Free Republic

ROME (CNS) -- Dissident theologian Father Hans Kung criticized Pope Benedict XVI for his recent opening to discontented Anglicans, charging the pope was "fishing" for the most conservative Christians to the detriment of the larger church. Father Kung said the invitation to traditionalist Anglicans to join the Roman Catholic Church went against years of ecumenical work on the part of both churches, calling it instead "a nonecumenical piracy of priests." The pope's basic message is: "Traditionalists of all churches, unite under the dome of St. Peter's!" Father Kung wrote in an editorial Oct. 28 in the Rome daily La Repubblica....

e-mail this to a friend printable version » 10/20/2009 16:11VATICANPope approves special rules and structures to welcome Anglican clergy, including married priestsMarried clergymen and bishops will be ordained by the Catholic Church but will not be able to become ordinaries, this according to the forthcoming Apostolic Constitution approved by Benedict XVI. The purpose is to allow Anglicans to retain their traditions and liturgy, whilst professing fidelity to Rome. Vatican City (AsiaNews) – Benedict XVI has decided to create a structure for Anglican clergy and groups who want to join the Catholic Church. The forthcoming Apostolic Constitution will provide for...

Wolf and Mellett in their Talk origins paper, The Role of ‘Nebraska man’ in the creation-evolution debate,[1] claim Nebraska man was a careless mistake by an honest scientist. However, the evidence suggests that Osborn deliberately overstated the find because the theory of evolution was centre stage in a struggle for control of education policy in America...

Today, Mormons work hand-in-hand with other faiths at the Food Bank Coalition of San Luis Obispo County to feed the hungry throughout an area of some 280,000 people. But it has not always been that way. In 1992, Kristina Manning approached the "Loaves & Fishes" organization and asked to be a volunteer. But Manning, a new LDS convert, was turned down. Two members of her bishopric at the time in the Paso Robles 1st Ward of the San Luis Obispo California Stake paid a visit to Loaves & Fishes and tried to resolve the situation. After being told they were...

Ten religious sisters and a priest who were formerly part of an Episcopal religious community were received into full communion with the Catholic Church at a Mass in Maryland on Thursday. One sister said God will use them to bring unity to the Church. The women were members of the Society of All Saints’ Sisters of the Poor. The former Episcopal priest, Fr. Warren Tanghe, was their chaplain. “We know our beliefs and where we are,” the sisters’ superior, Mother Christina Christie, told the Baltimore Sun. “We were drifting farther apart from the more liberal road the Episcopal Church is...

A spiritual journey that began seven years ago ended in the sanctuary of a Catonsville convent Sept. 3 when 10 Episcopal nuns and their priest chaplain were received into full communion with the Catholic Church. In administering the sacrament of confirmation, Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien traced a cross on the foreheads of each candidate as he anointed them with sacred chrism oil and called on them to be sealed with the Holy Spirit. The sisters then renewed their vows of poverty, chastity and obedience as some 120 worshipers looked on.

The general convention of the Episcopal Church ended last month in Anaheim, Calif., with a whimper, despite these rather staggering announcements: it would, after years of internal battling, continue to elevate gay priests to bishops, and it would consider blessing same-sex unions in the states that allow gays and lesbians to marry. The convention—and these announcements—received a fair amount of obligatory coverage, but the news cycle quickly moved on. In the wake of that coverage I received the following e-mail from an editor: "I've been following this story and trying, without success, to think of an interesting line of argument....

Conservative Anglican leader the Rt. Rev. Martyn Minns has a message for the Archbishop of Canterbury: "We're here; we're doing the work of Gospel; we are within the Anglican mainstream; and we are doing the very things that he declares that we should be about." ut he can't say the same for The Episcopal Church. Minns celebrated the growth of his breakaway group, the Convocation of Anglicans in North America, this week during their third annual council in Herndon, Va. It's a story of redemption, Minns said Friday. "Birthed because of a disaster, the abandonment of biblical Christianity by the...

