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| Women bishops with former TEC Presiding Bishop Katherine Jefferts Schori (front right) Source: Religion Media Centre |
I have commented previously on the feminisation of the Church in Wales. See other examples here and here.
From the St Padarn's Institute Annual Report September 2020 - August 2021 there are more women than men training for ordination:
"From September 2020 - August 2021 there were 28 full time and 30 part time candidates preparing for lay and ordained ministries. The average age of a person training to be a stipendiary priest in this period was 48. The average age of a person training to be a non-stipendiary priest was 57. Most training for ordination are female (70% for stipendiary ministry and 54% for non-stipendiary ministry. Since we train all whom our bishops sponsor, the numbers entering training are not directly in our control. Nevertheless we note that the historic concern that younger stipendiary ordinands tended to be men is no longer valid."
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| Source: St Padarn's Institute Annual Report September 2020 - August 2021 |
This represents yet another shift in role models for young boys in their formative years when their school teachers are likely to be women, a trend continuing in medicine and dentistry.
Following the appointment of the assistant bishop in Bangor the Church in Wales there are now four women bishops and three male bishops.
In the Church, ambitious women appear to model themselves on Eve rather than Mary.
Ms Stallard's appointment to the episcopacy is a case in point. Asked for her views on whether or not to enshrine provisions for traditionalists in the constitution of the Church in Wales if legislation were brought forward to permit women bishops she said, "I would vote against the Bill put forward by the bishops unless it is amended to allow women to be Bishops with no special provisions enshrined in law for those who object."
Another example of the attitude championed by the former archdeacon of Llandaff, Peggy Jackson: if you don't like it, leave.
Sadly in attracting women to ordained ministry, the Church is more likely to attract 'Eves' who are intent on advancing themselves and their gender at the expense of others.
It is no accident that women taking over the Church show no compassion for those who are guided by scripture and tradition because they represent the true Christian Church, unlike the former Presiding Bishop of the US Episcopal Church Katherine Jefferts Schori used as a mentor for bishops in the Church in Wales despite being regarded as un-Christian.
It must be news to the silent majority that the Cult in Wales has a future AB.
ReplyDeleteWhen the decision was made to admit women to the priesthood back in the '90s I thought that the inevitable ultimate outcome would be that the ordained ministry would become a predominantly female occupation. Rightly or wrongly, it's always been viewed, both within the church and outside it, as one of the 'caring professions' and in our culture such roles are predominantly taken up by women - as is the case, for instance, with nursing, social work, &c.
ReplyDeleteREMINDER
ReplyDelete'Anonymous' comments for publication must include a pseudonym.
If seen as only a 'caring profession then much is lost - indeed much has already been lost and little gained following the ordination of women into the priesthood. Many such have seen it as a job opportunity similar to nursing, etc, but with an easily achieved religiosity attached and much better hours.(not true of all female clergy I hasten to add).
ReplyDeleteThis is not the Anglican church I recognise.
LW
@ LW:
DeleteI largely agree with you.
Which was why I departed from Anglicanism as soon as I could, back in the mid-90s. No regrets: it simply demonstrated to me that in hard reality it wasn't what it told me thast it was when, as a curious young explorer, I asked the Anglican church the question recently immortalized by 'Nessa in 'Gavin and Stacey': 'What's occurin'?'
Not forgetting the free accommodation LW, which is always handy but especially for the recently divorced!
DeleteThe element of 'caring' (profession) is totally removed in case of women priests as my experience of some years ago proved. I then suffered the most abominable form of latent PTSD which was pretty widely known to all others of my circle although I was maybe the last to catch-on. On one particular evening when the madness was at its worse and serious angst, fears, dread, kicked in again, I took the brave decision to walk across to the house of my parish (lady) priest hoping, maybe, to escape the nightmare of my immediate despair from my own 'haunted' surrounds and be offered comfort for a moment or two on her doorstep. She certainly knew my distress. She would know too that for me to admit need to scream for help that it must have been a serious bout/relapse. That's what 'caring, professional priests' do. Wrong. Had it been a 'man' vicar, I'd probably have been invited in, told to sit down to recover composure, be assured that I was in a safe 'environment', maybe even offered a stiff brandy.
ReplyDeleteNot so with spinster/single women priests: "Oh ------" she said, "I really can't invite you in or talk to you here. It's this safeguarding thing .... Can you call round to my office tomorrow morning and we'll have a nice chat!" She shut the front door with words: 'Take care of yourself. God bless'.
