Father David Waller, second Ordinary of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham. Source: Catholic News World
I have heard little of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham of late but tomorrow (22nd June) marks a special occasion for the Ordinariate with the Episcopal Ordination of the Revd David Arthur Waller as the second Ordinary, and first Bishop Ordinary, following the retirement of Monsignor Keith Newton.
EPISCOPAL ORDINATION OF BISHOP-ELECT DAVID WALLER - Live Streaming Links
Friday 21st June at 6.00pm
Solemn Evensong and Benediction together with blessing of episcopal insignia at Our Lady of the Assumption Warwick Street.
Livesteam link - www.ordinariate.live
Saturday 22nd June at 11am
The Episcopal Ordination of Bishop Elect David Waller at Westminster Cathedral
The principal consecrator will be His Eminence Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.
Livesteam link - Westminster Cathedral YouTube channel
Sunday 23rd June at 10.30am
Solemn Mass at Our Lady of the Assumption Warwick Street,
when Bishop David will take possession of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham.
Livesteam link - www.ordinariate.live
We pray for Bishop-elect David as he takes on his new responsibility and give thanks for the ministry of Monsignor Keith Newton as the Ordinariate's first Ordinary.
A Review of the appointment of the Rt Revd Philip North as Bishop of Blackburn has concluded that his nomination followed the proper processes, but makes several recommendations how these processes could be improved.
"Campaigners had raised concerns about Bishop North’s views on the ordination of women, which he has said is an area on which the Church of England should not be at variance with the wider Church (News, 15 September 2017).
"A submission by the campaign group Women and the Church (WATCH) centred on concerns about how having a bishop who does not ordain women could undermine clergy in the diocese and the diocesan bishop’s function as a figure of unity..."
"The Independent Reviewer has rightly restated that, following a submission to her from Women and the Church (WATCH) regarding the appointment of diocesan bishops in the Church of England and in line with the Church’s Five Guiding Principles, being a traditionalist is not a bar to becoming a diocesan bishop.
"However, Forward in Faith also notes with concern that the Independent Reviewer has recommended in her report that consideration be given to re-examining the scope of her role. It is not clear to Forward in Faith from the contents of the report exactly what deficiency in the current arrangements would be met by such a change.
"As WATCH has demonstrated in its referral on the appointment of diocesan bishops, any individual or interested party can make a referral to the Independent Reviewer. The Independent Reviewer can then assess the points made in those referrals.
"The critical question must always be how those referrals relate to the 2014 House of Bishops’ Declaration on the Ministry of Bishops and Priests. If there has been any breach of that Declaration, from whatever part of the Church it might have come, then it needs to be addressed directly and transparently. However, simply not agreeing with, or feeling uncomfortable with, the contents of the Declaration can never be, and should never be, grounds for a referral to the Independent Reviewer.
"The direction of travel being opened up by the Independent Reviewer runs the risk of undermining the Declaration, which quite rightly seeks to promote the flourishing of all parts of the Church and to uphold and protect the minority position in the Church of England, which in part occurs through the work of the Independent Reviewer.
"Forward in Faith remains strongly of the view that the Church of England benefits from the breadth of its witness, including the catholic teaching and practice which it holds in common with the universal Church."
Once again WATCH show themselves in their true colours as a group of feminists using the Church to further their feminist cause regardless of the effect on others.
"Evan, who stopped his hormone treatments before trying to get pregnant, chest-feeds his
newborn son in their Massachusetts home." Source: TIME
The National Catholic Register reports that a recent meeting of the Vatican's Council of Cardinals (C9) discussed the role of women in the Church. The Cardinals were addressed at the meeting by female Anglican bishop, Jo Bailey Wells, currently deputy secretary general of the Anglican Communion.
Bishop Wells was one of the first generation of women to have been ordained in the Church of England and who has campaigned for 'gender equality'. After the meeting she said, "Many have suggested this was an historic moment. Certainly, I was honoured to be invited to describe the Anglican journey in regard to the ordination of women, both in the Church of England and across the Communion. There was deep engagement and some good discussion."
Pope Francis is quoted as being 'very much in favour' of a female diaconate but that there was 'no reflection on the presbyteral ordination of women in the Catholic Church'.
The 'Anglican journey' as Wells put it has been a disaster leading to confusion and disarray, not least for 'gender equality' which has been used to trump common sense.
In addition to the gender nonsense which is used to deny biological facts, parity is demanded, often with dire results as evidenced following the appointment of many women bishops, particularly in the Church in Wales.
Duplicity abounds resulting in many faithful Anglicans being denied the sacraments and pastoral care.
Pope Francis is on record as declaring that women cannot receive holy orders or be ordained as priests. thus upholding the traditional doctrine of the Catholic Church, yet it is reported that Pope Francis is 'very much in favour' of a female diaconate!
