Episcopal Bishop Should Butt Out – OpEd

From Seattle-

We would not defend a Catholic bishop who publicly criticized a decision by a high-ranking cleric of another religion about matters that pertain only to the members of that religion. We respect house rules. It’s too bad that Greg Rickel, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Olympia, Washington, does not.

Recently, two teachers at a Catholic high school in the Seattle area, a man and a woman, resigned, and it is believed they did so because it became known that they each got engaged to a person of the same sex. They voluntarily signed a contract pledging to uphold Catholic teachings, something they obviously violated. 

As we said earlier this week, this should be a “slam dunk” case, but, of course, a few dissidents protested.

Now an Episcopal bishop, Greg Rickel, has weighed in. After Seattle Archbishop Paul Etienne spoke in defense of what happened at the Catholic high school, Rickel sounded the alarms. He accused Catholic officials of “making oneself God,” something he said was “the greatest heresy.” He also accused them of “discriminating and ruining the livelihood of two people who simply want to love.” He added it is “no wonder we are in decline.”

More here-

https://www.eurasiareview.com/21022020-episcopal-bishop-should-butt-out-oped/

Father Josh: A married Catholic priest in a celibate world

From Dallas-

The priest wakes up at 4 a.m. on the days he celebrates the early Mass, sipping coffee and enjoying the quiet while his young children sleep in rooms awash in stuffed animals and Sesame Street dolls and pictures of saints. Then he kisses his wife goodbye and drives through the empty suburban streets of north Dallas to the church he oversees.

In a Catholic world where debates over clerical celibacy have flared from Brazil to the Vatican, Joshua Whitfield is that rarest of things: A married Catholic priest.

The Roman Catholic church has demanded celibacy of its priests since the Middle Ages, calling it a “spiritual gift” that enables men to devote themselves fully to the church. But as a shortage of priests becomes a crisis in parts of the world, liberal wings in the church have been arguing that it’s time to reassess that stance. On Wednesday, Pope Francis sidestepped the latest debate on celibacy, releasing an eagerly awaited document that avoided any mention of recommendations by Latin American bishops to consider ordaining married men in the Amazon, where believers can go months without seeing a priest.

Even the most liberal of popes have refused to change the tradition.

It is “the mark of a heroic soul and the imperative call to unique and total love for Christ and His Church,” Pope Paul VI wrote in 1967.

More here-

https://www.examiner.org/father-josh-a-married-catholic-priest-in-a-celibate-world/

Pope Francis prays at St. Paul’s tomb with Orthodox and Anglican Christians

From Catholic News Agency-

Pope Francis prayed at the tomb of St. Paul with Orthodox and Anglican leaders Saturday to conclude the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

“God’s priority is the salvation of all,” Pope Francis in the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls Jan. 25.

“This is an invitation not to devote ourselves exclusively to our own communities, but to open ourselves to the good of all, to the universal gaze of God who took flesh in order to embrace the whole human race and who died and rose for the salvation of all,” he said.

On the feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, the pope presided over ecumenical vespers with Metropolitan Gennadios, representative of the Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch, and Anglican bishop Ian Ernest, personal representative of  the Archbishop of Canterbury.

More here-

https://angelusnews.com/faith/pope-francis-prays-at-st-pauls-tomb-with-orthodox-and-anglican-christians/

Southern Virginia moves female bishop’s consecration in response to backlash from Roman Catholics

From ENS-

The Diocese of Southern Virginia announced Jan. 17 that it would change the location of its Feb. 1 consecration of Bishop-elect Susan Haynes from a Roman Catholic church in Williamsburg in response to backlash from some Roman Catholics who said they were disturbed by the ordination of a woman bishop.

St. Bede Roman Catholic Church originally was chosen as the location because the Diocese of Southern Virginia doesn’t have a church large enough to host the 800 to 1,000 people expected to attend the consecration, said Ann Turner, the diocese’s communications officer. The consecration is now scheduled to take place Feb. 1 at 11 a.m. at the interdenominational Williamsburg Community Chapel. The consecration service will be live-streamed on the diocesan website.

“The decision to change the location from St. Bede Catholic Church in Williamsburg arose out of concern and respect for the ministries and leadership of both the Catholic parish and the Catholic Diocese of Richmond. Learning that its intended use of the building was causing dismay and distress, the Episcopal Diocese withdrew from its contract with St. Bede,” read the diocese’s press release announcing the change in venue.

