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Tuesday, 12 November 2024

Church of England in crisis

The Archbishop of Canturbery celebrating 25 years of women’s ordination to the priesthood in 2019                Source: CofE

Now, thirty years after the first ordinations of women to the priesthhood, one of their number, the Bishop of Newcastle, Helen-Ann Hartley, is calling on Justin Welby to resign.

She has decribed the archbishop's position "untenable" following a damning report into abuse by a prolific child abuser associated with the Church.

She is not alone in her demand. The Revd Dr Ian Paul, a member of General Synod and the Archbishops’ Council, has, among others, initiated a petition calling for Welby's immediate resignation:

"Given his role in allowing abuse to continue, we believe that his continuing as the Archbishop of Canterbury is no longer tenable. We must see change, for the sake of survivors, for the protection of the vulnerable, and for the good of the Church—and we share this determination across our traditions. With sadness we do not think there is any alternative to his immediate resignation if the process of change and healing is to start now."

The archbishop is already under fire for making comments contrary to the doctrine of the Church of England after expressing his views on gay sex outside marriage.

One abuse survivor has demanded a “clean sweep” of senior clergy members. Allegedly, 7 or 8 bishops knew what was going on.

MPs are already considering a call to remove Church of England bishops from House of Lords, thus lessening their influence. 

If Welby does resign no doubt there will be fresh demands for a woman to become the 106th Archbishop of Canterbury providing feminists with yet another opportunity for celebration their success in the Church. 

Update


BBC report here.

25 comments:

  1. All this has really annoyed me, as a person who did the CofE Safeguarding course. [a] Have people forgotten that the Church of England sacked the panel of experts who provided independent oversight of how it dealt with abuse, in 2023? [b] On the course I did, we had to watch a video about how a different case of abuse was covered up, victims disbelieved and empty promises that the system would be fixed. IMHO he has to go.

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  2. Good riddance to the fool.
    Here's hoping a few more follow his belated departure.

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  3. Well, I can't say I am upset at his overdue departure..... Now waiting for some others to go too.

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  4. Oooops. Doesn't Llandaff's bishop Mary Stallard keep abreast of church (and national) news? Long after Welby's resignation was announced she pumps out her weekly website blurb announcing the 'joyous news' from her diocese. Headline of the week is that this Sunday celebrates 'Safeguarding Sunday' with all the wonderous things the church has done. "Safeguarding has rightly become an integral part of life described as being like a golden thread that should run through the whole of church life ..." Well at least she uses the word 'should' not 'does'. But what bad timing ... or is she so absorbed in gallivanting that she doesn't keep up with UK domestic news. The Archbishop of Canterbury's failings in safeguarding has caused his ousting m'dear!

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    1. Arch-idiot Andy Crap is behind this. Creating trouble wherever he goes. He’s not welcome, he needs to go and someone needs to do something about it. If only Andy Crap would take a leaf out of Justin Welby’s book and give up his office and disappear into the darkness. He’s a nasty piece of work who flounces about being nice to people. He’s not a nice person, he’s dangerous and poison. A diagnosis of Narcissistic Personality Disorder fits just nicely here. No one will miss him. Crap belongs in the sewer and that’s where Andy Crap should reside

      Ex-Congregant of Bangor Cathedral

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    2. Sub Dean - Gone
      Diocesan Secretary - Gone
      Director of Music - Gone

      The congregagion are literally holding celebrations!

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    3. All four of them?
      Must be quite a shindig.
      🤣🤣

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  5. Well, it's sad that Canterbury had already lost the archiflaminica sweepstates to Uppsala; cf.: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antje_Jackel%C3%A9n but at least will most likely beat out Armagh, Dublin, Scotland, or Wales.

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  6. Episode 900 of Anglican Unscripted is going to be fun....😂😂

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  7. Justin Welby's fantastic record as Archbishop speaks for itself....

    -covered up horrific abuse to protect his mates
    -supported Paula Vennels to be Bishop of London
    -caught speeding and failed to pay the fine on time
    -misuse of power and process at Synod on PLF
    -closed the churches during Covid
    -known for fits of anger in meetings when he didn't get his way
    -largest decline recorded drop in attendance and giving in Church of England

    Postie

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    1. Pontificating on the evils of zero hours contracts before realising that many Cathedrals, Abbeys and Churches in England abuse employees with zero hours contracts.

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    2. What about sexual abuser Jean Vanier writing the forward to Welby's book 'Dethroning Mammon'?
      Jon

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  8. Reminder: Anonymous comments intended for publication must include a pseudonym.

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  9. The picture tells the story under Welby - unchecked female ordination and its concomitant - LGBT and pending gay marriage. A wholesale transformation of the Church has happened on his watch.
    LW

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    Replies
    1. Along with a 30% drop in congregants in a decade.
      Bewildered

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    2. Remember, please, that correlation does not necessarily equate to causation. It could be that the decline in attendance would have been even greater if the "wholesale transformation" hadn't happened - but we'll never know!

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  10. We will now have a new Archbishop of Canterbury, I find that the person who will recommend the new holder of the Office to H.M. The King, is a devout Atheist

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  11. I don't find Dr Welby particularly inspiring, but rather agree with Charles Moore that he's allowing himself to be scapegoated. See https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/justin-welby-shouldnt-have-resigned/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=CampaignMonitor_Editorial&utm_campaign=WEEK%20%2020241114%20%20AL+CID_b2f754321e8680f998b2eb721a17102d

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  12. First and foremost, feminism benefits women, men, and people of all genders. Moreover, women now constitute the majority of church attendees and newly ordained deacons in the Church of England. This shift suggests that feminism will profoundly reshape Christianity in the coming decades—and that's a good thing! I do think it's paramount and beyond question that a woman should become the 106th Archbishop of Canterbury.

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    1. Codswallop.
      Feminism, along with it's illegitimate offspring political correctness, is a curse on our society particularly and mankind in general.
      No doubt the word mankind will trigger you.

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    2. The Jona nonsense also underlines the theory that men, rather than the female of the species, have better developed brains; brains which have adapted to playing golf or going to the pub on Sunday mornings rather than shuffle around in the pews and brains so developed that they have real jobs rather than 'vocations' in little more than 'retreats' and 'diocesan conferencing' of tedious and wholly irrelevant subjects. This is to be celebrated. Well done the men.

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    3. I think Ruth must be a man - the alternative is she’s internalised a vast excess of misogyny.

      Dhruva

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    4. Is that you, yet again, untRuthy?
      Most tedious, unimaginative and predictable.

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    5. No Ruth. Dhruva here. How was your weekend?

      Dhruva

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  13. While COP-Baku's resolve to end global warming has collapsed into farce, Bangor Cathedral with its long history of a defunct, gurgling, boiler has come up with a Plan for tomorrow's congregational warmth .... woolly blankets are being laid out on the pews for a big winter 'wrap-up'. How the cathedral got its hands on so many blankets is a mystery ... especially when the freezing folk in the Ukraine, Sudan and Gaza are praying for them. But at least some 'Christian aid' is being offered in Bangor ... which is all that seems to matter.

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