Episcopalians overwhelmingly favor tossing a previously approved resolution that bans ordaining openly gay bishops. In discussions that began Thursday afternoon and continued Friday morning during The Episcopal Church's triennial General Convention, Episcopalians spoke frankly, testifying passionately either for throwing out the ban or against rescinding it. "Gays and lesbians are asked to make sacrifices the rest of us are not asked to make," said the Rev. J. Frederick Barber of Fort Worth, according to the Episcopal News Service. Debate centered on resolution B033, which was approved by the General Convention in 2006. It calls for restraint in ordaining bishops "whose...

Boston Vigil for Dr. Tiller Join the Boston community in sharing our grief and celebrating the life of Dr. George Tiller, a true hero for women across the country. Monday, June 1st 6pm St. Paul's Episcopal Cathedral 138 Tremont St., Boston Across from the Park St. T stop Please help us spread the word via email, Facebook, Twitter, and texts. Facebook event: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=88629078374&ref=nf Twitter hashtag: #BostonVigil and #Tiller (this one is attracting some unpleasant tweets, however) Dr. Tiller was shot and killed Sunday morning while serving as an usher at his church in Witchita, Kansas. Since the 1970s, Dr. Tiller...

The Vatican has opened its secret archives, the repository of centuries worth of documents pertaining to the Holy See, to let the world get a closer look at a document presaging England’s split from the Church of Rome. Dated July 13, 1530, and addressed to Pope Clement VII, the letter, right, asks for the annulment of Henry VIII’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon and includes the seals of dozens of peers of England who concurred with the request.

How radically pro-abortion is Katie Rags? This radically pro-abortion: And when a woman becomes pregnant within a loving, supportive, respectful relationship; has every option open to her; decides she does not wish to bear a child; and has access to a safe, affordable abortion - there is not a tragedy in sight -- only blessing. The ability to enjoy God's good gift of sexuality without compromising one's education, life's work, or ability to put to use God's gifts and call is simply blessing. These are the two things I want you, please, to remember - abortion is a blessing 254415_f520.jpg...

The Church of Nigeria, the largest province in the Anglican Communion, has become the first to formally accept a new orthodox province emerging in North America. Although official recognition from the entire 77 million-member Anglican Communion is expected to take years, the Standing Committee of the Church of Nigeria resolved unanimously to be in "full communion" with the emerging Anglican Church in North America and recognise it as a branch in the global body, according to an announcement on Friday. Bishop Robert Duncan, who is to lead the Anglican Church in North America, praised the decision. "In this one action,...

Received via email: Dear Sisters and Brothers, The Supreme Court of California has determined that all citizens of our state should have equal access to marriage as a civil right based in our state constitution. The Court's ruling provides the Church with an opportunity to reflect on our own theology of marriage. In the Diocese of Los Angeles, we have sought to provide the Church's blessing to all the baptized people of God. . Among those are people who have sought to have same-sex relationships blessed in the community of faith. I know that the acceptance of same-sex unions has...

Tonight the London Literature Festival at the Southbank Centre featured the UK premier of For The Bible Tells Me So, “a provocative documentary about the chasm that separates gay life and Christianity today,” produced by Dan Karslake. It was followed by a conversation and Q&A with the Rt. Rev. Gene Robinson and Sir Ian McKellen, Shakespearean actor and star of The Lord of the Rings. The evening started with a beautiful bass voice giving the standard instructions for everyone to turn off their cell phones and pagers. Turns out it was Sir Ian, who arrived on stage a few minutes...

As reported in the Santa Fe New Mexican, Archbishop Michael Sheehan ordained three priests at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi here in Santa Fe yesterday, and one of the three was Jeffrey Whorton, a married father of five.

From the time Anglican pilgrims arrived in Jamestown, it's as if America and the Episcopal Church have been soul mates – for better or for worse. Now come the country's culture wars over sexuality, conservative versus liberal, change versus tradition. And the 2.4-million-member denomination that has given us more U.S. presidents than any other, along with its first-ever woman leader, is not being spared. Nearly five years after a gay priest was elected bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire, the fallout continues. One diocese has seceded from the U.S. branch of the worldwide Anglican Communion. Dozens of congregations,...

