A new dawn

Just a small item listed among other 'News' items on Google but a momentous event despite the fact that the major interest in the Ordinariate would appear to be from abroad. Listed among the overseas commentators was the BBC although 'auntie' chose to highlight the opinion of Prebendary David Houlding who "belongs to the Catholic Group on the Church of England Synod, and regards the ordination with sadness and anger."

Whatever 'sadness and anger' there may be, nothing should detract from this momentous  occasion in which the Ordinariate brings together Catholics, Roman and Anglican, in the spirit Christ prayed for on the night of His betrayal, that we all may be one.

His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI is clearly a man of vision. Full marks are also due to the Archbishop of Westminster who reflected Pope Benedict's vision in his homily at the ordination of three former Anglican bishops today and to Archbishop Rowan for his prayers and understanding.


Postscript
Less understanding (or deliberate misrepresentation in the  style of WATCH) is shown by Peter Stanford whose article now heads the Google news item. He writes "It is the Vatican's negative attitude to women's ministry that formed the backdrop to the whole affair. The three recruits oppose the Church of England's plans to appoint female bishops and regard the Catholic priesthood as a safe, female-free haven." His article in today's Observer (16 Jan 2011) is beautifully unpicked here.

None so blind as those who will not see

Islamic extremists are not typical of the Muslim presence in Britian (yet) so the problem is swept under the carpet but how much evidence of a problem in our midst do dhim-wits need? In Great Britain we have become so accustomed to the type of demonstrations illustrated above that the participants are simply dismissed as cranks. When British troops return from duty and are heckled by Islamic demonstrators they are dismissed as minorities entitled to protest in a democracy.

Their placards are not idle threats. In Islamic countries Christians, Jews and other non-Muslims are being massacred and driven out of their homelands, proof that jihadists are deadly serious. The double-standards employed by dhim-wits here reinforce the view that they regard only Islam as sacred with no understanding of what that means for our survival as a Christian nation. To question their stance is regarded as bigotry.

Thankfully there are many more peaceful Muslims than extremists, the excuse regularly used for inaction but there is no excuse for ignoring threats to our liberty. It takes only a few, four in fact in the last major outrage when the 7/7 bombers killed fifty-two civilians and injured 700. The Inquest into that atrocity has revealed that the backbone of Britain has been replaced by a paralysis of self interest. From The Guardian today it is even more apparent that the full force of the law is reserved for relatively peaceful protest.

The aim of Islam is a world under Sharia law in which the democracy Islamist protesters use to further their cause would not be permitted. Evidence from most Islamic countries clearly demonstrates that minority religions are not tolerated. In the process of Islamisation, the beheading demanded on the placard is no idle threat. Meanwhile, when it comes to Panorama warning us of serious problems facing this country, the Prime Minister is more vocal about football than our freedom.

From The Grauniad

Rowan Williams speaking at the General Synod: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

Reporting on the opening of the new General Synod, The Guardian presents an article "Anglican church faces 'piece by piece dissolution', warns archbishop" under a picture of His Grace with the caption Rowan Williams speaking at the General Synod , apparently not knowing its Abbey from its Church House. A sign of the times?

Let These People Go

From The Guardian looking forward to the forthcoming Synod debate on women bishops and the Archbishops’ desperate last hope amendment to maintain some integrity for the church:

“Sally Barnes, from Women and the Church [WATCH], said: "If you institutionalise this kind of discrimination, it creates more problems. The issues of division will not be healing. If this goes down, Christian women who want women bishops have said, 'We're waiting for it to happen, we're so sick of the opposition. We will just leave.'"

Well go and good riddance. The people in WATCH have already been given too much rope. They are wrecking the Anglican Church with their duplicity claiming the guidance of the Holy Spirit when it suits them and the work of the devil when things do not go according to their selfish plan. They claim discrimination where none exists. They are blatant feminists caring not one jot for the faith of true believers in the one Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.

For those who have been converted to acceptance of the ordination of women to the priesthood, life is so much easier. They have bitten the apple but why make life so difficult for the rest of us who remained true to the tradition of our church? Saturday’s Observer Magazine (04.07.10) carries an article “Is the Church Still Sexist?” which says it all. Still sexist? Joanna Jepson pictured below is quoted as saying “Whether I am called to be a bishop or not, the impact is personal, for all of us, because this corporate injustice is being challenged.” [My italics]

“I know I can do the job that is best suited to who I am” was the quote from a young curate while Lucy Winkett, who to her credit has not hidden her feminist goals, complains of what “in any other area of public life would be called discrimination.” She dismisses “the number of people who really can’t accept this [the ordination of women] [as] extremely small.” Rather like the early church? Forward in Faith and Reform are brushed aside as a small proportion of the ‘regular worshipping community of 1.7million (who attend at least once a month), the majority of whom – 65% - is female.”

This huge majority, a small minority in the Christian church as a whole, may be regular (I would say occasional) but it distorts the fact that the more frequent faithful few worshippers are more likely to have a deeper faith which is being pushed aside by forces content to see them fall by the wayside. How can this be? WATCH has nothing to do with faith. It is an ultra-feminist entrist organisation dressed in clerical clothing. I have no objection to feminism or to feminists but I do object to the deceit and duplicity WATCH use when they falsely claim discrimination to achieve their aim which is parity in the church as though it were a business corporation. They have already formed a woman bishop’s queue as they worm their way through the legal complexities and vote fixing in Synod as though they were engaged in some sort of corporate power struggle.

These women say they “will just leave” if they don’t get their own way. So what does this say about their faith and loyalty to the Anglican church if they can just up sticks and leave in a fit of pique while many devout Anglicans are so desperate to stay in their cradle church they are grateful for almost any fudge that can be put together? For far too long these WATCH feminists have been telling us to leave if we don’t like what they are about. Enough is enough. The church should embrace feminists but not destructive feminism before faith. It’s time to let them go and set up their own church, not destroy ours.

Postscript

With acknowledgments to Fr Ed's St Barnabas Blog this link is recommended viewing. I couldn't agree more.