Were that to be achieved, as in Anglicanism, it would be claimed that woman deacons must be allowed to become priests, then bishops along with all the rest of the liberal agenda leading to same sex marriage.
The rumours have been confirmed. Pope Francis evicts his US critic, Cardinal Raymond Burke, from the Vatican.
A useful commentary of events leading to the eviction of the pope's "enemy" is provided at the beginning of the above podcast video.
Pope Francis has attracted much criticism from commentators. Traditionalist Anglicans have looked on in bemusement as he appears to be guiding the Catholic Church along the path to ruin, the path already trod by the Episcopal Church in the US, the Church of England and the Church in Wales, among others.
Having sown the seeds of hope for change among revisionists, the Vatican is trying to draw a line on women’s ordination and homosexuality in new letter to German bishops.
That will not stop revisionists from pecking away as they seek to make the Church conform to the pattern of this world rather than be transformed as the Anglican Church in the West has witnessed
What hope can there be for a Church when Christians who practice their faith by obedience to the word rather than apostates are regarded as the enemy?
According to the Guardian, the 'Oik 'from Essex. Stephen Cottrell, archbishop of York has suggested that the opening words of the Lord’s Prayer, may be “problematic” because of their "patriarchal association" despite being recited by Christians worldwide for 2,000 years.
The archbishop's views will come at little surprise to those Anglicans who strive to keep the faith rather than adapt it to their own desires
Cottrell is a member of the Society of Catholic Priests (SCP), a religious society of Anglican clergy who consider themselves a part of the liberal Anglo-Catholic tradition, a liberal substitute for the Society of the Holy Cross (SSC) so that they can enjoy the best of both worlds.
The make believe society believes that the churches of the Anglican Communion are part of the one holy and catholic and apostolic church despite distancing themselves from it by their unilateral actions.
Cottrell is also a member of Affirming Catholicism (AffCath), a liberal movement formed to suggest that the ordination of women is compatible with Anglo-Catholicism and supports ordination into the threefold ministry (bishops, priests, deacons) regardless of gender or sexual orientation. The archbishop has been president since January 2015.
The ordination of women to the priesthood has brought with it a host of ridiculous disputes over gender and sexual orientation where facts are replaced by assertions. These are likely to grow with the increasing numbers of female clergy.
In the Church in Wales where half the bishops are female, thirty-one of the forty-seven recent Petertide ordinands were women, seventeen deacons and fourteen priests.
The Church Times article, Petertide ordinations 2023, shows how numerous are Anglican women deacons, priests and bishops.
Anglican theologian and blogger, the Rev Dr Ian Paul recently spoke to Christian Today about the significance of the Church of England General Synod's decision to back same-sex blessings, his plea to the bishops, and why he has no plans to leave the Church of England.
This is a continuing dilemma for many Anglicans in the Church of England, the Church in Wales and the Scottish Episcopal Church, particularly so for Anglicans conscious of Jesus' prayer that 'all of them may be one'.
Innovation after innovation are driving Anglicans ever further from the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Churches and most Anglicans.
From the ordination of women to their admission to the episcopacy. From same sex blessings to the goal of same sex weddings in church. Each in turn has been claimed to be the last straw. Some Anglicans have been able to make accommodations to allow them to continue while for others it has been the end of communal worship.
Previously the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Churches warned of the consequences for the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church of which Anglicans claim membership if Anglicans unilaterally decided to ordain women to the priesthood and admit them to the episcopacy. See Metropolitan Hilarion on Renouncing the Faith.
Similar pleas were made at Synod over same sex blessings by ecumenical representative Archbishop Angaelos of the UK Coptic Orthodox Church and Archbishop Sami of the Anglican Province of Alexandria. Both pleaded "not to go down this route because it would only damage relationships in the Communion, and ecumenical relationships with other Churches." Their pleas were ignored by the archbishops of Canterbury and York.
The irony is, of course, Dr Paul is right. The bishops are wrong. It is they who should exit from the Church.
Trainee priest Calvin Robinson Source: Mail Online
The MailOnline reports that despite spending more than £20,000 of parishioners’ money on sending him to study theology at at St Stephen’s House, Oxford, Calvin Robinson was blocked from becoming a priest in the Church of England by a white bishop for saying that Britain is not a racist country.
Lecturing him about racism in the church, the Bishop of London, the Rt Rev Sarah Mullally, told Calvin, "As a white woman I can tell you that the Church IS institutionally racist."
They had been discussing the Church’s race policy, which Calvin had been vocally objecting to for some time. The bishop could not understand that as a black man, he simply did not share her – and the Church hierarchy’s – view on this contentious issue.
