Some Epiphany!

Mary Teresa Streck is Ordained a Roman Catholic Woman Priest                    Source: Call to Action

The Epiphany season brings some unwelcome news for opponents of the ordination of women who fled Anglicanism for Rome. 

Reports suggest that the drive for change which has destroyed much of the Anglican Communion is gaining momentum in the Roman Catholic Church.

This is all very familiar for Anglicans who have witnessed the long, drawn out, chipping away of the faith as received until their Church has become virtually unrecognisable as evidenced by the near collapse of the Episcopal Church in the United States and the demise of Anglicanism in the UK.

The Irish Examiner reports that Fr Tony Flannery, a founder of the Association of Catholic Priests, who has been suspended from active ministry for the past eight years has asked whether the hierarchy in the Catholic Church will now change its approach to him after senior clerics expressed support for the ordination of women. 

In a statement issued on Sunday Fr Flannery highlighted comments made by the Archbishop-elect of Dublin, Dermot Farrell, in which the incoming Archbishop said he would 'like to see women becoming deacons in the church'.

"The Archbishop-elect of Dublin, Dermot Farrell, in an interview with the Irish Times, said he would like to see women becoming deacons in the church. He is reported as going on to say that 'the biggest barrier to having female priests in the Catholic Church is probably tradition, not the Scriptures'. In saying this he appears to undercut the main argument used by the Church against the ordination of women."

LifeSiteNews reports: Bishop Georg Bätzing, the head of the German bishops’ conference, supported in a new interview the idea of “ordaining” women to the diaconate and the priesthood and a blessing for homosexual and cohabitating couples. He also defended the idea of intercommunion. And he even claimed that the German bishops could make some of these changes without approval from Rome. 

Bätzing revealed in an interview with the German Catholic journal Herder Korrespondenz that already in the 1980s, he participated in discussions about the female “priesthood.” He argued that there are “well-developed arguments in favor of opening the sacramental [priestly] office also for women.” That is why he himself “often mention[s] the female diaconate, because I see there some more possibilities.” Mentioning the fact that Pope John Paul II and his successor “unanimously” stated that “this question has been answered,” the German bishop sees that “nevertheless, it [the question] is on the table.”...

... But with regard to the possibility of a liturgical blessing of so-called irregular couples – homosexual and cohabitating couples – the German bishop claimed that such a decision can indeed be taken by the German bishops “without Roman approval.” Bätzing then went on to say that he, however, is of the opinion “that we should change the Catechism in this respect.”

Back in 2013 WAMC reported that 'religious history' was made in Albany, New York, when the city's first "woman priest", Mary Theresa Streck, was ordained. "Streck will now carry on the ancient tradition: taking on the role of spiritual leader of a 40-person strong Catholic community — a rainbow congregation of gay, straight, divorced, married and single  folks." 

It is all so familiar for Anglicans. The warnings are there to be heeded.

Postscript [12.01.2021]

Pope Francis opens ministries of lector and acolyte to women

Epiphany

Perhaps alluding to Brexit, in her latest reflection the bishop of St Davids, Barry Morgan's idea of the "best person to be a bishop", tells her listeners that "the God who kept His people Israel safe, even through the holocaust and beyond, who kept His Church safe through the centuries will keep us safe. And we are called simply, not to wave magic wands to make things better but to open the ordinary things of our lives that the Holy Spirit may rush in through the gaps and in us Christ's glory may be seen by our love for one another and our service of the community."

What Church is Joanna Penberthy talking about? Not the Church in Wales which, thanks to her and her colleagues on the Bench, is crumbling around them. A Church that has become totally irrelevant outside Wales.  The Washed Up World of the Anglican Church of Wales is no longer considered when the state of Anglicanism is discussed. See Hey! Nobody Cares.

As for 'our love for one another', the excluded will take that with a pinch of salt. Traditionalist Anglicans in Wales have been deprived of  sacramental or pastoral care since the late Bishop David Thomas retired in 2008. Provincial episcopal visitors (PEVs or flying bishops) have been banned from Welsh dioceses in a determined effort to stamp out traditional Anglicanism in Wales showing a distinct lack of love for one another from the bench of bishops .

Yes, 'His Church', the body of Christ, is safe in the hearts and minds of conviction Christians. But they have been left out in the cold. They no longer count in the Church in Wales, just like the Church in Wales no longer counts in the wider Church.

That is the realization of Archbishop Barry Morgan's vision for the Church in Wales.

Some Epiphany!

Merry Orthodox Christmas

TOTAL ORTHODOX CHRISTIANS INCREASING

An Epiphany for Anglicans!

Harmony

A Russian search and rescue team loads their equipment to support the search for Indonesia AirAsia

flight QZ8501. (Darren Whiteside/Reuters)

The Russians are coming! - But fear not.

They were not invading. They are part of the multinational team searching for the crashed AirAsia passenger jet.

Disasters bring out the best in people. Countries which have been at loggerheads reveal common humanity when an Act of God occurs or when disasters strike. But that is the exception

The harmony so beautifully expressed in Eli Jenkins' prayer demonstrates what can be achieved when people sing from the same sheet. So why so much discord? Back from their Christmas holiday break government ministers and shadow ministers have been busily trying to convince us why they should be in power, bolstering assumptions, false or otherwise. There is little harmony in politics and unlikely to be so.

