The Church of England’s ruling body has voted its support for women to
become bishops without giving traditionalist supporters of male-only
priesthood the concessions they had sought.
One bishop broke down in tears at the meeting of senior British church
leaders Monday in York, northern England, as he described his distress
at the church’s lack of willingness to accommodate traditionalists who
have threatened to leave if they felt they were not adequately
protected.
“I feel ashamed,” said the Right Rev. Stephen Venner, Bishop of Dover,
who is in favor of women bishops. “We have talked for hours about
wanting to give an honorable place to those who disagree. We have been
given opportunities for both views to flourish. We have turned down
every, almost realistic opportunity for those who are opposed, to
flourish.”
Both sides conceded that tradition of male-only bishops would be
changed, and the lengthy debate centered on what accommodation would be
given to dissenters. This was not billed as a final decision; church
legislation to implement the change is to be debated next year.
I must be dense, but I never understood
how this was not anything but inevitable. After you swallow
women priests and dump scripture, theology, sacred traditions, and the
Church Fathers regarding this then what in the world would not allow
women priests to become bishops. It seems to me that the only
real reason at the time that they did not allow women bishops was
political and just and effort to not bleed off even more members as a
result. I mean what theology or tradition could separate
priests from becoming bishops if gender was not part of the equation?
I wonder if Anglicans who at that time were against women
bishops if they really did not see the day when they would be approved?
Though I guess all of us have ways to fool ourselves from
seeing something. For Anglicans and really most
Protestants what is controversial today will be approved and will
become the norm tomorrow.
Last night Sister Anne posted via Twitter.
Facebook disabled my account! They claimed that SrAnne was a fake name. Please FB members, take my part and help me get reinstated!
Facebook has done other odd things in the past such as remove the Father and Sister from the front of the names of Catholic priests and religious. This is done in the name of making sure only real people are on Facebook which is an impossible task. I know one person who has a Facebook page for their dog. Now there is an understandable concern for fraud in building a fake persona, but it seems to me that if they have an account they are suspicious of they could easily ask the Facebook friends of that person or ask for some proof before disabling an account. Seems rather heavy handed.
Sister Anne who is a Daughter of St. Paul (getting disabled at the start of the year of St. Paul is mildly ironic) updates on her blog.
I used SrAnne as my name because Facebook had earlier deleted the “Sister” from “Sister Anne.” I just wrote(disabled@facebook.com) to protest (mildly), saying that SrAnne was as close as I could get to my real name, given the restrictions on titles in FB. “Sister Anne” appears on my passport; doesn’t that count as a “real” name?
So if you are on Facebook please write them at disabled@facebook.com as I did.
Update: Her page has been restored after she had to send a picture of a page from her Passport.
A CATHOLIC priest has spoken out against the large amount of money being spent on World Youth Day, calling it an embarrassment and a scandal for the church.
Father Peter Confeggi has told Fairfax newspapers the money could be better spend on struggling parishes like his in Mount Druitt, which is one of the most disadvantaged in Sydney.
He says some of the money could also be directed to helping the 120,000 homeless people in Australia.
Father Confeggi says there’s also large dissatisfaction with the kind of spirituality that will be taught during the event, with fears that it will be a right wing brand of Catholicism.
It’s estimated that about $130 million is going to the five-day event in Sydney, which begins on July 15.
The New South Wales Government is putting in $86 million and the Federal Government $20 million, with the rest coming from church coffers.
In other news Judas Iscariot said, “Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?” I am not trying to infer that Father Confeggi here is a thief, but this is such an old argument. I think the World Youth Days in general have been a smashing success and have brought people closer to the faith and has helped people to see their vocations. Quite a few priests and religious point at attending one of the WYD as a important part in their discernment of a vocations.
Rio de Janeiro – The body of “flying priest” balloon adventurer Adelir de Carli has been recovered some 100 kilometres off the Brazilian coast, local media reports said Saturday.
Father de Carli went missing in April while attempting to fly with 1,000 helium-filled party balloons tied to a chair. The body was recovered by a tugboat crew off Rio de Janeiro state, reports said.
Police said clothing, a rucksack and shoes left little doubt that the body was that of the priest. DNA tests would be conducted to provide final proof.
Father de Carli, 42, had set out on April 20 on what was planned to be a 20-hour flight from the town of Paranagua, in the state of Parana, to Dourados, in neighbouring Mato Grosso do Sul, to break a 19-hour world record and “to promote religion,” as he put it.
He had also been seeking to raise money to build a chapel and to contribute to the cause of long-distance lorry drivers demanding longer breaks..