He says, "The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, has proclaimed that the Church of England is ‘deeply institutionally racist’ and called for ‘radical and decisive’ action. Last year an Anti-Racism Task Force recommended using quotas to boost the number of black and ethnic-minority senior clergy, introducing salaried ‘racial justice officers’ in all 42 dioceses and launching ‘racial justice Sunday’ once a year."
Calvin said that he fundamentally disagreed with this approach, which is based on a faith in divisive Left-wing Critical Race Theory, instead of the teachings of Christ. I believe it is divisive and offensive.
The Bishop of Fulham, the Rt Rev Jonathan Baker, told Calvin that there had been ‘a lot of turbulence’ over some of the views he had expressed online and on TV. It was no secret that senior figures in the Church disliked him.
Calvin said, "I am after all a traditionalist – which means I do not believe in the ordination of women – and I have never been afraid to voice my criticism of the Church’s drift away from what I, and many of its parishioners, think are its core values. I did not expect everyone to agree with me, but what I did expect is the right to express my own opinions. I had always been taught that the Church of England was a broad church."
Emails obtained via data-protection rules revealed that bishops at the very top of the Church of England had been closely scrutinising Calvin's public comments: ‘His political agenda is I guess what you would call libertarian – anti-woke, anti-identity politics, Covid-sceptical,’ the Bishop of Fulham wrote in one email. ‘His tweets get him into trouble sometimes and there have been complaints to the Bishop of London that he shouldn’t be ordained.’
Calvin was to be ordained as a deacon with a part-time role as assistant curate at St Alban’s Church in Holborn, central London. In February the Bishop of Fulham, the Rt Rev Jonathan Baker, told him the role was ‘likely to prove problematic, and would not lead to a fruitful or happy formation for you in your early years in ordained ministry’. He offered to reduce his media work but was told he would still not be able to take up the proposed role because ‘that moment had passed’.
At a meeting with Calvin, Bishop Mullally insisted the decision was not about his politics, but because his ‘presence’ on social media and TV ‘is often divisive and brings disunity’.
Presumably the bishop of London has not noticed the ever present Gogglebox star, the Rev Kate Bottley on TV and elsewhere along with countless clergy who constantly tweet their trivia on Twitter.
Kate is described on Wikipedia as "a Church of England priest in North Nottinghamshire, a role which she combines with her other roles of journalist, media presenter and reality television star. She appears frequently on British radio and television as well as in newspapers."
As Calvin pointed out, it’s not just issues of race and gender.
It seems the Church will affirm any liberal progressive secular view, but clamp down on conservative views, either political or theological.
"If you defend family values, the sanctity of marriage, all human life being sacred, or the fact that God made us male and female, you will face opprobrium" he said.
"Something has gone wrong. The established Church is entering apostasy, and the faithful masses in the congregations and the hard-working clergy deserve better."
Exactly!
Postscript [01.06.2022]
From Twitter: Cancelled by Woke Church of England - Calvin Robinson
The penalty for keeping the faith. Welcome to the club!
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."
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.
MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it.
TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting.
PERES; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.
Interviewed on the TV programme The Hour in April 2018 the first woman to be made bishop in Wales, Joanna Penberthy, branded anyone who disagrees with her as prejudiced. No debate. No theology. Just unsubstantiated accusations of prejudice.
There is much to question. For a start, on the validity of her orders Joanna Penberthy simply dismisses the question. She remarked, such 'prejudice' is 'water off a duck's back to her', probably because the Church in Wales has no defence for going their own way in defiance of the overwhelming majority of Christians in the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.
The ordination of women is a political tool used by feminists to further their own selfish interests. They are not interested in the welfare of the church. They care even less for the many cradle Anglicans who have found themselves excluded. Pleas not to go their separate ways were water off a ducks back to them.
They base their case on false notions of equality, distorting the meaning of Christ's redeeming love while appealing for secular support to undermine the faith of the Church. So successful has this strategy been in the Anglican Communion that feminists are now using similar tactics to attack the Roman Catholic Church.
Our children and grandchildren are having to cope with the fallout of the new order. There are fewer male role models for boys to identify with. Women dominate primary education. Three quarters of secondary school teachers are women. The GP and the dentist are likely to be female along with the parish priest.
Girls and boys are forced to ignore their birth assigned sexual identity and cope with unnecessary problems of self identifying genders coupled with imposing the use of preferred pronouns. Then there is distress that can be caused following the imposition of unisex toilets and the presence of intending but not yet transgendered pupils in girls changing rooms, all of which defies logic and panders to wokery .
Anglican experience has shown that feminists are not to be trusted. They have inched their way forward with false promises to achieve their objective before undermining any agreements as they seek to get rid of any opposition.
The Church in Wales is a typical example. It prides itself as being a leader in diversity. Not in spreading the Gospel but falsely using the Gospel to achieve its ends by interpreting scripture to suit themselves.
