Rowan Williams, the Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury is in Rome, for meetings at the Vatican, including an audience with Pope Benedict XVI (see some details HERE).

The Archbishop also contributed to the Willebrands Symposium, an academic event celebrating the ecumenical contribution of Cardinal Willebrands, the first President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, organised after the Second Vatican Council.

Rowan Williams has read a paper at this event. I reproduce below a fragment from this discourse, related to the recent openings at the Vatican for receiving among Catholics those Anglicans who are discontent with recent evolutions in the Anglican Communion.

The recent announcement of an Apostolic Constitution making provision for former Anglicans shows some marks of the recognition that diversity of ethos does not in itself compromise the unity of the Catholic Church, even within the bounds of the historic Western patriarchate. But it should be obvious that it does not seek to do what we have been sketching: it does not build in any formal recognition of existing ministries or units of oversight or methods of independent decision-making, but remains at the level of spiritual and liturgical culture, as we might say. As such, it is an imaginative pastoral response to the needs of some; but it does not break any fresh ecclesiological ground. It remains to be seen whether the flexibility suggested in the Constitution might ever lead to something less like a ‘chaplaincy’ and more like a church gathered around a bishop.

You may read the whole text HERE.

It is a story that will not just wane. A year ago, having moved to London from Glasgow, together with my catholic neighbours, i went to the local church for a Sunday service expecting not more than just a sermon.

Being the only blackman in the 300 seater cathedral, i got the chance to shake hands with the presiding priest who i came to know as Fr. Steven. Now that was lame! Having been brought up in a conservative parish deep in Uganda where i grew up, i knew Steven as a name that belonged to protestants. You see, we were made to believe then, that some names belonged to given religions and if you had to be a true catholic, it was wise to avoid them. (names)

Fr. Steven was smart, loving and caring. He had delivered his sermon with such precision and competence that i wondered if it was because he was white or just a question of being one of those talented preachers.

Turns out, Fr. Steven was indeed a talented former Anglican Reverand married with 3 children. Now, that was even odder! Curious and shaken, i asked to know if it was even legal for a married person to say mass. Having missed out on joining Kitabi Seminary to train as a priest myself, i had more reasons to demand answers.

You see, my parents had passed away when i was a young kid–just 1 year old. Fr. Celil Mbura, the then vocations priest at my local parish in Uganda had ruled that because they (my parents) had passed away without wedding in the church, i had no moral right to join a seminary later on become a priest.

But here was a married man, with kids and a wife who was seriously delivering goods and serving the holy communion. I was confused. I asked Fr. Steven about it and he told me there is no law that bars married people from becoming priests. In fact his interpretation of the rule was that a priest is not allowed to marry. Meaning any married person could become a priest but no priest would marry and still serve. Even more confusing but i understood it. I cursed the day i was denied access to priesthood and swore never to forgive Fr. Celil Mbura.

But that is a story for another day.

Today, the world is awash with a new story. Rome or The Vatican as we know it appears to have got this one right. With the Anglicans confused over whether their church should ordain and consecrate women Bishops, Rome appears to have found a way of winning back those it feels can be won. The rule book will not matter as long as the interpretation suits the interest of The Vatican.

The situation is so serious that the Archbishop of Canterbury has  had to express his concerns to the Pope over the way His Highness is welcoming disaffected Anglicans into the Roman Catholic Church.

In the private meeting at the Vatican with Benedict XVI, Dr Rowan Williams made clear he had been put in an ‘awkward position’ because he had been given so little warning about the proposals to entice Anglicans to Rome by letting them keep many of their traditions.

But he insisted that the tone of the meeting had been ‘very friendly’, and relations between the two Churches were still strong. The Vatican also described the meeting as ‘cordial’.

Some Church of England leaders have accused the Vatican of discourtesy in failing to consult Dr Williams. The Archbishop was distressed when the proposals were sprung on him last month with barely two weeks’ notice.

Many believe the Pope is deliberately trying to poach Anglicans dismayed at the liberal drift of their own Church, undermining years of efforts to improve relations between the denominations.

A smart move of course given the circumstances.

The Vatican says its invitation came in response to pleas from Anglicans unhappy about the imminent consecration of women bishops

But should the Pope have consulted the Anglican church? Of course the Pope should not have consulted the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Me thinks the choice is purely a personal decision of the individual anglicans based on the terms offered by the catholic church!!!!