You know how bad things are when your local female priest operates under cloak of her 'safeguarding' to avoid any contact with her real pastoral-care work.
It took some two months (and much stronger prescribed medication) for me to recover from that bout of PTSD horror during which I couldn't even face going to church. I was absent from my regular pew for nine consecutive Sundays. Did she pop round to see if I was still alive? Did she ask a male colleague to inquire of me? Did she care? Not a jot. Instead, I set up a phone-link with an empathetic former army chaplain in the diocese of Chichester 400 miles away from my place of worship. He too was appalled by the lack of 'care' shown under guise of female 'priests' safeguarding'. Who'd have thought it eh? Women priests who at the first opportunity safeguard themselves before offering the hand of Christ to the sick.
Old Bill
"Take care of yourself" sounds about right, Old Bill.
DeleteThere's little or no pastoral care available from the Cult in Wales nowadays.
You should count your blessings old chum, at least you found the Parish priestess at the parsonage.
The Parish priest of Llandaff has been AWOL for over two years (although it is widely accepted that he did s*d all even when in the Deanery) and there is still no sign of any improvement in the situation!
I take your point entirely - who couldn't, in the context of the circumstances which you describe? - but I was referring to general perception rather than individual aberration. And indeed I've known male clergy too who've reached out for facile and ostensibly plausible rationalizations to avoid situations which either demand more effort than they want to bestow, or ,just possibly, make them feel out of their depth, even though they don't acknowledge that.
DeleteBut it seems to me that as a priest you have to accept what comes in the spirit of 'the sacrament of the present moment', trusting that where you feel out of your depth the Holy Spirit will compensate for your lack.
Except for the small inconvenient fact that the Holy Ghost has vacated Wales, driven out by the coven.
DeleteAs I have mentioned before, the process underway is more emasculation than feminisation.
ReplyDeleteDarth --Insidious and his coven have already destroyed the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church in Wales.
Thank you John (Ellis) for that support. But the truth is that those who have suffered - and badly suffered - the unfairness of PTSD do not think rationally when these havocs kick in. They are petrifying and consume every fear in your bones. I my case on that evening (and I remember exactly how desperate I was to be assured of security and sanity) all I wanted was human comfort: priest or not. Nothing, but nothing, would have driven me back to the sanity of thinking that the 'sacrament of the present moment ... would engage the Holy Spirit to compensate for my lacking'. My point was that a (female) priest of then higher than local vicar ranking and who knew my PSTD depths chose to hide behind her 'safeguarding' guidelines rather than use gumption. Had she (identified to AB bloggers by the chemical formula CN- ) been a mental health professional rejecting a seriously distressed patient, she'd have been booted out of the NHS and her membership of the BMA or Register of nursing counsel struck off. And there is the difference. There is no complaints procedure within the CinW ... a CinW which in any case has balance in favour of its own.
ReplyDeleteI note with a smile that your blog might assume I am a 'priest'; an ambiguity no doubt. No I am not otherwise 'Priest: heal thine self!' might apply. It didn't either apply to Frank Collins (41) who, after years of astonishing service in 22 SAS, committed to priest training, was ordained, served, and then suffering PTSD and the personal loss of his SAS chum and mine Al Sinclair, committed suicide in his Hampshire Vicarage garage. Question therefore has to be: which is the more important? The care of the flock or the Minutes of the Last Clergy Safeguarding Committee Meeting.
Old Bill
While I sympathise with you, Old Bill, you need to remember, in fairness, that these days it can be irresponsible to admit strangers to the vicarage, especially if the priest has a family. Do not forget that some years ago a fine priest was murdered in the Llandaff diocese. Schizophrenics, who can be dangerous, are inclined to knock at vicars' doors. Very great care needs to be taken. The female cleric probably did the wise thing in offering to see you in a more public place the next day.
DeleteThis does not effect the ordination of women arguments.
Rob
In other words, "You need to make an appointment"?
DeleteThe only murder of a priest I can recall taking place in Llandaff happened outside in the church graveyard didn't it, or am I mistaken?
All the parish priests I have known have had to use a room in their vicarage as their "office" and is one of the reasons why they had to file an annual tax return to claim the relevant tax relief.
None of the parishes had the facility of a separate parish office, so back to square one.
Also , a "more public place" is no good whatsoever to those who need to discuss private matters, in strict confidence, that might be delicate/embarrassing/shaming/humiliating and so on.