The bishop of Monmouth uses her patronage, enthusiastically supported by the rest of the bench, in promoting LGBT minorities, while the 'first transgender priest' wasted no time in using the Church in Wales to spread transgender propaganda, an utter distortion of the Great Commission.
The bishop of St Davids has been busy spreading party political propaganda with her motto, “Never, never, never trust a Tory”. As Dominic Lawson commented in the Mail Online "With Tory-hating political bishops like this, the church hasn't got a prayer".
This is not the first time the bishop of St Davids has brought her office into disrepute. Her Dear John letter caused great offence to elderly clergy, raising suspicions that it was her way of getting rid of faithful traditionalist clergy. She busily backpedalled after adverse publicity
There is nothing more to explain. Joanna's extended absence looks increasingly like a cooling off device, hoping that her flock would forget so that she could return to duty as if nothing had happened.
Others viewed her behaviour differently.
Angela Tilby wrote in the Church Times, Bishops have to sacrifice privacy: "The public nature of episcopal office has been understood from antiquity. Bishops are meant to be visible, to be seen and known, to be a focus of unity in the Church, and a point of mediation between Christian communities and civic authority. “He must be well-thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace. . .” (1 Timothy 3.7).
The writing was on the wall from the start. Penberthy's was a political appointment engineered by archbishop Barry Morgan. Others have followed.
The rot deepens but the writing was on the wall from the start.
"The woke Pope epitomises liberal illiberalism. The ‘merciful’ leader of the Catholic Church is persecuting a harmless minority: traditionalists." - Tim Stanley writing in The Telegraph reported here.
Stanley writes: "The Pope, you have probably read, is ever-smiling, merciful and tolerant. Towards some, that might be true; for others, it’s a cruel joke. His treatment of traditional Catholics, to give just one example, is a case study in liberal hypocrisy."
'Will he, wont he?' articles about the Pope's intentions on the ordination of women have appeared with increasing regularity', often driven by a sympathetic media obsessed with their interpretation of equality but with no understanding of priestly ministry or theology.
Initially Francis sounded sympathetic to the notion of women priests but then denied it while appearing to leave the door open to discussions on setting up a female deaconate, the first step on an incremental path chosen by revisionists in the Anglican Church.
Officially opening the ministries of lector and acolyte to women, Pope Francis said that there was nothing new about women proclaiming the Word of God during liturgical celebrations or carrying out a service at the altar as altar servers or as Eucharistic ministers. In many communities throughout the world these practices are already authorized by local bishops.
The direction is obvious. As 'local practices' are allowed to spread they appear increasingly commonplace leading to acceptance as normal.
According to Roman Catholic Women Priests (RCWP), which describes itself as "an International Movement within the Roman Catholic Church", women 'priests' are already ministering in over 34 USA states and are also present in Canada, Europe, South and Central America, South Africa, Philippines and Taiwan. They have prepared a video 'Making Catholicism relevant' showing several worshiping communities and their liturgies.
Germany's Synodal Assembly has voted for Catholic women deacons by large majority with further calls for gay blessings and married priests. Pope Francis has encouraged the process of synodality, a process of discernment which he describes as listening to the Holy Spirit through the word of God, prayer and adoration after listening to one another.
In another move, a group of Catholic and Anglican theologians has publicly called on the Vatican to review and overturn a papal document from 1896 that declared Anglican ordinations "absolutely null and utterly void", something on which Pope Francis has spoken sympathetically and which many have been praying for but now complicated by decisions within various provinces of the Anglican Communion to go it alone and ordain women.
As I wrote in a previous entry, "One would have thought that the innovation of ordaining women in the Anglican Communion would have provided the Vatican with sufficient experience-based evidence that, in general, women who seek ordination are advancing themselves not the Kingdom of God.
Tim Stanley is right. It should be plain for all to see. 'Traditionalist' Roman Catholics are being marginalised as Anglicans have been marginalised, left to witness the destruction of their Church while revisionists advance, step by step, by any means available to them encouraged by false prophets
Who would have thought it possible but a foot in the door is all that is needed, the first of a series of incremental steps to oblivion.
Rejecting calls that he should launch an inquiry into the running of the Llandaff diocese following allegations of bullying against bishop June Osborne, the newly elected Archbishop of Wales, Andy John said, "As Archbishop, I do not have authority over any diocese other than my own unless the see is vacant."
Nevertheless, the bishop of Bangor has felt the need for someone to share the leadership of the diocese while he serves as Archbishop of Wales.
Bishop John's choice of "one of the first women to become a priest in the Church in Wales", Mary Stallard, will go down well with the women's movement led by the discredited former archdeacon, Peggy Jackson with their distorted view of equality while others will view it as further evidence that the Church in Wales couldn't care less for those who believe that the ordination of women is not something to be decided by individual Churches wishing to do their own thing.