MINNEAPOLIS — The home of the head of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis is a crime scene.
Police said burglars described as “real pros” broke into the home over the weekend and stole rings and crosses adorned with jewels. The church said the items are “historically and reverentially irreplaceable.”
The thieves entered Archbishop John Nienstedt’s home by climbing up to a second-story window and breaking glass that police said was “three or four inches thick.” A police spokesman said the thieves were “pros” and “executed a well-thought-out plan.”
Rosaries and a small safe are missing, too.
Nienstedt was in Rome at the time of the break-in Saturday morning.
Catholic priests take part in a mass during a protest demanding a full-scale renegotiation of the U.S. beef import deal and the resignation of South Korean President Lee Myung-bak in central Seoul June 30, 2008. South Korean police said on Monday they have detained more than 100 people for violence at weekend rallies, which was held by people fearing mad cow disease.
I could understand Catholic priests getting involved if it involved Mad Cowl Disease.
Here is a rather interesting idea created by Fr. Johannes of St. Josef parish in Triesenberg, Liechtenstein.
Some might know Sticker Albums for sporting events. Well, let me say it doesn’t always have to be football or soccer. Our motto is: “STICK around for God.” Every Sunday the children receive a sticker that illustrates the gospel reading.
They can place it and collect it in their album, which moreover has curious or interesting facts about the Church and her liturgy: “Why are there often steps leading to a Church? What does Advent mean? What is so “white” about White (Whit) Sunday?…”
A copy of the Sunday Sticker Album (5,5 x 8,5 inches, 40 pages, ca. 70 stickers) serves a whole liturgical year (A,B or C). It is generic and unused copies can be used again 3 years later when the reading cycle returns.
On the site Sunday Stickers there is a video presenting this.
Rome (AsiaNews) – The year dedicated to Saint Paul which Pope Benedict XVI announced today will have an important ecumenical dimension. Inspired by the example of the Apostle to the Nations, the Pauline Year will show “that the action of Church is credible and effective only to the extent that its members are willing to personally pay for their fidelity to Christ in every situation.”
In the Roman basilica dedicated to the Apostle to the Nations, the Pope stressed this afternoon the witness, which united Paul and Peter up to their martyrdom, during the first vespers for the Solemnity of Sts Peter and Paul.
Planned as part of the celebrations of Saint Paul’s birthday (which historians place between 7 and 10 AD), the Pauline Year–from June 28,2008 till June 29, 2009– will be in the Pope’s words “a series of liturgical, cultural and ecumenical events as well as pastoral and social initiatives inspired by St Paul’s spirituality.”
“There will be conferences and special studies on St Paul’s writings which will improve our understanding of the wealth of learning they contain–a real legacy for humanity redeemed by Christ. Around the world in local dioceses, shrines and places of worship, religious, educational and welfare institutions bearing St Paul’s name or inspired by him and his teachings will be able to organise similar initiatives.”
“Last but not least,” the Pope said, “a special aspect that will need much care at the different stages of the Pauline bimillenary is its ecumenical dimension. Especially involved in bringing the Good News to all the peoples, the Apostle to the Nations did all he could for the unity and harmony of all Christians. May he lead and protect us in this bimillenary celebration, helping us progress in a humble and sincere search for the complete unity of all the parts of the mystical Body of Christ.”
Father Z posts details on Plenary Indulgences during the Pauline Year.
Here is a project that needs some prayer support. Barbara Nicolosi posts on a new Fatima movie possibly in the works. A previous attempt fell through and right now they are looking for investors to bring a commercial and mainstream version of the events at Fatima.
Hollywood did do a version of the events at Fatima in 1952 in a movie called “The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima.” This is a enjoyable movie that doesn’t depart too far from the events and is quite pious, though in a older Disney sort of way. A serious retelling of events that relies on all of the subsequent information provided by Sister Lucia in her various books on Fatima would be quite welcome. There is more documentation from a wide variety of sources about Fatima then any other apparition in Church history. When you include that with the number of witnesses (including skeptics) at Fatima that day and in the area surrounding it that have given testimonies it is quite sad that Fatima is really not that well known outside Catholic circles. I know I had never heard of it before entering the Church. I guess it is a sign of the times that Roswell gets much more attention and Fatima gets hardly any – even efforts to debunk it. Barbara writes:
…Honestly, I am starting to feel like getting together a movie package and financing makes the miracle of the sun look almost banal.
If this does come to fruition I certainly hope Barbara is involved along with other capable artists so that we get a serious artistic attempt at the retelling and not the mediocre fare of for example Walden Media.