The Archbishop of Canterbury had his say when he allowed women priests. That was when he lost many anglicans support and any decsions they take has absolutely nothing to do with him now.

So I say back off and keep out, the irretrievable damage has been done and you and the anglican church are the losers

You tell me!

President Obama; family time

He’s still incredibly busy running the country, but President Obama found a little time this past week to catch up with his half-brother. While visiting Beijing on a diplomatic trip, Mr. Obama set aside a few minutes to talk with Mark Okoth Obama Ndesandjo, who shares the same father as the president. Mr. Ndesandjo made some headlines several months ago when he spoke about growing up with whom he called his “abusive father.” He and the president have rarely seen each other in person. After their latest meeting, Mr. Ndesandjo said he felt overwhelmed and “over the moon” about getting to see his famous sibling. Details of what was discussed were not revealed, but Searches still soared on both men's names, as well as “obama family tree.”

via The Buzz Log – Obama’s Brother, Elizabeth Lambert, and a Special Delivery: Buzz Week in Review – Yahoo! Buzz.

President Obama & family time

He’s still incredibly busy running the country, but President Obama found a little time this past week to catch up with his half-brother. While visiting Beijing on a diplomatic trip, Mr. Obama set aside a few minutes to talk with Mark Okoth Obama Ndesandjo, who shares the same father as the president. Mr. Ndesandjo made some headlines several months ago when he spoke about growing up with whom he called his “abusive father.” He and the president have rarely seen each other in person. After their latest meeting, Mr. Ndesandjo said he felt overwhelmed and “over the moon” about getting to see his famous sibling. Details of what was discussed weren't revealed, but Searches still soared on both men's names, as well as “obama family tree.”

via The Buzz Log – Obama’s Brother, Elizabeth Lambert, and a Special Delivery: Buzz Week in Review – Yahoo! Buzz.

The future of two faiths, slightly estranged.

For those who have not heard, or are still confused about what’s at stake, the issue is this: Pope Benedict XVI decided to make it easier for entire parishes and groups to enter into communion with the Catholic church while seemingly able to retain their distinctive culture. It’s a godsend for many Anglicans who feel that the ordination of women and gay bishops and priests is theologically a violation of their beliefs.

However, the heated dialogue that has ensued over the statements made by our beloved Pontiff, have created a flurry of both excitement and frustration. Rev. Jo Bailey of Duke University says the statement made by Rome is both “confused and confusing”. Talks between doctrinal officials and traditionalists have created all sorts of ambiguities and issues.

Some feel that the move by Rome has pulled over a fast one on Archbishop Rowan Williams, who is the head of the Anglican Church. It certainly comes as a surprise to most Christians who had seen interfaith dialogue increase, but certainly had not expected this.

Apparently, Time is claiming that Anglican traditionalists had met with the Vatican in secret, behind Williams back. While the statement has many positive ramifications for the Catholic side of the faith, and those Catholics who were at one time Anglican, this may have potentially vitriolic effects on the Anglican side of the church. While many have been up in arms about the directions the Anglican church has taken, this move by Rome and at least a sizable number of traditionalists might complicate rather than facilitate matters.

There has been dialogue over the last 40 years to slowly merge the two faiths closer together, but this latest move by Rome might be taken as a claim to rivalry, instead of an open door. Though, at least for many Anglicans, the move is seen as a refreshing turn in the right direction. For those concerned about the directions that the Anglican communion had been taking, or who had converted from Anglican/Episcopal rites to the Catholic faith, this is an exciting turn of events, and while there is work to be done, it’s going to turn out for the best.

I think Time is right to highlight the complexities that the statement proposes, but we should be more generous, since the issue at hand is happening between two faiths that are concerned with growing closer together, not further apart. Further, while the issue is complex and may cause some intense dialogue I do not think that this will result in a dramatic splintering or a further schism, as some have suggested.

I think that while the statement made by the Vatican might have been a bit hasty, this was not a secret Vatican mission to expand ecclesiastical borders and expand an empire. There was a strong demand from within the Anglican communion for a streamlined way to return to the mother church, while retaining some of the distinctive flairs of the Anglican rite. Now it is fair to ask if this might be used as a way for the liberal Episcopals to jettison pesky conservatives and get on with being a church for the people, and I think this statement may very well do a bit of that. However, the Vatican’s statement also highlights the very real issues in the Anglican communion and it just shows how poised the issue has been for split already.

I think it’s a mistake for some Catholics to hope that the inclusion intends to homogenize the Anglican rite into an anglicized Roman rite, including the reemphasizing of celibacy in the rite, or a stronger emphasis against a more democratic leadership.

