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| In The News…
Further dialogue between the Church of England and the Church of Rome depends very much on how the former implements recommendations made by the Lambeth Conference earlier this year. At the Conference itself three Roman speakers criticised developments in the Anglican Communion, especially as they concerned the introduction of women bishops and the toleration of homosexual clergy. A Vatican official who was present at the Conference has since said that the its strong support for a moratorium on same-sex blessings, the consecration of homosexual bishops, and respect for diocesan structures was a positive sign which could lead to greater cohesion and a stronger sense of identity. He repeated the Roman call for a new Oxford Movement that would emphasise the importance of the episcopacy, authority in the Church, and fidelity to its traditions.
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| The Moscow Patriarchate has warned the Church of England that the consecration of women bishops would be an obstacle to Orthodox-Anglican dialogue. Even the theoretical possibility of the Orthodox Churches acknowledging the apostolic succession of Anglican bishops would be excluded. It was also hoped that the consecration of a homosexual bishop by ECUSA would not be copied by the Church of England.
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| The Roman Catholic bishop of Lancaster, Patrick O’Donaghue, has declared, in the recently published, Fit for Mission? Church, that the Roman Church in this country is losing its specific identity. He believes, in the light of decline within the Church, that there needs to be renewal through a reaffirmation of faith, obedience to the bishops in communion with the Pope, sound doctrine, and sound liturgy. He believes that the reforms of Vatican II have been misinterpreted. Change and continuity need to be balanced through maintaining the Roman understanding of the Church as a continuous tradition and a living present authority. He expresses concern at the number of Roman Catholics who set aside the Church’s teaching authority and are swayed more by “the fashionable opinions of society”. Part of the blame he attributed to the bishops for delegating responsibilities to committees of lay people.
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| Charles Wesley’s 1000 page journal, written between 1736 and 1756 in a shorthand code, has been has been transcribed by the Rev Professor Kenneth Newport, assisted by S.T. Kimbrough Jr from the USA. One key to the code was found in part of the Authorised Version of the Bible that Wesley had put into coded form. Among other matters the journal makes clear that Charles believed Methodist Societies should remain in the Church of England. While the Wesley brothers agreed that neither would marry without the other’s approval, Charles was not happy with John’s proposed marriage.
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| A new group, known as ACCORD, has opened a campaign for all schools to be inclusive, and that there should not be any special arrangements for state-funded religious schools. ACCORD is chaired by a Jewish Rabbi and contains representatives of some other religious denominations as well as well-known atheists and agnostics. Faith School leaders, however, insist that their schools are fully inclusive.
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| Elizabethan Hope Frustrated
Elizabeth I came to the throne on November 17th,1558, and this year marks the 450th anniversary of that great event in the history of our nation. It was proposed by a Conservative MP over fifty years ago that the 400th anniversary should be marked by special events. Henry Kerby, MP for Arundel and Shoreham, wrote to the then Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, suggesting an Elizabethan festival. Discussions took place but the conclusion was reached by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Charles Hill, that it was not “an occasion suitable for a big splash at government expense”. One objection arose from the fact that Elizabeth was not the Scottish queen, and there might be some dissent from that quarter. Another was found in the possible response from the Roman Catholic community. “The Catholic Church has little reason to celebrate the reign of Elizabeth I”, the Chancellor wrote.
All this was discovered in Government files released under the Freedom of Information Act. It is still held by some Roman Catholics that Elizabeth was an oppressor of the Roman Church, despite the evidence of history that active steps were taken against some of its members only as a consequence of treasonable activities, encouraged by a papal decree, designed to overthrow her and restore a Roman monarchy.
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