio de Janeiro Islamic murderer to Catholic and Evangelical pro-lifers By Julio Severo Satan, the Supreme Blamer, was the first to rise up with accusations against the children of God. Centuries later, Nero, an insane emperor, rose up. He had Rome torched and blamed Christians. Centuries still later, Satanist Karl Marx arose. He was a former Protestant and blamed God, family and Christians for the evils in the world. Today, the Supreme Accuser uses not only people like Nero and Marx, but also nominally Christian individuals who, while claiming to...