Whatever happens, I think time will tell, and we’ll just have to wait and see what kinds of issues are resolved on practical levels, including who owns the church properties themselves, and who will be in charge of ordination in the new rite.

I know that this is a dream becoming reality for a personal friend and I. He had joined the anglican church after finding his charismatic-non-denominational church to be unappealing. But when the church announced the officiating of openly gay clergy and women, he felt like something had bee stolen from him, the tradition he desired had been cut out from underneath him. I’d always hoped something like this might happen to allow Western, especially American Christians to find a beautiful and orthodox faith that included marriage for those who wanted to be married.

I think the Church should respect the unity and diversity of her rites, and pushing too hard on either celibacy or church government in the Anglican rite could cause problems for traditionalists hoping to hold on to the distinctive character of their culture and liturgy. It seems though that at least at first sight, the Apostolic Constitution seeks to preserve the distinctiveness of the Anglical Patrimony.

While I see this as a way for Catholicism to flourish in the European West only time will tell.

And this is Just in: The meetings in Rome happened, so I’ll be giving a brief update of the situation here.

The Vatican announced that the talks were “cordial.” This was the first meeting between the Pope and the Arch Bishop since the surprise announcement by the Vatican last month. However, the talks seem to have gone well, at least from an outside point of view. One of Dr. Williams most senior advisers the Rev Canon Jonathan Goodall will remain in Rome to establish further dialogue. The talks are designed to build even closer ties between the two faiths.

In an act of good faith, of profound charity and symbolism, the Pope gave Archbishop Williams the gift of a pectoral cross – the large cross which bishops wear around their neck. “It is one of the signs of episcopal leadership, along with the mitre and staff.”- source 2 under further reading.

It is most assuredly a sign of friendship and fraternity, but also means that the Holy Father recognizes Williams as a bishop. Williams was reported as respectful without being deferential on the matters of import, and hopes that despite the disillusioned Anglicans, official talks will resume and have positive effects for both churches uniting against secularism.

For More reading see:

The Anglican and Catholic Churches: Friends or Rivals? – TIME.

Archbishop of Canterbury Visits Rome

Catholic Culture Article on the Original Statement by the Vatican

BENEDICTO XVI

CONSTITUCIÓN APOSTÓLICA

ANGLICANORUM COETIBUS

SOBRE LA INSTITUCIÓN DE ORDINARIATOS PERSONALES
PARA ANGLICANOS QUE ENTRAN EN LA PLENA COMUNIÓN
CON LA IGLESIA CATÓLICA

En estos últimos tiempos el Espíritu Santo ha impulsado a grupos de anglicanos a pedir en varias ocasiones e insistentemente ser recibidos, también corporativamente, en la plena comunión católica y esta Sede apostólica ha acogido benévolamente su solicitud. El Sucesor de Pedro, que tiene el mandato del Señor Jesús de garantizar la unidad del episcopado y de presidir y tutelar la comunión universal de todas las Iglesias[1], no puede dejar de predisponer los medios para que este santo deseo pueda realizarse.

La Iglesia, pueblo reunido en la unidad del Padre, del Hijo y del Espíritu Santo[2], fue instituida por nuestro Señor Jesucristo como «el sacramento o signo e instrumento de la unión íntima con Dios y de la unidad de todo el género humano»[3]. Toda división entre los bautizados en Jesucristo es una herida a lo que la Iglesia es y a aquello para lo que la Iglesia existe; de hecho, «contradice clara y abiertamente la voluntad de Cristo, es un escándalo para el mundo y perjudica a la causa santísima de predicar el Evangelio a toda criatura»[4]. Precisamente por esto, antes de derramar su sangre por la salvación del mundo, el Señor Jesús oró al Padre por la unidad de sus discípulos[5].

Es el Espíritu Santo, principio de unidad, quien constituye a la Iglesia como comunión[6]. Él es el principio de la unidad de los fieles en la enseñanza de los Apóstoles, en la fracción del pan y en la oración[7]. Con todo, la Iglesia, por analogía con el misterio del Verbo encarnado, no es sólo una comunión invisible, espiritual, sino también visible[8]; de hecho, «la sociedad dotada de órganos jerárquicos y el Cuerpo místico de Cristo, el grupo visible y la comunidad espiritual, la Iglesia de la tierra y la Iglesia enriquecida de bienes del cielo, no se pueden considerar como dos realidades distintas. Forman más bien una sola realidad compleja resultante de un doble elemento, divino y humano»[9];. La comunión de los bautizados en la enseñanza de los Apóstoles y en la fracción del pan eucarístico se manifiesta visiblemente en los vínculos de la profesión de la integridad de la fe, de la celebración de todos los sacramentos instituidos por Cristo y del gobierno del Colegio de los obispos unidos a su cabeza, el Romano Pontífice[10].

