Wednesday, 15 May 2019

Thought for the day


Bishop June  prepares for a stroll in Santiago de Compostela  Source: Twitter      Bishop Joanna prepares for Christian Aid Week at GB   Source: Church in  Wales 


Wales’ bishops have joined in the call to support mums in Sierra Leone this Christian Aid Week (12-18th May 2019) and to draw attention to the stark reality that women in Sierra Leone are 150 times more likely to die in childbirth than those in the UK.

This year’s Christian Aid Week campaign draws attention to the high maternal death rate in Sierra Leone – the most dangerous place to become a mum. 10 women die giving birth every day and one in nine babies do not reach their fifth birthday. An estimated 15,000 mothers have died during childbirth since the Ebola crisis in 2014.

£300 could provide a delivery bed for a new health centre giving mums a safe place to deliver their babies. A sum of £60 raised could buy a starter kit for community health workers, which includes a bicycle, torch, rain coat and rain boots. Just £15 could buy a stethoscope or a bucket of paint for a community health clinic.

Bishop Joanna Penberthy (pictured right) said, “This is a such an important appeal. In the UK we take good antenatal care and medical support in childbirth for granted. As someone who almost died giving birth, I know first-hand how important it is to have all the right help and care in place. In supporting Christian Aid’s work, we can make a difference. Please give today.” (Press release here)

The Bishop of Llandaff is taking time out with all her clergy during Christian Aid week for a compulsory clergy school in Santiago de Compostela.

How many lives may have been saved in Sierra Leone this Christian Aid Week if the Llandaff clergy school had been held in Llandaff and the savings donated to the Appeal?


8 comments:

  1. Ken Clark's Drinking Pal15 May 2019 at 14:08

    Why have you published a picture (right hand side) of Albert Steptoe in drag masquerading as a bishop? And who (left) is that overweight woman playing with a teddy bear in front of the Blessed Sacrament, and who seems to think it's all a huge joke? It must be someone with no connection to the Church, and who doesn't know what is appropriate behaviour, let alone dress (bear shoulders?) in the sacramental presence of the Lord. It's a wonder she wasn't ejected. She would certainly have been refused entry at St Peter's Basilica in Rome.

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  2. I am afraid that you wrong, Ken Clark's drinking pal. Since Frankie boy has taken charge of Rome, standards have dropped. Women are allowed to enter with bare shoulders and men can go in in their shorts. Benny would never have allowed it.
    Seymour

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  3. Walsingham Regular15 May 2019 at 17:03

    It's been on a downward slide for a long time, Seymour, even before Papa Ratzinger attempted to claw things back after the disasters of the 60s. Immediately after Vatican II, the Vicar of St Vedast in the City of London put a notice up in the porch informing us that 'The Bishop of Rome is no longer prayed for in this church.'

    Mind you, none of this excuses the lack of reverence before the Blessed Sacrament from... er, a bishop?

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    1. No reverence at all https://twitter.com/hashtag/llandaffinsantiago?f=images&vertical=default&src=hash
      Pilgrim

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  4. BREAKING NEWS FROM BUCKINGHAM PALACE
    The Queen has appointed her first female ‘Dean of Her Majesty’s Chapels Royal’ since the post was created in the Middle Ages.
    Bishop Sarah Mullally, who was also appointed Bishop of London in March 2018, will take over from the retiring holder, The Rt Revd and Rt Hon Lord Chartres, this summer - which means one of her first tasks could be to baptise little Archie Mountbatten-Windsor, the newborn son of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
    Mother-of-two Bishop Mullally is a self-described feminist, who ordains both men and women, and has been described as a ‘theological liberal’. The role means she is the primary representative of the Church in the Royal Court.
    But she recently said: ‘I am very respectful of those who, for theological reasons, cannot accept my role as a priest or a bishop. My belief is that Church diversity throughout London should flourish and grow; everybody should be able to find a spiritual home.’

    If Sarah Mullaly can be so generously spirited to all, perhaps the Pilate's next training session should be a mentoring trip to London. Just a thought.
    Seymour

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    1. London Calling16 May 2019 at 16:58

      The political skulduggery is just below the surface, Seymour. We all know that Brenda has never been itching to become a fully paid-up member of WATCH or (before it) MOW (the Movement for the Ordination of Women). Chartres was asked to stay on as Dean of the Chapels Royal to allow HM time to acclimatise; and also to ensure that he (not Mrs Mullaly) was in the driving seat to appoint the successor to Pope John Hall II as Dean of Westminster.

      My understanding is that the shortlist for Westminster has been agreed (including a token woman), but also two otherwise highly appointable men (both with earned PhDs). And much to the relief of many, it doesn't include the current Speaker's Chaplain - despite John Sentamu's attempts to get in on the act.

      To be scrupulously fair to June Osborne (and I'm no fan, believe me), she has also said that it is perfectly legitimate for someone to say, for theological reasons, that they cannot accept the ministry of a woman priest or bishop. And didn't June abstain from supporting the divisive motion of the Archdeacon of Llandaff?

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  5. I approve of the Bishop of St. David's new hair style - a great improvement on the previous coiffure.
    Did I read on an earlier thread that the cathedral at Santiago de Compostella is currently closed for restoration? If so, I sympathise as having just returned from Armenia the cathedral at Etchmiadzin (the Armenian Vatican) was also closed for restoration - although I was able to see inside the great fane when I was last there over a decade ago.
    I am pleased to see that June has taken her teddy with her to N W Spain as I also took mine along to Georgia and Armenia! What a couple of softies we are!

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