On the surface, interfaith dialogue is harmonious but anyone reading just a little about Islam must be apprehensive. Read about the challenge which Islam presents to the Christian community here in "A Topical Study of the Qur'an from a Christian Perspective". Harmony will be achieved only on Islamic terms so it is not difficult to understand that deception plays a key role in Islamic propaganda. It is a successful strategy. In Germany protesters against the Islamisation of their country have been accused of "rising xenophobia" adding to the customary charges of Islamophobia and racism even though Islam is a religious ideology not a race. The protesters' fears are not unreasoned. That is made abundantly clear here in "Muslim Leaders in Australia Say Banning Terrorism Will Ban Islam". For another perspective read also Alexander Boot's blog entry "Muslim countries? Even Belgium is better than any of them".

But what of the Christian faith on this Feast of the Epiphany? The last entry of one of the blogs I follow ends depressingly for many 'traditionalist' Anglicans with the words ..."those of us who remain behind in whatever ecclesial funk holes are left to us for the time being - only a sense of the gathering darkness ....." How sad - and unnecessary.

'His Darkness' the Archbishop of Wales preached on darkness in his sermon on Christmas Day. Without any hint of irony he said "Stand up against the world’s darkness and show the light of God". Dr Morgan rightly drew attention to the plight of Syrian refugees forced to flee their country. Many thousands have died, others have been allowed to drift in vessels abandoned by their crews after paying their life savings to escape religious intolerance. Their oppressors in Syria, and in Iraq and elsewhere, are not interpreting the Quran, they are following the Quran.

Dr Morgan said: "The Gospel of John boldly proclaims that ‘the light shines in the darkness and the darkness does not overcome it’. Is that really the case, because it doesn’t seem to ring true to some of our experiences as human beings?" It doesn't ring true for some members of the Church in Wales but he, uniquely, is in a position to let the light overcome the darkness that hangs over many in his flock if he followed the Gospel instead of adapting it.

Be bold ++Barry. You can dispel the sense of "gathering darkness" and restore harmony to your Church. Cast aside your own intolerance and show the "light of God" to the Church in Wales this Epiphany.

Epiphany

The Adoration of the Magi (detail)                                                                                                                             Gentile da Fabriano (1370–1427) 

"Church of England removes devil from christening service" (here) is the latest in a series of moves by the Church of England to make the Church more worldly rather than spiritual. An earlier report, Surplice to requirement? Church of England may cast off vicars’ robes (here), included the comment: Anglican vicars could soon be allowed to cast off their traditional robes and wear casual clothes at “café-style” communion services. 

To put this another way, "How the Faith was Lost in the Church of England" (here).

But the Faith has not been lost completely in the Church of England. Keeping the faith as it has been handed down is still of paramount importance to many Anglicans who continue to bring their gifts to the Church as the Magi brought their gifts to the Christ Child. They must not be refused.

Archbishop's heretical mentor

" 'WOMEN have an important role to play in leading the Church in Wales', Archbishop Barry Morgan has said ahead of its governing body’s examination of the issue next year. Speaking to the Western Mail, Dr Morgan said he was holding on to the hope that the church will accept women bishops before he steps down. Proposals to enable women to enter the episcopate were backed in 2008 by bishops and laity in the governing body but failed by three votes to win the necessary two-thirds majority among clergy. A new vote will not be taken in April but the subject will be examined in detail." [Dec 26 2011]

Perhaps he is unfortunate in his choice of friends but the latest report in Virtue Online is a devastating critique of Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori's ministry with the headline - 'Violent Images for God: She Describes the Son of God as a Hell's Angel "Gang Leader" and "Party Animal". Her lack of concern for all American Anglicans as well as for the wider Anglican Communion comes from her own deformed image of God. Everyone in the Episcopal Church and indeed the Anglican Communion has suffered because of her confused thinking.'

" 'WOMEN should be represented at all levels of the church', the most powerful Anglican in the US has said during a visit to Wales. A familiar ring but there's more: 'There has been remarkable women’s leadership throughout the church’s history. The apostle to the apostles, Mary Magdalene, who reports the resurrection for the first time, is a remarkable witness to women’s leadership in the early church. It’s clear that many of the early church communities were sheltered and led and supported by women. The church has elected to forget that in many instances" [Jul 2010]. Step up PB Jefferts Schori, the new Mary Magdalene, showing the church the way. In the Episcopal Church of the US it looks like the road to ruin. 

Women in dog collars have done nothing to advance Christ's kingdom on earth as churches continue to empty. If the PB Jefferts Schori's Episcopal Church is an example of what is to come we may as well give up now.


Happy Epiphany!


Postscript
Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams raises an eyebrow over the actions of his American flock. Report here.

Happy (Orthodox) Christmas?

The Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem

While we in the West celebrate the Epiphany of Our Lord today (January 6) the Armenian and Orthodox Churches are celebrating or are preparing to celebrate their Christmas. For Christians, Christmas is the time for peace and goodwill. This is not shared by Islamic extremists who have threatened the Coptic Church with even more violence after the atrocity already committed in Egypt. For a 'religion of peace' there are far too many Islamists who don't understand the meaning of the word.