Efectivamente, la única Iglesia de Cristo, que en el Credo profesamos una, santa, católica y apostólica, «subsiste en la Iglesia católica gobernada por el Sucesor de Pedro y por los obispos en comunión con él, aunque fuera de su estructura visible pueden encontrarse muchos elementos de santificación y de verdad que, como dones propios de la Iglesia de Cristo, impulsan hacia la unidad católica»[11].

A la luz de esos principios eclesiológicos, con esta constitución apostólica se ofrece una normativa general que regule la institución y la vida de los Ordinariatos personales para aquellos fieles anglicanos que desean entrar corporativamente en la comunión plena con la Iglesia católica. Esta normativa se integra con Normas complementarias emanadas por la Sede apostólica.

I.§ 1. Los Ordinariatos personales para los anglicanos que entran en la plena comunión con la Iglesia católica son erigidos por la Congregación para la doctrina de la fe dentro de los confines territoriales de una Conferencia episcopal determinada, después de haber consultado a dicha Conferencia.

§ 2. En el territorio de una Conferencia episcopal pueden erigirse uno o más Ordinariatos, según las necesidades.

§ 3. Cada Ordinariato ipso iure goza de personalidad jurídica pública; es jurídicamente equiparable a una diócesis[12].

§ 4. El Ordinariato está formado por fieles laicos, clérigos y miembros de institutos de vida consagrada o de sociedades de vida apostólica, originariamente pertenecientes a la Comunión anglicana y ahora en plena comunión con la Iglesia católica, o que reciben los sacramentos de la iniciación en la jurisdicción del Ordinariato mismo.

§ 5. El Catecismo de la Iglesia católica es la expresión auténtica de la fe católica profesada por los miembros del Ordinariato.

II. El Ordinariato personal se rige por las normas del derecho universal y por esta constitución apostólica y está sujeto a la Congregación para la doctrina de la fe y a los demás dicasterios de la Curia romana según sus competencias. También valen para él las citadas Normas complementariasy otras eventuales normas específicas dadas para cada Ordinariato.

III. Sin excluir las celebraciones litúrgicas según el Rito Romano, el Ordinariato tiene la facultad de celebrar la Eucaristía y los demás sacramentos, la Liturgia de las Horas y las demás acciones litúrgicas según los libros litúrgicos propios de la tradición anglicana aprobados por la Santa Sede, con el objetivo de mantener vivas en el seno de la Iglesia católica las tradiciones espirituales, litúrgicas y pastorales de la Comunión anglicana, como don precioso para alimentar la fe de sus miembros y riqueza para compartir.

IV. Un Ordinariato personal está encomendado al cuidado pastoral de un Ordinario nombrado por el Romano Pontífice.

V. La potestad (potestas) del Ordinario es:

a. ordinaria: unida por el derecho mismo al oficio conferido por el Romano Pontífice, para el fuero interno y para el fuero externo;

b. vicaria: ejercida en nombre del Romano Pontífice;

c. personal: ejercida sobre todos aquellos que pertenecenal Ordinariato.

Dicha potestad se ejerce de manera conjunta con la del obispo diocesano local en los casos previstos por las Normas complementarias.

VI. § 1. Aquellos que han ejercido el ministerio de diáconos, presbíteros u obispos anglicanos, que responden a los requisitos establecidos por el derecho canónico[13] y no están impedidos por irregularidades u otros impedimentos[14], pueden ser aceptados por el Ordinario como candidatos a las sagradas órdenes en la Iglesia católica. Para los ministros casados se han de observar las normas de la encíclica de Pablo VI Sacerdotalis coelibatus, n. 42[15], y de la declaración In June[16].Los ministros no casados deben atenerse a la norma del celibato clerical según el canon 277, 1.

§ 2. El Ordinario, observando plenamente la disciplina sobre el celibato clerical en la Iglesia latina,pro regula admitirá sólo a hombres célibes al orden del presbiterado. Podrá pedir al Romano Pontífice, en derogación del canon 277, 1, que admita caso por caso al orden sagrado del presbiterado también a hombres casados, según los criterios objetivos aprobados por la Santa Sede.