More here-

https://www.episcopalnewsservice.org/2020/01/22/southern-virginia-moves-female-bishop-consecration-in-response-to-backlash-from-roman-catholics/

Former Female Episcopal Priest Links Women’s Ordination to LGBT Activism

From Church Militant-

A former Episcopalian female "priest" is warning of the "grave danger" of women's ordination as it is inextricably linked to homosexual activism, rooted in feminism and perpetuates confusion about gender and the Eucharist. 

Ordaining women priests is a revolt against Catholic orders, a rejection of the Fathers' teaching and a denial of the authority of Scripture, writes Alice Linsley in a hard-hitting essay in the Anglican journal Virtue Online.   

Linsley, who served as a priest in the Episcopal Church of the U.S.A. (ECUSA) for 16 years, renounced her orders and quit her denomination "as it moved toward a radical revision of the Gospel, setting aside the apostolic Tradition for its social justice agenda."  

More here-

https://www.churchmilitant.com/news/article/female-episcopal-ex-priest-links-womens-ordination-to-homosexual-activism

‘An act of charity’: Virginia bishop defends parish hosting Episcopalian consecration

From Southern Virginia-

Bishop Barry Knestout of the Diocese of Richmond has issued a statement responding to concerns that a local parish church is to host an Episcopalian consecration of a female bishop.

The online petition, titled “Stop Ordination of Female Episcopalian ‘Bishop’ at Catholic Church” refers to the upcoming consecration of the Rev. Susan B. Haynes as the new bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Southern Virginia. It has attracted nearly 2,000 signatures. 

In a statement Wednesday, Bishop Knestout called the “offer of hospitality to a Christian neighbor in need” an “act of charity and well within the teachings of ecumenism and the norms provided by the Church for ecumenical activities.”

The event is scheduled to occur on Feb. 1, 2020 at St. Bede Catholic Church in Williamsburg, Virginia. Haynes was elected an Episcopalian bishop on Sept. 21.

More here-

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/an-act-of-charity-virginia-bishop-defends-parish-hosting-episcopalian-consecration-92025

Holy Smoke podcast: has the Church of England surrendered to ‘soft socialism’?

From Holy Smoke (with video)-

Just before Christmas, Dr Gavin Ashenden, a former Chaplain to the Queen, converted to Catholicism. But that’s not the main subject of my interview with him in the first Holy Smoke episode of 2020. In it, he deplores the Church of England’s surrender to secularism under Archbishop Justin Welby, who won’t enjoy his former colleague’s assessment of his talents.

Dr Ashenden may not be Anglican any more, but he does think that the Established Church has a historic mission – and that its ‘middle managers’ have betrayed it in favour of ‘soft socialism’. To which I reply that Pope Francis is busy hoisting the white flag, or perhaps a red one, on the other side of the Tiber. At which point our conversation takes an unexpected turn. Don’t miss it!

https://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2020/01/holy-smoke-podcast-has-the-church-of-england-surrendered-to-soft-socialism/

Pope and Anglican Archbishop Join in Urgent Appeal to South Sudan

From South Sudan-

An Christmas Day appeal for peace addressed to leaders in South Sudan has been issued by Pope Francis, the head of the Roman Catholic Church and Anglican Archbishop Justin Welby of Canterbury, leader of the Anglican Communion, joined by the Rev. John Chalmers, former moderator of the Church of Scotland.

"In this Christmas season and at the beginning of a new year, we wish to extend to you and to all the people of South Sudan our best wishes for your peace and prosperity, and to assure you of our spiritual closeness as you strive for a swift implementation of the Peace Agreements," the leaders said.

"We raise our prayers to Christ the Saviour for a renewed commitment to the path of reconciliation and fraternity, and we invoke abundant blessings upon each of you and upon the entire nation. May the Lord Jesus, Prince of Peace, enlighten you and guide your steps in the way of goodness and truth, and bring to fulfilment our desire to visit your beloved country."