A leading supporter of women bishops, in 2008 when the Church in Wales rejected a Bill which would have allowed women to be ordained as bishops, Canon Mary Stallard said, "I think people respond very differently to men expressing unhappiness at doubts and upsets than women. Men have much greater access to playing on people’s heartstrings and I think we saw a really good example of that today."
Canon Jeremy Winston, the then vicar of Abergavenny, said that bishops had failed to give concrete assurance to those opposed to female bishops that they would be provided for.
He was correct of course. The Church in Wales used every trick in the book to admit women to the episcopacy with dire consequences as evidenced by the many comments on this blog.
The bench abdicated responsibility for the legislation giving feminists free rein. A meaningless code of practice was introduced followed by archdeacon Peggy Jackson's infamous attempt to deny ordination to anyone who, on grounds conscience, was unable to accept the ordination of women.
The vote followed the rejection of proposals which could have resulted in the appointment of a male bishop to minister sacramentally and pastorally to those who could not accept the unilateral ordination of women by the Church in Wales.
Speaking of his disappointment at the time archbishop Barry Morgan said, "Had we been willing as bishops to compromise and have an assistant bishop in the constitution to look after those who in conscience were opposed to the ordination of women, the Bill would have sailed through. But I think we would have compromised our principles. I think it would have been disastrous for the Church in Wales.
Ignoring the fact that other Churches had made such provision the reverse has proved to be true with attendance falling away towards unsustainable levels.
The Archbishop strongly argued against setting a precedent for appointing different bishops to cater for people with different opinions. He said, "When you are made a diocesan bishop you become the bishop of the whole diocese and everyone in it. Some will disagree with you on theological grounds. No matter. You have to be big enough as a diocesan to care and love for all those with whom you may be in profound disagreement. Anglican ecclesiology is about unity in diversity. It’s not a club of those who hold the same views on a particular subject."
The care and love Barry Morgan referred to has been lavished on LGBTQ+ people while faithful Anglicans who follow the path of the wider Church have been dumped with no pastoral care or sacramental provision whatsoever.
The Church in Wales has indeed been turned into a club for the like-minded, something the new archbishop will have plenty of time to reflect on while his assistant runs his diocese.
The archbishop requires even more assistance - for him to do what?
"The essence of this role is to ensure that the Archbishop of Wales is free to exercise his ministry secure in the knowledge that robust systems and protocols are in place to ensure that he will always be well briefed whilst working to a demanding and sustainable schedule.
"Part 1 of Schedule 9 to the Equality Act 2010 applies to this appointment. This post carries an occupational requirement to be a practicing Christian and, preferably, a communicant member of the Church in Wales or a church in communion with it. The post is open to both ordained and lay applicants."
Location: Bangor , the role requires 'some travel in Wales and beyond, and occasional overnight stays'. The Salary: Grade F - £39,674 - £44,887 per annum
Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby (left) with His Holiness Pope Tawadros II, head of Egypt's Coptic Church, at the papal residence in Cairo. Photo: Lambeth Palace Source: Anglican Journal
Some welcome words for a change from Justin Welby, not something that can often be said of the current Archbishop of Canterbury who is noted more for his wokery than for his Christian leadership.
Calling for social care reform he said the government needed to start with the person, not financial costs. I would go along with that but what of people's spiritual health. Anglicanism is becoming increasingly secular.
"In an interview broadcast by an Egyptian television station on Friday, January 7th, on the occasion of Coptic Christmas, the patriarch of the largest Christian community in the Arab countries repeated in a few sentences the reasons why the Catholic Church and all the churches of the East do not have the faculty of conferring priestly ordination to women.
"The priesthood in the Church is reserved for men only, according to the will of Christ himself, who, during his public life, as highlighted in the Gospels, chose his apostles from among men, while not even the Virgin Mary 'wanted to be a priestess'. This was emphasized by the Coptic Orthodox Patriarch Tawadros II, pointing to the source of the teaching on the priesthood that the Catholic Church shares with all Orthodox churches and the ancient churches of the East."
A timely intervention when the Catholic Church seems hell bent on following Anglicanism on a path to destruction.
The movement for the ordination of women is part of a job lot which starts with ordaining women deacons then 'progresses', step by step, to women priests and bishops accompanied by all the gender baggage that goes with it.
The Church ends up with lesbian bishops who claim justification for their position by interpreting scripture in a way that enhances their role based on secular views of social justice.
An upbeat Archbishop Barry Morgan in 2013 with his Ass bishop and then Dean, Janet Henderson before her shock resignation. It's been downhill for Llandaff ever since. Photo: Church Times
Few if any people have sympathy for a mother who abandons her children.
In 'Mother' Church in Wales under Barry Morgan that is exactly what happened to Anglicans who remained true to the faith of the Holy Catholic Church, something the Church in Wales claims to do but patently does not as it becomes more and more secularised.