LET. The priest in question had just gone outside the Vicarage to put rubbish in the bin. He was murdered at the Vicarage CB
DeleteThank you for the correction CB.
DeleteI could only recall the tragedy occurring outdoors in a place more public than an office.
@ Old Bill:
DeleteNo, I didn't think, and therefore didn't intend to imply, that you were a priest. Just that clearly she must have viewed herself as a priest, and I'd expect a priest to respond empathically rather than defensively to a very evident instance of extreme distress. That surely goes with the role.
Oh, and I ought to add, just for clarification, that my reference to 'the sacrament of the present moment' and trusting that the Holy Spirit might compensate for whatever you might feel that you lack - courage, appropriate skills or knowledge, &c. - was in reference to your lady vicar, and certainly not to you. It'd perhaps have been clearer if I'd said '... as a priest, one has to accept ...' and '... where one feels out of one's depth ...', but these days that tends to come over as a tad stuffy!
DeleteThanks Rob but in actual fact this particular lady-priest who has the chemical formula CN- knew me well; very very well - which is why after I had recovered from that particular bout of terror and angst without a jot of understanding or help or pastoral care she lost a particular 'sheep' from her pews. At the very least, she could have suggested I return home and she'd have a male colleague or mental health practitioner call me within 20 minutes. This was 999 stuff - if you know anything about PTSD madness.
ReplyDeleteBut reverting to AB's subject matter. Two questions scream out from the St Padarn's Institute report states. It is all very well for Bishops to 'sponsor' candidates for priesthood (some like ++Andy over-ruling his own selection board) but one would think that an 'Academy' or 'Seminary' has its own right to refuse them if they (St. P's) consider them unsuitable for training. The army does this effectively: Regiments can 'sponsor' a potential officer-cadet; the Royal Military Academy can and does reject them,
But more concerning is the average age of entrants to C-in-W priesthood. The average age for mainly women NSP's being 57 which implies that by the time they're trained, served their curacies they'll be almost ready for mothballing. Perhaps with this high ratio of rather 'mature' and almost pensionable demography (remembering 57 is an average), and the even older geriatric congregants in the pews, perhaps high on the St. Padarn's training curriculum should be CPR and use of defribulators.
Old Bill
To close the book on this interesting diversion from AB's original post, suffice to say, I wriggled my own way out of the lunacy of PTSD some 2-3 years after it first kicked in although some traits still exist but I know now how to avoid them. But I still maintain that female priests hiding behind the shield of 'safeguarding' should have been a consideration of those many decades ago who voted unreservedly for the ordination of women. Thanks, ye all, for understanding the terrors of victims. I'm afraid to say that Siegfried Sasson, Wilfred Owen, Rupert Brooke etc. taught more about the "Madnesses of Men" than lecturing staff at St. Padarn's and other clergy-training establishments can ever learn.
ReplyDeleteOld Bill
Things are not perhaps as bleak as they look, Old Bill. Among my teachers at seminary half a century ago, one had won the Croix de Guerre after leading a cavalry charge on the Western Front and then in the second world war he had helped RAF pilots etc to escape from the Germans, another had won the MC landing on the beach at Anzio, and a third suffered from what we then called shellshock. Not every college should be judged by St Padarn's yardstick.
DeleteI get the sense that 'safeguarding' has become a contemporary preoccupation to a degree which barely existed thirty years ago. And for understandable reasons, given the grim revelations about the predatory behaviour of some clergy and lay people towards young people and children that have emerged in more recent times.
DeleteHowever, as I understand it - and I confess that I'm not that clued up on its latest developments within British Anglicanism - the purpose of 'safeguarding' has been to protect young people and vulnerable folk from exploitative adults rather than to protect clergy - male or female - from ostensibly 'dangerous' callers at their front doors.
It's impossible entirely to purge life of risk, and any concerted attempt to do so would make a life lived with quality pretty difficult. There are certainly risks which clergy peculiarly face, due to the fact that they pretty much 'live on the job' adjacent to their churches, and routinely work alone. I remember, fully fifty years ago, a report in the 'Church Times' of the murder of the rector of Baltinglass in the Dublin diocese who was killed by a man who had come begging for money at his door. And clergy houses are indeed sometimes visited by folk who are mentally disturbed.
But serious tragedies are vanishingly infrequent, and have to be weighed against the clear requirement for a priest to be available and accessible, as was Christ - even if s/he needs to learn to be 'wise as a serpent, innocent as a dove' and be on the look-out for those seeking to milk a mug!