§ 3. La incardinación de los clérigos se regulará según las normas del derecho canónico.

§ 4. Los presbíteros incardinados en un Ordinariato, que constituyen su presbiterio, deben cultivar también un vínculo de unidad con el presbiterio de la diócesis en cuyo territorio desempeñan su ministerio; deberán favorecer iniciativas y actividades pastorales y caritativas conjuntas, que podrán ser objeto de acuerdos estipulados entre el Ordinario y el Obispo diocesano local.

§ 5. Los candidatos a las sagradas órdenes en un Ordinariato se formarán junto a los demás seminaristas, especialmente en los ámbitos doctrinal y pastoral. Para tener en cuenta las necesidades particulares de los seminaristas del Ordinariato y de su formación en el patrimonio anglicano, el Ordinario puede establecer programas para desarrollar en el seminario o también erigir casas de formación, unidas a facultades de teología católicas ya existentes.

VII. El Ordinario, con la aprobación de la Santa Sede, puede erigir nuevos institutos de vida consagrada y sociedades de vida apostólica y promover a los miembros a las sagradas órdenes, según las normas del derecho canónico. Institutos de vida consagrada provenientes del anglicanismo y ahora en plena comunión con la Iglesia católica pueden someterse por mutuo acuerdo a la jurisdicción del Ordinario.

VIII. § 1. El Ordinario, a tenor de la norma del derecho, después de haber oído el parecer del obispo diocesano del lugar, puede, con el consentimiento de la Santa Sede, erigir parroquias personales, para el cuidado pastoral de los fieles pertenecientes al Ordinariato.

§ 2. Los párrocos del Ordinariato gozan de todos los derechos y están sujetos a todas las obligaciones previstas en el Código de derecho canónico, que, en los casos establecidos en las Normas complementarias, se ejercen como mutua ayuda pastoral con los párrocos de la diócesis en cuyo territorio se encuentra la parroquia personal del Ordinariato.

IX. Tanto los fieles laicos como los institutos de vida consagrada y las sociedades de vida apostólica que provienen del anglicanismo y desean formar parte del Ordinariato personal, deben manifestar esta voluntad por escrito.

X. § 1. El Ordinario es asistido en su gobierno por un consejo de gobierno, regulado por estatutos aprobados por el Ordinario y confirmados por la Santa Sede[17].

§ 2. El consejo de gobierno, presidido por el Ordinario, está compuesto al menos por seis sacerdotes y ejerce las funciones establecidas en el Código de derecho canónico para el consejo presbiteral y el colegio de consultores, y las especificadas en las Normas complementarias.

§ 3. El Ordinario debe constituir un consejo de asuntos económicos, según la norma del Código de derecho canónico y con las funciones establecidas por este[18].

§ 4. Para favorecer la consulta de los fieles, en el Ordinariato se debe constituir un consejo pastoral[19].

XI. El Ordinario debe acudir a Roma cada cinco años para la visita ad limina Apostolorum y, a través de la Congregación para la doctrina de la fe, en relación también con la Congregación para los obispos y la Congregación para la evangelización de los pueblos, debe presentar al Romano Pontífice una relación sobre la situación del Ordinariato.

XII. Para las causas judiciales, el tribunal competente es el de la diócesis donde tiene su domicilio una de las partes, a no ser que el Ordinariato haya constituido un tribunal propio, en cuyo caso el tribunal de apelación será el designado por el Ordinariato y aprobado por la Santa Sede.

XIII. El decreto que erigirá un Ordinariato determinará el lugar de la sede del Ordinariato mismo y, si lo considera oportuno, también cuál será su iglesia principal.

Deseamos que estas disposiciones y normas nuestras sean válidas y eficaces ahora y en el futuro, no obstante, si fuese necesario, las constituciones y las ordenanzas apostólicas emanadas por nuestros predecesores, y cualquier otra prescripción también digna de particular mención o derogación.

Dado en Roma, junto a San Pedro, el 4 de noviembre de 2009, memoria de san Carlos Borromeo.

BENEDICTUS PP. XVI

NOTAS

[1] Cf. Concilio ecuménico Vaticano II, constitución dogmática Lumen gentium, 23; Congregación para la doctrina de la fe, carta Communionis notio, 12; 13.

[2] Cf. Lumen gentium, 4; Unitatis redintegratio, 2.