Reading about the new structure set up in Australia by GAFCON to help conservatives in dioceses that bless same-sex marriages re-opens old wounds for 'traditionalists' in Wales.
A new Diocese will "operate in parallel with any Diocese of the Anglican Church of Australia. It will have a Bishop, and the normal structure of an Anglican diocese such as a synod (church parliament and a standing committee)", something that Morgan and his cronies refused to do. Society bishops are banned from ministering in Wales.
Other Provinces have made provision for those who, in conscience, are unable to accept progressive ideas contrary to scripture and tradition. In Wales, after an initial nod to ensure the success of bills to allow women to be ordained, traditionalists have been abandoned without thought or consideration from bishops charged with caring for all.
Other Provinces have not been so heartless so why have Anglican bishops in Wales been so cruel?
One obvious answer is that traditionalists are a thorn in the flesh in a Church in which matters of the flesh and sexual preference are considered more important than one's faith.
Archbishop Morgan was determined that there would be no long term alternative pastoral or sacramental provision for those who did not share his secularised vision of the church.
Seeing himself as a 'progressive' bishop, Morgan followed the secular, feminist agenda of admitting women to the priesthood and to the episcopate regardless of scripture and tradition while liberalising sexual attitudes to permit same sex marriages in Church. He showed no consideration for those he regarded as opponents once the measures were approved.
Morgan even promoted his his own interpretation of the Bible to advance his cause and was promptly shot down.
The archbishop imported ambitious clergy from England to aid his cause leaving him with egg on his face. Most spectacularly following the resignation of the Very Rev Janet Henderson from her position as Dean of Llandaff after only a few weeks in post. That led to all manner of speculation and rumours of a non-disclosure agreement.
More recently Morgan's manoeuvrings which led to the 'election' of Joanna Penberthy as bishop of St Davids came badly unstuck. He had promoted Penberthy as 'the best person to be a bishop'. Experience suggests the reverse was true.
Another of Morgan's casualties, Ass bishop David Wilbourne, complained of a "sustained campaign forcing him to quit". He often reminded anyone prepared to listen, or not, that he knew John Habgood, not the best acquaintance for some. It has been claimed Habgood 's intervention was responsible for the Church of England's acceptance of the ordination of women.
The Rev Peter Mullin wrote in The Telegraph (£), 06 Feb 2012: "This stinking fish has been a long time on the slab. Back in 1992, the church voted to admit women to the priesthood, but this was only agreed upon the intervention of the then Archbishop of York, Dr John Habgood, who insisted that there were “two integrities” within the church: the one that could accept women priests and the other that could not. Room must be made for both. If Dr Habgood’s agreeable compromise had not been accepted then there would not have been a majority in favour of the ordination of women".
The Church in Wales and the Church of England now ordain women. While the Church of England maintains the two integrities, traditionalists in Wales have been abandoned.
Initially bishop David Thomas was appointed Provincial Assistant Bishop but archbishop Morgan made it abundantly clear that there would not be another when Bishop Thomas retired in 2008.
Another of Morgan's imports from the Church of England, Peggy Jackson used her position as Archdeacon of Llandaff to do all that she could to get rid of traditionalists, leaving them "to make personal decisions and individual choices, to find accommodation as best they can".
She, in turn was to be humiliated when Governing Body rejected her mean private members motion which called on the bench of bishops to "cease to ordain those who, refusing the sacramental ministry of women, expect to rely upon the conscience clauses of the Code".
Nevertheless, the process of abandonment in Wales continues. After Barry Morgan's retirement, the new Archbishop of Wales signalled no change in policy. There would be more of the same - but faster.
Barry Morgan made no secret of the fact that he would not oppose the appointment of a gay bishop. A strong contender to replace him was Jeffrey John, Dean of St Albans.
From Llandaff stalemate: After three days of deliberations (note the link comes under 'Politics'), the Electoral College of the Church in Wales failed to produce a bishop-elect or, as the Rev Peter Ould tweeted, the Church in Wales "couldn't quite bring itself to elect Jeffrey John as Bishop of Llandaff".
While some argued that the appointment of Jeffrey John would attract too much attention for the wrong reason, others suggested that he was just too bright for the rest of the bench who feared they would be overshadowed.
The Church in Wales has two more imports from England sitting on the bench. A partnered lesbian elected bishop of Monmouth and an LGBT+ banner-waving sociologist who was appointed to Llandaff where she enjoys experimenting in her diocese regardless of the effect on existing congregations.
In Llandaff the continued absence of Barry Morgan's placement, Dean Gerwyn Capon remains a puzzle, as does the cause of the swift departure of his predecessor, Janet Henderson but given the mire Janet no doubt found herself in I would guess that she told Barry Morgan what he could do with his scheming.
It says much about an archbishop who prides himself on his Welshness that, save for the one exception who escaped back over the border, he imported failures from England to do his bidding.