WASHINGTON (Catholic Online) - Many believe the battle for the soul of the Episcopal Church is now over. Frontline parishes are leaving and the continuing battle for buildings is just a part of what lies ahead. (snip) About that same time another major upheaval hit the church; this time with an impact that caused many traditional Episcopalians to say, “enough is enough.” With the ordination of women a new classification of Anglicans in America came into existence – the Continuing Church movement. These Anglicans were split into various groups such as the Diocese of Christ the King, the United Episcopal...

LONDON - Episcopal Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori says her church has been unfairly singled out for criticism because it is honest about consecrating gay bishops. Jefferts Schori told BBC Radio 4's "PM" program that the New York-based church, which is the Anglican body in the U.S., is far from the only Anglican province that has a bishop with a same-sex partner. In 2003, Episcopalians elected the first openly gay bishop, V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, causing an uproar that has pushed the Anglican family toward a split. "He is certainly not alone in being a gay bishop; he's...

Bordered by loose stone walls and rolling woodland, the Melrose Convent is a picture postcard of peace and seclusion just 60 miles from Manhattan on a lazy, winding country road. Episcopal nuns have called it home the past 50 years, tending to two farmhouses and the gardens on a few bucolic acres near the village of Brewster, N.Y. They also run a retreat, offering sanctuary to church groups and others looking to pull back from the world. One calm November day seven years ago, a smiling, well-dressed man with glittering references and a gift for gab came knocking on the...

The head of the Episcopal Church has warned Pittsburgh Bishop Robert W. Duncan Jr. that he will face civil suits and possible expulsion as bishop if a proposed resolution enabling the diocese to leave the denomination passes during today's diocesan convention. A diocesan spokesman said the letter from Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, sent by fax to the Pittsburgh Diocese office late Wednesday, was "intended, honestly, to intimidate the convention." The 142nd annual convention is being held today and tomorrow in Johnstown. The presiding bishop's letter said she was aware of Bishop Duncan's "statements and actions in recent months" that demonstrated...

Maine Episcopalians passed a resolution at their annual convention Friday that calls for England to rescind a charter issued more than 500 years ago. The resolution calls for the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Queen of England to disavow the 1496 royal charter issued to John Cabot and his sons, according to information on the Web site for the Episcopal Diocese of Maine. It passed by a vote of 175 to 135. The Maine diocese is the first in the nation to pass such a resolution, according to John Dieffenbacker-Krall, a member of St. James’ Episcopal Church in Old Town...

A week before the grand opening of Plainfield's first hip-hop house of worship, Church 'N' the Hood, the Rev. LaDana Clark -- also known as "Lady Jam" -- sat in the basement of the Grace Episcopal Church, the place that would soon welcome her future parishioners. She was calm despite the obvious excitement of others in the room, members of the community dedicated to helping with the church's debut. She smiled and listened as they talked about their hopes for the mission. Then she started to talk. "God does not discriminate -- no matter if you're Jewish, Muslim, black, white,...

he Rev. Don Armstrong, former Episcopal rector of Grace and St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in Colorado Springs, was found guilty on all counts of financial misconduct presented to an Ecclesiastical Court of the Diocese of Colorado. It is now in the hands of Bishop Rob O'Neill as to his punishment. Armstrong expects the bishop to depose him. "This was no surprise to us and frankly of no interest either--this is just all the Episcopal Church has left, with no theology to debate those of us who have made a case for tradition, they have to resort to kangaroo courts ginned...

SEATTLE – A veteran Episcopal priest says she became a Muslim just over a year ago and now worships at a mosque Fridays – but that hasn't stopped her from donning her white collar Sunday mornings. "I am both Muslim and Christian, just like I'm both an American of African descent and a woman. I'm 100 percent both," Rev. Ann Holmes Redding told the Seattle Times. Redding, a priest for more than 20 years, until recently was director of faith formation at St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral in Seattle, the paper reported. Now, she's telling the world about her adherence to...