[3] Lumen gentium, 1.

[4] Unitatis redintegratio, 1.

[5] Cf. Jn 17, 20-21; Unitatis redintegratio, 2.

[6] Cf. Lumen gentium, 13.

[7] Cf. ib.; Hch 2, 42.

[8] Cf. Lumen gentium, 8; carta Communionis notio, 4.

[9] Lumen gentium, 8.

[10] Cf. Código de derecho canónico, can. 205; Lumen gentium, 13, 14, 21, 22; Unitatis redintegratio, 2, 3, 4, 15, 20; Christus Dominus, 4; Ad gentes, 22.

[11] Lumen gentium, 8; Unitatis redintegratio, 1, 3, 4; Congregación para la doctrina de la fe, declaración Dominus Iesus, 16.

[12] Cf. Juan Pablo II, constitución apostólica Spirituali militum curae, 21 de abril de 1986, i 1.

[13] Cf. Código de derecho canónico, cann. 1026-1032.

[14] Cf. Código de derecho canónico, cann. 1040-1049.

[15] Cf. AAS 59 (1967) 674.

[16] Cf. Congregación para la doctrina de la fe, declaración del 1 de abril de 1981, enEnchiridionVaticanum7, 1213.

[17] Cf. Código de derecho canónico, cann. 495-502.

[18] Cf. Código de derecho canónico, cann. 492-494.

[19] Cf. Código de derecho canónico, can. 511.

© Copyright 2005 – Libreria Editrice Vaticana

]]> http://anglicansamizdat.wordpress.com/2009/11/19/rowan-williams-pleads-with-the-vatican-on-female-bishops/ Thu, 19 Nov 2009 20:59:25 +0000 David http://anglicansamizdat.wordpress.com/2009/11/19/rowan-williams-pleads-with-the-vatican-on-female-bishops/

Rowan Williams, ever in search of the impossible dream, is in Rome:

The archbishop of Canterbury today pleaded with Roman Catholics to set aside their differences with Anglicans over the issue of female bishops, insisting there was more uniting the denominations than dividing them.

Rowan Williams was giving a lecture in Rome before Sunday’s meeting with the pope, their first encounter since the Vatican’s surprise announcement of a special institution for traditionalist Anglicans wanting to convert to Catholicism.

In his address at the Gregorian University, Williams said the Anglican communion was proof that churches could stay together in spite of their differences.

Where has Rowan been for the last 3 years? The Anglican communion is proof that the church can’t stay together once internal differences become as stark as they are now.

I understand that once Rowan has convinced the Pope of the benefits of women bishops he will be travelling to Saudi Arabia to plead the case for women imams.

Philip Pullman

The greatest story ever told (as debated here) has been given a new leash of life by His Dark Materials author Philip Pullman.

In a new project, Pullman has written an alternative Bible passage re-imagining the fate of Jesus Christ, who, it is written, was killed by the Romans (or not).

Talking to The Daily Telegraph, a friend of the author said: “He has written what would have happened if Jesus had had a fair trial. He knows it will be controversial, but he has some serious points to make.”

Pullman will read his reworking or Christ’s fate at the Globe Theatre on Thursday 19 November as part of the 10th anniversary celebrations of Reprieve, an organisation which campaigns for prisoner rights.

The author is not new to controversy with the church. An honorary associate of the National Secular Society, several of Pullman’s books have been criticised by the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights. His Dark Materials, Pullman’s collection of fantasy novels which contain much discussed religious allegories, have been seen as a direct negation of Christian author, C S Lewis’, The Chronicles of Narnia, which have been criticised by Pullman.

He is also often lambasted for an interview in which he reportedly said: “I’m trying to undermine the basis of Christian belief.”

Despite all this confrontation the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, has suggested His Dark Materials be taught as part of the religious education curriculum in schools.

The Reprieve event will be hosted by Jon Snow and will also feature John le Carré and Martha Lane Fox.

Watch a documentary on Philip Pullman below:

Discussion:
Do you think Pullman has gone too far in his atheist quest with this latest project? Do you feel we should question religion more in literature? What was the last faith themed piece of writing you read?

Words: Dean Samways

From the Telegraph:

Philip Pullman, the author of His Dark Materials, has written his own version of the New Testament in which the story of Jesus is given a “different ending”.
The writer has penned an alternative Bible passage imagining a different fate for Christ, who was executed by the Romans.