So faithful Anglicans across Wales have been abandoned, as Peggy Jackson directed, to find accommodation as best they can.
Some will have found an accommodation in the Church in Wales, presumably with fingers firmly crossed, while others will have advanced their careers, putting their souls in peril in the process. Others just have their memories.
Wales must be among the worst provinces in the Anglican Communion but who cares?
My previous entry generated quite a lot of heat from commentators but not on my main point, the sanctity of marriage.
Understandably people have become weary of the same-sex marriage debate. It drags on and on.
Revisionists do not give up. They maintain pressure until all become used to their ideas. They claim that, if approved, same-sex marriage would be accepted just as divorce and re-marriage in Church no longer raises eyebrows.
The protection of Holy Matrimony deserves more. The Church should be protecting marriage as defined, the lifelong, faithful union between one man and one woman.
Defenders of traditional marriage are accused of homophobia and bigotry. That is unfair. What people do in private is between them and their maker but that is not good enough for promoters of same-sex unions who expect others to legitimise their unions by redefining marriage.
Defenders of traditional marriage who have homosexual friends are aware that many are equally upset by demands for same-sex marriage in Church. As one succinctly put it, marriage is for heterosexuals. Same-sex couples have civil partnerships.
My entry in 2012, To be joined together, included a reference to an article 'The six ways homosexual activists manipulate public opinion' which stated: "Anyone who is concerned about the influence of the homosexual agenda on reshaping traditional values must become intimately familiar with the major tactics that homophiles commonly employ in order to anticipate them and respond in charity and truth. Homophile strategists are very adept at manipulating public opinion with an arsenal of six tactics that are based upon deceptions and half‑truths:
Exploit the “victim” status;
Use the sympathetic media;
Confuse and neutralize the churches;
Slander and stereotype Christians;
Bait and switch (hide their true nature); and
Intimidation.
"By far the most popular homophile tactic is the claim to victim status, which is a very powerful, almost paralyzing, weapon that gives them a distinct advantage in the public square."
The success of this strategy can be seen at the entrance to 10 Downing street where a pride arch was erected to mark Pride Month 2021. Prime Minister Boris Johnson held a reception to celebrate the achievements of LGBT people.
The Prime Minister said the UK’s first ever global LGBT conference will be about ‘kindness, tolerance and openness’ and will look at what more can be done to promote LGBT equality around the world.
We hear a lot about 'equality'. In the absence of hard theological evidence, secular notion of equality was used to justify the ordination of women. The same argument is being used to allow same-sex couples to marry in Church.
Woke cajoling has not only enforced acceptance of political correctness. It seeks to legitimise that which defies logic as if black can be white and white, black.
'Female' is defined as "of or denoting the sex that can bear offspring or produce eggs, distinguished biologically by the production of gametes (ova) which can be fertilized by male gametes." 'Male' is defined as "of or denoting the sex that produces gametes, especially spermatozoa, with which a female may be fertilized or inseminated to produce offspring."
Woke personal preference permits those inclined not only to choose their own gender but to insist that others recognise their wish by using gender-neutral pronouns, something that Canadian university professor Dr Jordan Peterson challenged and suffered for expressing logical rather than woke opinions.
Demonized by progressives, the Guardian carried this vitriolic piece: 'How dangerous is Jordan B Peterson, the rightwing professor who 'hit a hornets' nest'?'
The selfishness of feminist ideas of equality has changed Great Britain's historic Anglicanism based scripture and tradition replacing it with an attitude of take what you want regardless of scripture and tradition or whoever you hurt. Consequently many have been left un-churched. The forgotten victims.
Holy Matrimony is being attacked under the banner of equality.
From the Church in Wales web site Holy Matrimony is properly defined:
"Drawing on the teaching of the Bible, and of the Church down through the centuries, the Church in Wales Marriage Service talks about marriage as a gift of God. Marriage is described as the lifelong, faithful union between a man and a woman, and married love is compared with the love Jesus has for his people – a love expressed in his willing sacrifice of himself on the cross."
But the current bench of bishops, following their manipulation of the Governing Body, now claim that “it is pastorally unsustainable for the Church to make no formal provision for those in same-gender relationships”.
The bench have published their proposals to introduce same-sex blessings. In their explanatory memorandum they write:
"The Bench believes that, in the fullness of time, the Governing Body will have to consider whether it wishes to consider a change in the Church’s teaching concerning marriage. This could enable a couple wishing to live in a faithful and mutually committed same-sex relationship to celebrate the rite of marriage in Church."
Many same-sex couples already live in faithful and mutually committed same-sex relationships. They are accepted in the Church but to pretend under 'equality' rules that same-sex couples are no different to one-man - one-woman marriage defies logic.