It goes with the job.
There is another side to this Safeguarding issue, which is to protect a Minister against a false allegation being made against them. Some years ago I (a married man) was alone in my Vestry when the doorbell rang. Outside was a pretty young woman who said she needed to talk. I invited her into my study, we chatted about her situation and she left, not before saying she'd like to return and chat more, this time with her boyfriend.
ReplyDeleteAfter she'd gone, I thought, "Have I been caught in a 'honey trap'? Is she going to claim that I did something untoward, and will the boyfriend be violent if she does?" Fortunately everything was bona-fide, they did come back and talk and it was fine.
But it would have been my word against mine if she'd made an allegation - and who would have believed my version of events?
You make an entirely valid point. But I still maintain that if priests and ministers are to adopt a rigid 'precautionary principle' stance', they'll risk rejecting wounded and perplexed folk who come to seek a listening ear.
DeleteAnd I'm not sure that's how 'we learn Christ'. Just as life can never be without risk, so ministry can never be without risk either.
Some good news in Llandaff at last.
ReplyDeletehttps://llandaff.churchinwales.org.uk/en/news-and-blog/dean-of-llandaff-cathedral-announces-his-resignation/
The dud has gone at last.
Good riddance.
DeleteHave the Chapter recovered the money wasted on the Aga or has Bazza's golf caddie wangled himself a severance payout to grease his exit?
Alleluia and hurrah.
DeleteThe golf caddie should never have been appointed in the first place and his departure is long overdue.
It will be interesting to see how long it takes Caiaphas to find anyone stupid enough to take on the poisoned chalice next.
There's still the outstanding business of the unpublished organ appeal accounts and quinquennial reports.
Any prospective candidates would be very wise to contact Janet Henderson for an informal chat.
After Bonaparte's retirement I seem to remember it taking His Darkness about nine months to install Janet Henderson and, following her brief 9 week sojourn in the job, another ten months to install the Capon.
DeleteCaiaphas will be lucky if she can find a mug to take on Llandaff Cathedral before she retires.
Game, set and match to Caiaphas.
DeleteThose on the receiving end of his poison pen letters have been kept waiting a very long time for today's news.
To lose one Dean of Llandaff to resignation might be considered unfortunate.
DeleteTo lose two is downright careless.
😂😂😂
Two in nine years almost exactly to the day must surely be worthy of the Guinness book of World Records too.
When Byzantine Barry announced the appointment of his golf caddie as Dean of Llandaff, there followed numerous predictions that it was a disastrous decision and would all end in tears.
DeleteHow right they were.
After over eight years of the Capon what has been achieved?
The worst Dean of Llandaff in living memory and arguably the worst in history.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
DeleteWas there something wrong with my questions Ancient Briton?
DeleteWell that's that cat skinned 🙀 at last.
Deletehttps://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2022/20-may/news/uk/dean-of-llandaff-announces-his-resignation
DeleteAccording to today's edition of the Church Times, not only has Gerwhine resigned as Dean but he was purchasing his complaints of bullying against Caiaphas.
Is that where the remainder of the Cathedral's missing £70k went? 🤔
Who says the powers that be don't read Ancient Briton's blog posts?
DeleteI note with some small delight that the headline of the Church Times article has been corrected from "bought" to "brought". 😇
However, I also note that the very same error remains overlooked in the body of the article. 😂
Quelle do mage.
I was going to 'shut up' after my last, but Baptist Minister Trainfan, I can't resist thanking you for that insight. This gives me good reason to keep my front door firmly shut when the Jehovah Witness 'man and wife' couple next knock on my door. "Shoooo .. Safeguarding!!!!!" (I have South African trained Rottweillers for the Mormons).
ReplyDeleteOld Bill
I remember going to a house which had a sign on its front door saying something like, "We welcome Jehovah's Witnesses. Our Irish Wolfhound likes to eat them for breakfast". (Said dog was enormous but in fact very friendly!)
Delete'Who would take your word for it ...?' (Trainfan. One can only pray that you were not a Minister unfortunate enough to Minister in the St. David's area nor a Conservative Party voter otherwise there would have been a scream from the Magistrates' Court Public Gallery "Guilty M'Lud. NEVER, ever, trust a Tory ... !!' (Stupid woman).