This week, Dina Matos McGreevey filed court papers accusing former Gov. Jim "I am a gay American" McGreevey of extreme cruelty, fraud and libel, for concealing his homosexuality in order to marry her. And so the McGreevey saga continues. I'd say "only in America," but I suspect this is a story that could happen only in New Jersey. Imagine: You are the governor of New Jersey and (by your own account) you're having sex with a young man behind your wife's back. The young man in question describes it as nonconsensual sexual harassment, but never mind. The feds are closing...

Yahoo picked up a fluff AP article that distorted Democratic NJ Governor Jim McGreevey’s 2004 resignation. It perpetuated the success of what should have been a politician’s attempt to cover allegations of corruption by using his closeted sexuality to distract an incurious and complicit media. This puff piece kept alive McGreevey’s pattern of announcing something socially startling to draw attention away from the incredible graft, scandal and alleged sexual harassment that would have otherwise defined his administration. When threats to McGreevey's reputation arise, he uses his status as a gay man to deflect unwanted attention, and the AP went along...

Deacon Eric Bergman will become one of the rarest of Roman Catholic priests today — a married one. The former rector of Good Shepherd Episcopal Church will be ordained for the second time at St. Clare’s Roman Catholic Church today, nearly 10 years after his ordination in the Church of England. After he takes his vows, he will be the first married priest in the history of the Diocese of Scranton, joining the 100 or so other married Roman Catholic priests in the United States. The St. Thomas More Society, of which Deacon Bergman has been serving as executive director,...

April 13, 2007 — Sanctuaries are designed to make us feel safe. They provide us peace and a place to pray. Bells call the good to worship and warn the evil to stay away. This is the kind of American church that a young Christa Brown was drawn to. As a teenager in the 1960s, Brown learned to love music and her God. She grew up in the church, sang in the choir and played the piano. But as Brown would find out, churches don't always protect the innocent. Sometimes these sanctuaries shield the guilty and even lure predators to...

Primates push U.S. on sexuality http://www.anglicanjournal.com/issues/2007/133/apr/04/article/primates-push-us-on-sexuality/ http://tinyurl.com/3auuwb Americans given deadline to comply Marites N. Sison, staff writer Apr 1, 2007 Primates of the Anglican Communion have given the U.S. Episcopal Church until Sept. 30 to “make an unequivocal common covenant” that its bishops will bar same-sex blessings in their churches and that it would not consecrate another gay bishop “unless some new consensus on this matter emerges” across the Anglican world. Failure to comply would mean that “the relationship between the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion as a whole remain damaged at best, and this has consequences for the...

As a "conservative" Episcopalian, I have a real problem with the church that may be difficult for others to understand. For those on the outside, the Episcopal Church's problems may seem like a mishmash of issues that society largely has moved beyond. From within, however, there is something more important going on. Contrary to what the more liberal elements of the church's leadership (and unfortunately much of the media coverage) would have you believe, what is happening within the Episcopal Church has nothing to do with sexual preference, same-sex marriage, female clerics or a host of other accusations hurled at...

In the order we’ve come across it. Please post any links you come across in the comments Anglican Mainstream (also posted below)Peter Ould Jim Naughton (posted below)Ruth Gledhill (posted below)Inclusive ChurchSusan RussellKendall’s commentary is below and at Stand FirmMark HarrisFather Jake Posted in Dar es Salaam 2007 | 5 Comments »

Facing a possible churchwide schism, the Anglican Communion yesterday gave its Episcopal branch in the United States less than eight months to ban blessings of same-sex unions or risk a reduced role in the world’s third-largest Christian denomination. Anglican leaders also established a separate council and a vicar to help address the concerns of conservative American dioceses that have been alienated by the Episcopal Church’s support of gay clergy and blessings of same-sex unions. Although the presiding American bishop, Katharine Jefferts Schori, agreed to the arrangement, some conservatives described it as an extraordinary check on her authority. The directive, issued...

The first thing I want to say is that people have no idea of how much sacrifice it took by those involved for the document to reach this point. This really was a contract negotiation (look at the appendix/Foundations section). I have said a number of times that I thought the most important piece written in the Episcopal Church in the last year was by Michael Smith, Bishop of North Dakota. He basically said this: When I got home from General Convention 2006, I thought even though TEC had not satisfied the letter of the Windsor Report, we had satisfied...