“He has written what would have happened if Jesus had had a fair trial,” a friend told The Daily Telegraph’s Mandrake column.

“He knows it will be controversial, but he has some serious points to make.”

Pullman is due to read his “account” of Christ’s last days at the Globe theatre on Thursday as part of an event to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Reprieve, an organisation which campaigns for the rights of prisoners.

Books by Pullman, who is an honorary associate of the National Secular Society, have been criticised by the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights. His critics often cite an interview in which he reportedly said: “I’m trying to undermine the basis of Christian belief.”

The fantasy novels His Dark Materials, with their religious allegories, have been seen as a direct rebuttal of The Chronicles of Narnia by C S Lewis, the late Christian author, which have been criticised by Pullman.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, has, however, proposed that His Dark Materials should be taught as part of religious education in schools.

There is nothing surprising about this since Pullman is an atheist, supporter of the British Humanist Society and actively pursues an anti-Christian agenda, saying things like, “I’m trying to undermine the basis of Christian belief.”

One does wonder, therefore, why Rowan Williams thinks Dark Materials should be taught in schools as religious education; I can only surmise that Rowan, having not quite managed to single-handedly destroy the Anglican Church, is looking for some help.

To be serious – really – I should have thought that Graham Taylor’s Shadowmancer, which is explicitly Christian, would have been a better recommendation for Rowan to make. Perhaps it hits too close to home: the villain, Reverend Obadiah Demurral, is an Anglican vicar.

Both at the individual and the national level we have to question what we mean by ‘growth’. The ability to produce more and more consumer goods is in itself and entirely mechanical measure of wealth. It sets up the vicious cycle in which it is necessary for all time to create new demand for goods and thus new demands on a limited material environment for energy resources and raw materials. By the hectic inflation of demand it creates personal anxiety and rivalry. By systematically depleting the resources of the planet, it systematically destroys the basis for long term well-being. In a nutshell, it is investing in the wrong things.

Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams addressing the TUC this week. His sermon also touched on contraction and convergence, the distribution of wealth, the Good Childhood report, and the Tobin tax – just the sorts of things Archbishops should be talking about, in my view.

You can read the full sermon here.

I can’t pretend I am versed in the inner workings of  search engines, so I won’t hid my befuddlement over  how or why, at certain times, what seem the most unlikely of terms end up being among the top routes by which people find this blog. Over the last few days, a lot of visitors have made their way here via the search term “Monty Python.”

As it turns out, I only have one post I can recall, in which Monty Python gets a mention and a photo.  Since that post is called “We were happy … because we were poor” my Monty Python visitors had me reflecting (again) on the issue of poverty. I recalled this Daily Mail report of a speech by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, in which he cautioned that we should not romanticize poverty.

I wholeheartedly agree … but I also think it is not the genuine poor, or ex-poor who do so. Rather, it is those rabidly “anti-poverty” professionals — the activists, the NGOs, the managers of the economy, the liberal politicians, left-tilt media, social justice religious types seeking cover for their moral malleability, community organizers – who benefit  most from the  mega-bucks poverty industry.

Meanwhile, persons like me who grew up in conditions that, by today’s measures of crippling poverty, should have made me a disabled victim, have a different perspective. Our “poverty” was to us a case of “just enough.” When we look back and reminisce on the times of challenge and trial, it is with a generous measure of fondness and appreciation for the lessons learnt in resourcefulness and resilience. Lessons in what it means to be human that did not imprint a culture of victimhood or entitlement.

Today’s world and all its victims, genuine and contrived, are just too knotted up. Thinking this made me remember this classic Monty Python clip. Have a good laugh.

In his book Silence and Honey Cakes Rowan Williams talks helpfully about our tendency to try and make other into our own image. He writes:

We love to think that we know more of God than others; we find it comfortable and comforting to try and control the access of others to God. Jesus himself speaks bluntly about this when he describes the religious enthusiasts of his day shutting the door of the Kingdom in the face of others: ‘You do not enter yourselves, and when others try to enter, you stop them’ (Matthew 23:13). And he goes on to describe how such people exert themselves to gain even one convert, but because they are only trying to make others in their own image, they make them twice as worthy of condemnation as themselves.

Heard Doreen Massey, Professor of Geography at the Open Univeristy, at Tate Britain last week.  Her academic work on space and place interests me.