ReplyDeleteGood news indeed from Llandaff, Maybe +St David's next and with a fair wind and some common sense, ++Andrew next. Then AB can settle down into happy retirement.
Ad Clerum
@ Laughing Gas
ReplyDeleteCount yourselves lucky in Llandaff with two dean resignations in nine years. Up here in often-forgotten Bangor, we saw off two through either sacking or resignation and in short order... both the hand-picked choices of ++Andrew. Cyanide Sue and Car-crash Kathy. But not before these two ladies had forced the resignations or seen off some of the best cathedral clergy (and two fine music-directors Graham Eccles and Paul Booth) Bangor had been lucky enough to have. Did +Andrew flinch at all as he sat back while one resignation letter after another hit his desk? Nah. Rev. Canon Michael Outram, Rev. Canon Philip Bennet, Rev. Canon Dr Randolph Ellis, Rev Canon Nia Williams, Rev. Phillip Keeble et al. All victims of two very poorly chosen Andrew John personal appointments; yeah, the same Andrew John who has now hand-picked his previously failed Sion Rhys-Evans as new sub-Dean to lead the circus. Greatest loss of course has been the massive exodus of otherwise faithful congregants driven out by two failed Deans with more now switching to more traditional places of worship than that being thrust at them from the 'Vatican'. Bets are that within five years, Bangor Cathedral will shut due to lack of congregant ££ support and become a Weatherspoon's student pub.
Ad Clerum
Speaking of bets has anyone opened a book yet with the odds for Gerwhine's replacement?
DeleteI'll open with Vicki Burrows at 5000-1 🤣
If --Bazza's previous MO is any means of judging I'd say Sarah Rogers would be 2-1 favourite.
DeleteSend in the 'resource church' - base ball caps replacing birettas is surely the way to go now in Llandaff. You could fix a great 'rig' of lights around the majestas and plenty of space at the back for a coffee cart and the sale of the highly-inflated 'merch'. Organ appeal? Yesterday's news - the organ will be stripped out - who cares what it cost. You know it makes sense.
DeleteReSauceChurch
It could be Fr David Lloyd. For your ballot papers that's D-A-V-I-D L-L-O-Y-D.
DeleteThat'll finish us off, ;-).
Bravo Father. 😂 😂
DeleteWho says the clergy don't have a sense of humour but be careful for what you wish! 😂
Apologies, I forgot to ask, what do you think your odds are? 🤔 😂
DeleteOne is VERY surprised to note that the news of Capon's long-overdue but greatly anticipated departure is not (thus far anyway) the subject of a brand new AB blog thread.
ReplyDeleteOh No AB. Please DO NOT open up a new Capon-Demise Blog. Let's not have a Public Inquiry, Inquest, Coroner's post-mortem detailing of the bowels and brain condition of the former-Dean. Let is 'Rest in Peace'. But more particularly, Capon is noted for his U-turns (as in complaint against his Bishop which he then withdrew). Let's not tempt him. AB bloggers might induce him to withdraw his letter of resignation too. No, any further correspondences would be better served debating how Llandaff can do a Lazarus and recover itself rather than hark back and chew over the remains. In this Platinum Jubilee month let's remember the declaration: The King is Dead .. Long Live the Queen. Sand sadly, yes, 'queen' is more than likely!!!
ReplyDeleteOld Bill
With respect, one believes one is correct in saying that AB has started new threads for just about every twist and turn of Capon's absence and the Aga saga over the last couple of years, most recently that of him withdrawing his allegations against Caiaphas of her bullying him.
DeleteNot only that but AB is also in the habit of requesting contributors to stay "on thread" which is not always easy to do.
His resignation in the specific circumstances is worthy, IMHO, of its own thread but also because there are several matters outstanding, not least of all the ongoing Organ appeal cover up, his misleading and inaccurate letter to the Charity Commissioners and, of course the elephant still dancing around in the Llandaff Deanery kitchen.
One perceives these matters and the fallout from Capon's tenure are far from over yet. E
Not forgetting Linda Quinn's requests for G4S drop boxes to be installed in the Cathedral.
DeleteShe must have had very good reason(s) and /or suspicions for doing so.
Linda Quinn did have very good reasons and suspicions for making her suggestions and it was all the more suspicious that her biggest opponents in the matter were Gerwhine and the slimy amphibian Mr Toad.
DeleteFollow the money.