More here-

https://allafrica.com/stories/201912250199.html 

and here-

https://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article68757

and here-

https://www.thenewsnigeria.com.ng/2019/12/pope-religious-leaders-send-south-sudan-rivals-christmas-peace-appeal/

‘John Henry Newman’ Review: A Heart That Speaks to Hearts

From The Wall Street Journal-

John Henry Newman was and is an exceptional figure. This October he was declared a saint by the Catholic Church, the first English saint created in half a century. For much of Newman’s life, he struggled with unpopularity, misunderstanding and vilification from his various opponents. He was the most distinguished and the most original English theologian since the Middle Ages, but he was disliked and distrusted by many in the Catholic Church, as well as by the English Protestants and unbelievers whom he had horrified by his defection, in 1845, from the Church of England. Yet when he died, aged 89 in 1890, in an England still generally anti-Catholic, he had become, as Eamon Duffy says in this splendid book, an unlikely “national treasure” to whom Tennyson and Matthew Arnold —by no means Catholics—had written polite but puzzled tributes.

Newman wrote a great deal. He published half a dozen books, a number of essays that are central to the understanding of Catholic thought, three good hymns (including “Lead, Kindly Light”), a bad long poem (“The Dream of Gerontius,” later transformed by Edward Elgar’s music) and 32 volumes of letters and diaries. Anyone daunted by more weighty biographies, the best being Ian Ker’s (1988), should read Eamon Duffy’s short, fresh account. The Cambridge scholar of religion’s calm judgment expertly illuminates every aspect of Newman’s life, work and—until he was very old—unceasing mental and spiritual attention.

More here-

https://www.wsj.com/articles/john-henry-newman-review-a-heart-that-speaks-to-hearts-11576857796

Anglican Bishop and Queen’s Chaplain Converts to Catholicism

From Church Militant-

An internationally renowned Anglican bishop and former chaplain to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II is leaving the Anglican Church to become a Catholic. 

Bishop Gavin Ashenden will be received into full communion by Shrewsbury's Bp. Mark Davies on the fourth Sunday of Advent at Shrewsbury Cathedral, England.

The outspoken prelate became a global media celebrity after he objected to the reading of the Koran at St. Mary's Episcopal Cathedral in Glasgow, Scotland.

The Koranic chapter on Mary, read from the lectern at the service of Holy Communion, on the Feast of the Epiphany 2017, explicitly denied the divinity of Jesus. 

Under pressure from Buckingham Palace, Dr. Ashenden resigned his royal chaplaincy in order to be free to challenge the rising tide of apostasy in the Church of England. 

More here-

https://www.churchmilitant.com/news/article/anglican-bishop-and-queens-chaplain-converts-to-catholicism

Also here-

https://catholicherald.co.uk/news/2019/12/17/former-queens-chaplain-to-become-catholic/

Ordinariates Mark 10 Years of Anglican Traditions and Catholic Communion

From National Catholic Register-

Ten years is not a long time in the life of the Church, but in that time since their founding under Benedict XVI the Ordinariates, three Catholic dioceses with Anglican traditions situated across the globe, have worked with dedication to advance the Church’s Gospel mandate.

On Nov. 4, 2009, Benedict XVI issued his apostolic constitution Anglicanorum coetibus, allowing a wave of Anglican and Episcopal congregations and priests to become fully Catholic and keep their Anglican traditions. Pope Francis has also further advanced what Benedict XVI started, unleashing the Ordinariates for greater Catholic evangelization, witness, and growth.

In this interview with the Register, Bishop Steven Lopes of the Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter, which covers North America, discusses the jubilee year the Ordinariates are now celebrating. He shares the reasons behind the Pope’s strong support, the challenges of the past 10 years, and what lies ahead for the evangelical and ecumenical mission of the Ordinariate.

More here-

http://www.ncregister.com/blog/pjsmith/ordinariate-jubilee

Catholic priesthood is based around a 'fundamental lie', says former president Mary McAleese

From Ireland-

Former president of Ireland and the new Chancellor of Trinity College Dublin, Professor Mary McAleese has said she believes the Catholic priesthood is based around “a fundamental lie”. 

She told a conference in TCD on Saturday attended by up to 400 people, including the Provost, Dr Patrick Prendergast, that a clericalised priesthood was not attracting vocations today and that many of those who are attracted to priesthood have a “deeply problematic” sexuality because the Church demands that those priests and seminarians who are not heterosexual pretend to be.

