What-a-mistaka-to-maka!

Captain Alberto Bertorelli and Private Helga Geerhart in the BBC sitcom 'Allo 'Allo

In the BBC sitcom 'Allo 'Allo, Capt. Bertorelli's response to his latest faux pas was, "What-a-mistaka-to-maka", sentiments that could well be shared by the former Archbishop of Wales, Barry Morgan, having done everything possible to ensure that his favoured candidate Joanna Penberthy was elected to the office of Bishop of St Davids.

A political appointment to advance the cause of feminism in Wales, Penberthy's 'election' was a disaster. Labour politician and LGBT+ activist, she unashamedly uses a sacred office to promote her own secular causes. Any hint of criticism is simply brushed aside as prejudice and discrimination.

Part of her antipathy towards Tories may result from her being placed bottom of the poll with 5% of the votes as the Labour candidate in the 2015 Blackmoor Vale election in Somerset. While the two Liberal Democrat candidates received 37% the two Conservative Party candidates were elected with 59% of the votes, a sizable majority 'never to be trusted'. 

The bishop's position is untenable but she doesn't have the balls to do the honourable thing and resign to pursue her secular interests outside the Church. 

Following an unprecedented wigging by the Church in Wales one would have thought that the bishop would have put the Church before her own self interests but there is no indication that she is considering her position.

The diocese of Winchester had a remedy. Will St Davids follow their example?

Postscript [06.06.2021]

"The Church in Wales is a joke within the Anglican world" - the Rev George Conger on Anglican Unscripted. Starting at position 37.20, George Conger explains that the diocese of St Davids has an average Sunday attendance about the same size as his Deanery in North Western rural Florida. 

He explains how the 'aggressively, left wing' bishop of St Davids, Joanna Penberthy has tweeted on average 20 or 30 times a day, over 40,000 times in the last few years, wearing her emotions and her politics on her sleeve in a Conservative area. Her one notable feat is that she is the first woman bishop in Wales. Click on the link for a withering commentary on the state of the Church in Wales today.

Tory loathing bishop of St Davids issues apology

The bishop of St Davids, Joanna Penberthy, with Barry Morgan (ABp), Andy John (Bangor) and Richard Pain (Monmouth) in 2017    Source: Anglican Journal 

In 2017 the then archbishop of Wales led the applause after the Church in Wales ordained its first woman bishop, Joanna Penberthy, the best person to be a bishop - in Barry Morgan's opinion!

Penberthy does not care much for views which do not accord with her own. She labels genuinely held opposing views on the ordination of women as discrimination. There is no engagement.  She has described views contrary to her own simply as 'water off a duck's back' to her.

A proud Corbynista, Penberthy has issued a statement of apology following a 'private tweet' on 25 March about Conservative Party supporters in which she tweeted Never never never trust a Tory.

As Adrian Hilton (AKA Archbishop Cranmer) aptly puts it: "The Rt Rev'd @jo_penberthy, Bishop of St David's @ChurchinWales, believes she can say one thing on her 'private' Twitter, and another in her pulpit.

Orthodox Anglicans are well familiar with such tactics. Feminist appeals to neighbourliness soon evaporated after they achieved their goals of women's ordination to the priesthood and to the episcopate.

Looking again at the above 2017 photograph it sums up the disaster the Church in Wales has become. In 2018 bishop Penberthy wrote her 'Dear John' letter dispensing with the services of loyal, elderly male clergy.

The report on the investigation into the circumstances surrounding the early retirement of the former bishop of Monmouth, Richard Pain, is still awaited after being promised within six months in May 2020 while the divorced and re-married bishop of Bangor is in line to be the next archbishop of Wales. 

Having achieved parity on the bench no doubt the three women bishops will be insisting that it is time for a woman to lead the Church in Wales, especially if another woman is elected to fill the Swansea and Brecon vacancy.

Postscript

A slap on the wrist for the bishop of St Davids, Joanna Penberthy in this Church in Wales statement:

“The Church in Wales expects all its clergy to engage robustly in public life. However, they need to do so in a way which is respectful, responsible and fair, acknowledging the breadth and diversity of political opinion within the Church. We do not support intemperate claims or poorly informed commentary and we urge all clergy to recognise that, as public office holders, there should be no expectation that personal views will be regarded as private.

“The Bishop of St Davids’ strong political views are well known. We recognise that she has apologised for causing offence and are pleased she has acknowledged the hurt and damage she has caused and deactivated her personal Twitter account.”

Hurt

The obvious hurt expressed in this interview by a lifetime Labour supporter whose conscience told him that his Party no longer represented the traditional values he stood for reminds me of the breakup of the Anglican Communion.

The response of the extreme Left which now dominates the Labour Party was to claim that Ian Austin was “employed by the Tories”.

This is reminiscent of the takeover of the Anglican Church by trendy, Left leaning bishops and their feminist allies. If more people had had the guts to speak out for Anglicanism we may have been saved from the actions of mean spirited bishops who ignore scripture and tradition and have no regard for anyone who gets hurt.

The contagion is spreading to Rome. Fortunately some have the guts to speak out while Pope Francis denounces Amazon Synod critics as racist!

The Murdoch Cameron show

Look where you will, despite the enormity of the famine in Africa and the tragedy in Norway, the Murdoch stories will not go away illustrating the seriousness of the problem for the Tories, the top two, Cameron and Osborne, in particular.

Every stone upturned produces further revelations about the extent of Murdoch's influence and the power wielded by his organisation in British politics but amongst all the stories emerging there can be few as devastating for the Prime Minister as the account from across the pond of 'The Cameron Collapse'.

Update
There's more and more and yet more - money this time. Did I hear bankers mentioned?

Two Faces

Oliver Letwin’s face was a picture when William Hague announced that the Tories had ‘gone the extra mile’ to promise an Alternative Vote referendum. Written all over it was the sense that government was slipping from their grasp and Lord Ashcroft might ask for his money back. No surprise that the Tories made their concession only after Gordon Brown fell on his sword in the public interest to pave the way for the so-called ‘rainbow’ progressive alliance if the Tory/Lib Dem talks fail.

It has been reported that in order to make this concession David Cameron had to agree that the Tory Right would be represented in any cabinet probably with three seats. One of the names mentioned was that of their former primo uomo, Michael Howard, famously described by the great Tory diva, Ann Widdecombe, as having ‘something of the night about him’. An odd choice given the Tories frequently expressed views in this campaign about rejected politicians.

Throughout the campaign I have thought that David Milliband had a knowing look about him, like the King in waiting. He may yet be but for how long with such an assortment of minor parties needed to maintain a majority. Concessions required by them may be unrealistic leaving us in a worse mess. If the Tory party can satisfy Lib Dem anxieties and the threat of gerrymandering has been completely removed it seems reasonable that they should have their chance to form a government. What a disaster for their leader if that does not happen. So close to the ultimate prize of Prime Minister yet he could, as Ann Robinson might put it before she winks off to the news, “Mr Cameron, you go away with nothing. Goodbye!”

Postscript

With a decision expected it is interesting to see on the BBC News another change of face by Oliver Letwin resuming his previous broad grin. Deal done?