I concur with Old Bill. Although there is much that could be said about the slow-motion car crash (over eight long years) that has been the decanal ministry of Gerwyn Capon, a line needs to be drawn. The contours have been drawn and redrawn on this esteemed blog repeatedly and there will be few who are unfamiliar with the landscape. I am guessing, because I cannot possibly know, that the former Dean is not currently in a good place and, although I am hardly a fan, there comes a point when legitimate scrutiny of inappropriate behaviour by a public figure can tip over into persecution - especially as Gerwyn Capon is no longer in office. It was a bad appointment, for sure; but the responsibibilty for this is not solely his. I know that neither June Osborne nor Gerwyn Capon have much positive following here; but it is a hopeful sign that neither has chosen to descend into the gutter to trade insults, as recently exemplified by the Diocese of Oxford over the departure of the Dean of Christ Church.
ReplyDeleteThe focus now needs to be twofold. First, a determination not to repeat the wanton abuse of patronage and unfettered nepotism for which Barry Morgan was responsible in 2014. It was an aggressive move, as well as an act of desparation, after the resignation of Janet Henderson. As such, it tells us as much we already know about Barry Morgan as it does about Gerwyn Capon. Second, the Bishop of Llandaff must demonstrate her willingness to be an agent of healing and reconcilliation in the appointment of a successor. To do that, she must be more consultative than, perhaps, she has shown herself willing to be thus far on many matters; and to make the recruitment and discernment process as transparent as is possible without compromising candidates' right to confidentiality. Approaching this appointment with the kind of Putinesque 'Mr Fix-It' approach will only store up trouble for the future. Certainly, importing another person already passed-over for preferment in the Church of England, because it does a friend a favour, could be potentially disastrous.
There may be considerable wisdom in halting the recruitment process and appointing an interim Acting-Dean for 18 months or so (e.g. an experienced priest who understands cathedrals as well as organisational dynamics, with a proven track record in conflict resolution), who can steady the ship and prepare the ground for a permanent appointment by the current Bishop's successor. That would give everyone space to breathe, to reflect, to exorcise the ghosts (as well as clear the skeletons in the cupboard) and to reach a much better place. Just a thought...
There is much common sense and merit in your suggestions but who would be mug enough to agree to step in to clear up the enormous mess, only to be replaced by Lord knows who after 18-24 months?
DeleteAlso, Caiaphas has only some 12 months maximum to go before retirement and I can't see her willing to leave a permanent appointment to her successor as she's likely to be worried about her own legacy (cue raucous laughter from around the Diocese and beyond).
As it is, poor Mark Preece has been working relentlessly trying to keep the place running for the last two years and he certainly deserves considerable credit for having done so.
"Who would be mug enough to agree to step in to clear up the enormous mess, only to be replaced by Lord knows who after 18-24 months?" Fair comment; but some denominations actually have Transition Ministers whose job is to do precisely that, clearing the ground (so to speak) for a more permanent appointment. Do such exist in the CinW (or, for that matter, CofE or SEC)?
DeleteAdmittedly, it will be a more complex task to do this in a cathedral than in an ordinary local church.
Surely you jest BT?
DeleteThe last two "transition ministers" in Llandaff Cathedral were His Darkness (following Banaparte's retirement) and Peggy the Pilate (appointed by His Darkness following Janet Henderson's resignation).
It is already a matter of historical (or should that be hysterical) record that both were utterly hopeless too.
I confess, I have only just read Athelstan Riley's measured response to the news of Gerwyn Capon's resignation as Dean of Llandaff. It deserves to be read, marked and inwardly digested. One can only hope that the people around June Osborne have enough insight, humility and strength of character to challenge any possibility that history may repeat itself.
DeleteIn the meantime, one can only feel deeply sorry for the former Dean that he ever found himself (allowed himself?) to be drawn into this disatrous chain of events. Like Athelstan, I am no fan and believe he was deluded to even imagine he had the wisdom, experience and gravitas to hold the office. Nonetheless, it is going to take a long, long time for him to recover from this ordeal and I would hazard a guess that he is probably feeling very isolated. Whatever the severance package, I really do hope an effective offer of sustained pastoral and clinical care was part of the deal.
Meanwhile, the Bishop needs to address her own tendency to ride roughshod and listen attentively to those she disagrees with, as well as those who are her cheerleaders, if lasting healing is to come to Llandaff Cathedral.
If sex is irrelevant to the priesthood, then why should sexual orientation and transgender be relevant?
ReplyDeleteIt's over, sadly, for the conservatives.