Recalling the six years she spent studying for a doctorate in canon law in Rome, living in the environs of a seminary and monastery, she said she had encountered many young seminarians and priests.

“I became very much aware of the dysfunction at the heart of seminary life and the dysfunction at the heart of much of the priesthood.”

More here-

https://www.independent.ie/breaking-news/irish-news/catholic-priesthood-is-based-around-a-fundamental-lie-says-former-president-mary-mcaleese-38656841.html

How an Anglican priest became a Catholic saint

From England-

From tending to the sick during a cholera outbreak in the 19th century Black Country to healing an expectant mother in modern-day Chicago, John Henry Newman has left an indelible impression on the Catholic Church.

And the one-time temporary assistant priest in the West Midlands this week became Britain’s newest saint. 

In front of tens of thousands of pilgrims at St Peter’s Square in the Vatican, the Pope Francis elevated the English theologian to sainthood. 

The Prince of Wales, who represented the UK at the ceremony, praised the legacy of the cardinal, saying in a speech after the ceremony, saying it was a cause for celebration Anglicans, Catholics and simple admirers of Newman. 

“He was a priest, a poet and a thinker ahead of his time,” said the Prince. “Above all, perhaps, he was a fearless defender of truth, whose impact on the world was as profound as it is enduring.”

More here-

https://www.expressandstar.com/news/2019/10/15/how-an-anglican-priest-became-a-catholic-saint/

One man, two churches: John Henry Newman’s legacy lives on for both Catholics and Anglicans

From American Magazine-

The Rev. Dr. Will Adam is the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Ecumenical Adviser and Director of Unity, Faith and Order for the Anglican Communion. Dr. Adam was ordained in 1994 and served in several parishes, most recently in London, before joining the senior staff at Lambeth Palace in early 2017. A graduate of the Bossey Ecumenical Institute, he oversees the Anglican Communion’s relations with the Catholic Church and other Christian communions.

In preparation for Pope Francis’ Oct. 13 canonization of Blessed John Henry Newman in Rome, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby has announced sending a delegation to represent the Church of England, Newman’s former faith community. On Oct. 9, I interviewed Dr. Adam, a member of the delegation, by email about Newman’s legacy in the Anglican tradition and for ecumenical relations.

What is the significance of the Anglican Communion including John Henry Newman on its liturgical calendar?

More here-

https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2019/10/11/one-man-two-churches-john-henry-newmans-legacy-lives-both-catholics-and-anglicans

and here-

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/church/news/2019-10/biography-cardinal-john-henry-newman-anglican-catholic.html

and here-

https://religionnews.com/2019/10/11/newman-poised-to-be-saint-of-friendship-in-todays-polarized-church/

Pittsburgh institute expects rise in Newman interest, visits after sainthood

From Pittsburgh-

The Catholic Church’s newest saint may soon be attracting people to Pittsburgh.

Cardinal John Henry Newman, an Anglican churchman who converted to Catholicism in 1845, will be canonized in Rome on Sunday.

Among those attending the canonization Mass will be Ryan Marr, director of the Oakland-based National Institute for Newman Studies, and institute co-founders the Rev. Drew Morgan and Catharine Ryan.

Founded in 2002, NINS is now the largest curator of digital archives for Newman and the foremost center for Newman studies and research in North America. In August, the institute launched the NINS Digital Collections, an interactive, online platform that is home to more than 250,000 Newman archives. Marr said interest in Newman is booming and is likely to bring Newman-related tourism to Pittsburgh.

More here-

https://triblive.com/local/pittsburgh-allegheny/pittsburgh-institute-expects-rise-in-newman-interest-visits-after-sainthood/

Cardinal John Henry Newman might well be the patron saint of ecumenism

From Ireland-

Theologian, scholar, educationalist, poet, novelist, convert, cardinal and blessed are some of the outstanding titles of John Henry Newman we can celebrate on the occasion of his canonisation in Rome next Sunday (October 13th).

Yet, 174 years after he converted from Anglicanism to Catholicism, it is his conversion that we remember as the great watershed moment of his life.

Newman, the convert, created a huge stir at the time as did those of his contemporaries who became Catholics in the Oxford Movement. There is no doubt but that the church then, and oftentimes since, saw Newman’s conversion as a boost to Catholicism that evoked a measure of triumphalism in the church.