A split within the Episcopal Church has begun and is on its way to court -- something akin to "divorce court," it seems. More than 100 Episcopal parishes -- and some dioceses -- have either left the denomination or requested alternative oversight within the worldwide Anglican Communion. One of them is St. Stephen's Church in Heathsville, Va. "We left the Episcopal Church because we could no longer be under the leadership of people who have the attitude that they did about the authority of Scripture," said the Rev. Jeffrey Cerar, rector of St. Stephen's. "Starting several years ago, the Episcopal...

As expected, the Episcopal Women's Caucus is bent about the Panel of Reference's Fort Worth decision: The Episcopal Women’s Caucus receives with deep distress and dismay the decision of the Panel of Reference that, "while the Communion is in a process of reception, no diocese or parish should be compelled to accept the ministry of word or sacrament from an ordained woman." This decision provides a basis for the reason that a "foreign curia" is antithetical to the Spirit of Anglicanism in general and the Episcopal Church in particular. Again with the anti-Rome blast.  What that means, of course, is...

I mentioned some time back that my church-- The Falls Church in Falls Church, Va.-- was breaking away from other Episcopal Churches in what amounts to a pretty big shake-up for the Anglican Church. I'm not a member, but I attend regularly, along with about 2,500 other worshippers, including Alberto Gonzales, Fred Barnes, and Porter Goss. It's a conservative, Bible-based church that thinks Jesus is "the way, the truth, and the life," and doesn't cotton to the "evolving" teachings of the Episcopal Church that aren't so sure about that whole Jesus thing, which is the entire basis of our faith....

Colin Coward, left, welcomes Bishop Gene Robinson in November 2005 (BBC News) A report claiming at least 51 priests are in same-sex civil partnerships will confront the Church of England at two major upcoming meetings. The figures, which include four lesbian priests, come from a homosexual-rights group comprised of church members called Changing Attitude, the Times of London reported. "Civil partnerships have helped to increase the stability of same-sex relationships and reduced the social exclusion to which lesbian and gay people are often subjected," said the group's director, Colin Coward. But next month, proponents of homosexuals in the clergy...

Don't look now, but Virginia is seceding again. On Sunday nine Episcopal parishes in Virginia, including the one where George Washington served as a vestryman, announced that they had voted to up and leave the U.S. Episcopal Church to protest its increasingly equal treatment of homosexuals. In 2003 an overwhelming majority of the nation's Episcopal bishops ratified the selection of a gay bishop by the New Hampshire diocese. This past June the church's general convention elevated Nevada Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori to the post of presiding U.S. bishop. Jefferts Schori is the first woman to head a national branch of...

Katharine Jefferts Schori took office Saturday as the first woman presiding bishop of The Episcopal Church, a first not only for her denomination but also for the global Anglican Communion, which has never before had a female priest leading one of its provinces. In a ceremony at the cavernous Washington National Cathedral, filled by more than 3,000 well-wishers, Jefferts Schori took leadership of the U.S. church as the Anglican rift over the Bible and sexuality threatens to erupt into schism. Jefferts Schori, 52, was bishop of Nevada when she was the surprise winner of the election for presiding bishop at...

The Episcopal Church has approximately 2 million members and 7,200 churches in the U.S. and is part of the 77-million member Anglican Communion. Because of its presence in the U.S., the relative wealth of its members, and its connections to Anglicans throughout the world, the Episcopal Church is in a strategic position to influence attitudes toward Israel on both a national and global scale. - Sadly, the Episcopal Church is Not a trustworthy observer of the Arab-Israeli conflict. The church's leaders and constitutive bodies routinely issue one-sided statements about the Arab-Israeli conflict, and its publications portray Israel as exclusively responsible...