The woke culture has become so prevalent that a poll in 2018 found that over half of our MPs were afraid to speak their mind. The silent majority must speak up. From C4M:
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.
It can be only a matter of time before Anglicanism in this country is dominated by women who feel free to do as they please.
In 2020 the Covid-19 lockdown has resulted in churches being closed, only now re-opening for private prayer but that has not prevented the Church in Wales from carrying out some ordinations.
The diocese of Monmouth has been asked by bishop Cherry openly to pray for a new female deacon who will be ordained in Newport Cathedral today.
Of more concern is the rumoured secretive ordination behind Llandaff Cathedral's closed doors today of a man reportedly in a same sex marriage.
Some observations from a concerned commentator:
The regulations forbidding clergy holding public services in their churches have been the cause of deep anxiety and concern. Even when our churches are permitted to be open for private prayer they will not be allowed to vocalise any form of worship. Grotesque? Yes. You may only go into a church if you promise not to utter aloud any praise of God or articulate intercession!
However – one rule for the lower clergy, another for the hierarchy – there is a rumour doing the rounds that Mrs Goulding (alias the bishop of Llandaff) is intent on secretly holding a ‘private’ ordination service behind the locked doors of Llandaff Cathedral in the presence of only a few members of the Chapter. ‘A private ordination behind locked doors’ is no more possible than a ‘private marriage behind locked doors’. Ordination is the concern and action of the whole people of God. The service makes this clear at various points when the congregation is asked questions about the suitability of the candidates and whether it is the wish of the people that they be ordained.
Furthermore, there is apparently to be no Communion. The 1662 Prayer Book, and Wales 1984 – and indeed all ordination services – are within the context of the Eucharist. ‘ . . . all they that receive Orders shall take together, and remain in the same place where hands were laid upon them, until such time as they have received the Communion.”
If the bishop and the priest do not receive the Holy Communion together then one may justifiably question whether it is a legal or valid ordination.
Postscript
Social distancing being ignored:
Deaconing in Newport Cathedral 27 June 2020 Source: YouTube
Following the report of a secretive ordination service in Llandaff Cathedral a tweet from Llandaff diocese has been posted in response to a tweet in which it was queried whether or not churches can now hold worship providing it is behind closed doors:
"Llandaff Diocese #StaySafe
@LlandaffDio
Morning Rachel. Yes, ordinations took place in the cathedral yesterday. Doors were closed because public were unable to attend due to strict social distancing rules. No family or friends could attend.
Unusual circumstances this but safety must come first. ✝️❤️"
There was no announcement of the service that I can find and no prayers invited for the ordinand(s) - more than one is now indicated.
In view of the serious observations contained in the main post, above, a fuller explanation should be made instead of a Covid-19 safety brush off.
PS 2 [28.06.2020]
A further tweet shows five candidates were ordained as deacons to serve in the diocese plus another four presumably to serve in other dioceses.
The latest Petertide ordinations reported on Twitter:
"Ordinations Covid-style in St David's Church Abergwili - congratulations to Heulwen Evans, Jordan Spencer and Lorna Jones, the first of our Deacons to be ordained yesterday (Sunday 28th). All duly socially distanced..."
So should one assume there was no laying on of hands in Abergwili?
It should have been the ordination of priests last Saturday, and I am currently working towards the provisional date of Saturday, 3rd October, for the ordination of our seven priest candidates (Gareth Erlandson, Sally Harper, Simon Piercy, Chris Spencer, Sue Storey, Carol Thomas and James Tout), hoping that it will be possible to hold the ordination in the Cathedral as usual. Do please hold all these individuals in your thoughts and prayers.
By agreement with the Welsh Government, however, we will be able to proceed with the ordination of our deacon candidates, and this is because the government has accepted the argument that it is a necessary step to their assuming ministry and their work as Assistant Curates. In line with government regulations, the ordination service will be online live streamed and recorded, and socially distanced, or with PPE precautions. Ordinations are joyful occasions when we give thanks to God for the calling of men and women to ordained service, but on this occasion, the absence of supporters and a congregation will be keenly felt. It is my hope, therefore, that many of us can hold them in prayer at the time, and support them from a distance. Please remember George Bearwood, Luke Bristowe, Helen Dawson, Toby Jones, Gregory Lachlann-Waddell, Ben Lines, Jo MacKriell, Jim Thompson and Gail Woodward in your prayers." - AD CLERUM - JULY 2020
If there was 'agreement with the Welsh Government' as stated it makes the secrecy surrounding the ordination, Monmouth excluded, all the more surprising
The bench should come clean and explain to the faithful how the ordinations were conducted with social distancing and whether they took part in the context of the Eucharist.
Postscript [05.07.2020]
Source: Church in Wales
St Asaph coming clean at their Petertide ordination service yesterday. Oodles of photos here. Clearly much thought of safeguarding is in evidence.