But there should be no hint of triumphalism in his being declared a saint by the church. It is not the final “one in the eye” for Anglicanism that shows Newman’s conversion as the natural high point of his life. On the contrary, I see him as a saint of Christian traditions Catholic and Anglican.

More here-

https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/cardinal-john-henry-newman-might-well-be-the-patron-saint-of-ecumenism-1.4042906

Religious freedom laws panned by all sides

From Australia-

The Morrison government's proposed religious freedom laws have managed to please few, with religious groups and human rights organisations alike calling for changes.

 

While religious figures say the laws don't go far enough, secular groups say they override the rights of other marginalised parts of society.

 

Submissions on the draft religious freedom bills closed last Wednesday, but the sheer volume received means the Attorney General's Department is yet to publish them.

 

The government hopes to get the legislation to a parliamentary vote by the end of the year.

But with a final form of legislation yet to be settled, only four sitting weeks remaining, and the expectation of Senate committee scrutiny, that looks unlikely.

 

The Catholic and Anglican churches hold similar concerns about the bill, including that its protections don't extend across the full gamut of religious organisations.

 

More here-

 

https://www.9news.com.au/national/religious-freedom-laws-panned-by-all-sides/fac836bf-2b3f-4835-bc9b-0afac4e8fe51

Long road to priesthood for family man

From Canada-

When newly ordained Fr. Robert Assaly refers to seeking help from “Mother,” the term is just as likely to refer to his wife Nancy as it is to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
 

With his family of six children, it’s a natural fatherly thing for the first married Catholic priest in the Montreal archdiocese to say. Such was the case last week during an interview when one of his sons popped into the study in the rectory at St. Thomas More Church in suburban Verdun to ask a question.

“Mum will have it,” Assaly assured the young man.

It was a small, lived moment that illustrated the enormous difference between him and his brother priests. Its daily ordinariness showed the truly unusual character of Assaly: how usual he makes the unusual in his life. 

The evidence? His marital status is but one dimension of that. His ordination on Sept. 20 at age 59 came after 10 years of discernment. That discernment came after 35 years as an Anglican priest, during which he married and began his family with Nancy. It doesn’t end there. The Anglican priesthood beckoned when he was in his mid-20s and an avowedly atheist millionaire stockbroker.

More here-

https://www.catholicregister.org/features/call-to-service/item/30389-long-road-to-priesthood-for-family-man

Prince Charles plans to attend Cardinal Newman’s canonization

From England-

Prince Charles, heir to the British throne, plans to attend the October 13 canonization of Blessed John Henry Newman, the prince’s office announced Friday.

Charles will travel to Rome for the event and, following the ceremony, attend a reception at the Collegio Urbano, part of the Pontifical Urban University, and the institution where Newman studied to become a Catholic priest.

Queen Elizabeth, 93, no longer travels abroad, so the Prince of Wales is the highest royal available to be on hand for the ceremony in St. Peter’s Square.

Expected to become king upon his mother’s death or abdication, Charles also will become head of the Church of England. The soon-to-be St. John Henry Newman is one of the highest profile converts from the Church of England to the Catholic Church. He will become the first English non-martyr saint since the Reformation.

More here-

https://aleteia.org/2019/09/14/prince-charles-plans-to-attend-cardinal-newmans-canonization/

Anglican archbishop asks Christians to re-examine faith

From Ireland-

The Archbishop of Canterbury has said all religions and their leaders must own up to extremist activities within their faith and examine which of their traditional teachings enable extremists to commit evil.

Archbishop Justin Welby, the figurehead of the worldwide Anglican Church, told interfaith leaders in Sri Lanka that accepting responsibility is key rather than disavowing an evildoer as not a good enough follower of a religion.

Arriving in Sri Lanka last Thursday and meeting with Buddhist, Hindu and Muslim leaders, he said discussion among faiths has become more difficult in the last 30 or 40 years and in every faith, including in Christianity, extremist attitudes have grown.

“And it is the duty of every religious tradition, for its leaders to resist extremism and to teach peaceful dialogue. So, the first challenge to all of us is take responsibility,” he said.

More here-

https://www.irishcatholic.com/anglican-archbishop-asks-christians-to-re-examine-faith/