Excerpt from an article in The Christian Century by Jason Byassee: When I ran into a friend from divinity school recently, we asked each other the normal catch-up questions. Then, in the same casual tone, she said, "So are you going to become Catholic?" It's not that odd a question these days in theological circles. Last year a string of theologians left their Protestant denominations for the church of Rome. The list includes three Lutherans—Reinhard Hütter and Bruce Marshall, theologians at Methodist seminaries (Duke and Southern Methodist), and Mickey Mattox, a Luther scholar at Marquette; two Anglicans—Rusty Reno of...

In case you haven't been keeping up -- and, as it's August, who could blame you? -- the Anglican Communion is still doing its utmost to make the Catholic conversation look civil and decent by comparison. As plans develop for the early November inaugural of Presiding Bishop-elect Katharine Jefferts Schori, the latest developments have a representative of archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams slated to meet in New York with six bishops of the Episcopal church (four dissidents, the PB and PB-elect), a Virginia cleric ordained under the aegis of the church of Nigeria (with the blessing of the conservative...

SAN FRANCISCO -- The Episcopal Diocese of California inducted Saturday the Rev. Marc Handley Andrus as its eighth bishop. Andrus, 49, of Alabama, was installed at an 11 a.m. ceremony at San Francisco's Grace Cathedral, succeeding retiring Bishop William Swing. About 566 electors representing the diocese voted to elect Andrus in May, according to the church. Andrus and his wife, Sheila, plan to serve breakfast Sunday morning to residents of the Sanctuary, a homeless shelter and support services center run by Episcopal Community Services, according to the diocese. The Episcopal Diocese of California has about 30,000 members in 80 congregations...

A Presbyterian and an Episcopalian walk into a bar ... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted: July 18, 2006 1:00 a.m. Eastern By Jim Rutz -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- © 2006 WorldNetDaily.com It's 95 degrees today – too hot to discuss anything serious – so I'm going to write about the Presbyterians and Episcopalians, who seem intent upon turning their sacred franchises into a comedy show. As you know, presbyopia is the visual malady that renders its victims unable to see what's right in front of their noses. Presbyterian comes from the same root word, presbys, meaning old, or perhaps in this case, over the hill. The...

Chest of Joash Campaign Evocative of 2 Kings 12:1-2, and 2 Chronicles 24: 1-11 The Communion of Evangelical Episcopal Churches is this summer launching an international fundraising campaign – the Chest of Joash campaign -- to fund a planned expansion of global mission work. For instance, a number of Christian churches, in West Africa, and elsewhere around the world, have inquired about being received into the CEEC to join a rapidly growing branch of God's One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church . This is the first year of the annual giving campaign, and the fundraising goal is a “modest” $25,000,...

The US Episcopal Church has taken a significant pro-Israel turn at its triennial General Convention, joining the Presbyterians in abandoning pro-Palestinian rhetoric and adopting a resolution repudiating anti-Jewish interpretations of the New Testament. While the bulk of the 75th General Convention held here June 12 to 21 was dedicated to the contentious issue of homosexuality and to the election of the church's first female leader, bishops and deputies also addressed the church's stance toward Israel and Judaism. A resolution directing the church's liturgical commission to prepare materials to "assist members of the church to address anti-Jewish prejudice expressed in and...

New bishop has feeble following By MICHAEL COREN Toronto Sun Saturday, June 24, 2006 Pass another cup of tea and a cucumber sandwich, please. Better still, make it a sherry because, darling, the Anglicans are in a spin. Last week the U.S. Episcopalian Church, the American equivalent of Canada's Anglicans or the Church of England, chose Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori as the new leader of its 2.3-million-member denomination. The lady bishop is an oceanographer by training and thinks that, "the great message of Jesus is to include the excluded." Golly, who knew? I thought the great message of Jesus...

Jun 23, 2006 Reflections on the 2006 General Convention of The Episcopal Church The Rt. Rev. Chuck Murphy Chairman, The Anglican Mission in America The actions and direction of the Episcopal Church, as evidenced in its just concluded General Convention, remain a continuing tragedy. The decisions reached, the language used, and the directions taken, are nothing new. Much of their rhetoric mirrors that of other groups that departed orthodoxy centuries ago, such as the Unitarian Universalists who continue to this day to present both the language and the theology of this latest Convention in their literature and on their webpage....