I tussle with local/global and my work on London South Central a few years ago touched on London as a world city – what that means not just for the individual coping strategies of Londoners and the communities they belong to, but for people who live in the places London is linked to (through remittances, trade, the City, colonial history and so on).  Being a map-fiend, I’d like to find the one she mentioned depicting the Niger Delta, the oil companies, the human rights groups and all the international links which go to make up what is happening there – ie it’s not possible to have an adequate map of the Niger Delta which confines itself to a small part of Nigeria.  This echoes what I was doing in Calcutta and Delhi in the 80’s – trying to make visible the links between western pharmaceutical companies and the (often adverse) effects their marketing strategies were having on the poorest communities in India.

Boundaries: I haven’t followed the academic conversation on flow and essentialism, but it sounds similar to those around literary theory.  Do we need no boundaries at all? Massey asked.  Living in south London where grafitti tags mark territory, my children have a strong grasp on where it’s safe to go and where it isn’t.  Removing the boundaries of identity – I hadn’t realised that geographers were interested in this at all!  Inherited identity, voluntary identity, or something in between?

Massey also mentioned contested space in relation to London and that this was always the case, not something new – there was no golden age.  This could have something to do with how we talk about the oft-contested part of the world which Bosnia is a part of, or at least acknowledging that the various histories are contested and finding a framework within which to talk about it.

Last night, after Rowan Williams’ talk at the RSA, I got talking to a remarkable educationalist about Bosnia and school textbooks.  She told me that in Northern Ireland, after the troubles, there was some difficulty agreeing on history textbooks, but that it was eventually resolved.  Some parallels here – long, contested, history with much violence, pain and loss within living memory; stable indigenous population; divisions along religious identity.  Bosnia is also struggling with RE – I’ll be seeing Kati Whitaker next week and will follow up on her post here on a possible radio programme about this.

I’ve recently discovered Rowan Williams reflections on 9/11 – Writing in the dust.  I was particularly struck by his comments on how we see the cross in the light of such events.  He says : ‘Can we think about our focal symbol, the cross of Jesus, and try to rescue it from its frequent fate as the banner of our own wounded righteousness?  If Jesus is indeed what God communicates to us, God’s language for us, his cross is always both ours and not ours ; not a magnified sign of our own suffering, but the mark of God’s work in and through the deepest vulnerability ; not a martyr’s triumphant achievement, but something that is there for all human sufferers because it belongs to no human cause’ p. 77-8

Or as we used to call them, Ginger Nuts; a particularly appropriate epithet in this case.

The Archbishop of Canterbury has revealed his recipe for ginger biscuits which forms part of a new cookbook bringing together dishes from a range of Christian groups.

Dr Rowan Williams’s tasty treats are the Church of England’s contribution to Loaves, Fishes and More – a 70-recipe collection which aims to raise funds for Christian Aid.

“The Celtic chiefs told him they feared only one thing, that the sky should fall.” Arrian. The Expedition of Alexander.

A joke, perhaps? They still
do it, solemnly meeting
the earnest foreigner’s enquiry.
Because there could have been,
surely, no terror

For the lime-rinsed and technicolour-
shirted, head-hungry, henpecked
louts who so irritated
dry Caesar in the promise of an end
so brisk and flat

And messy, like flies squashed
between the pages as the book
claps shut; dying of the applause
of heaven and earth when they
join hands

At the show’s end. Or maybe,
after all, serious. Think of them
lurching out of the doorway
to breathe, pee, vomit,
packed with booze

Kebabs and mutual admiration,
into the cold; the snow just starting
and the sky slips gently
and piecemeal into the gras
and vanishes,

Fragments of brief intricacy,
like the bard’s lovely, hot,
cossetting songs indoors,
the words that freeze great doings
(rapes, wars)

In symmetries and stars; and going
nowhere. The stories sink
into the grass at night,
and the earth sits there,
not applauding,

Spreading an empty palm;
swallowing the sparks of damp
and formal brilliance. Very
quiet.
No joke.

Unexpectedly irreligious and peppery verse courtesy of Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams. From his collected poems, published by Perpetua Press in 2002.

Further to my post a few days ago on climate change, check out this interesting article on a call to action issued by a number of religious groups and hosted by the Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams.

Religiondigital.-

El Papa Benedicto XVI se reunirá el próximo 21 de noviembre con el Primado de la Iglesia Anglicana, Rowan Williams, en el primer encuentro, tras el anuncio del Vaticano, de abrir las puertas de la Iglesia Católica a todos los anglicanos que lo deseen, confirmaron fuentes de la Santa Sede.

La reunión entre el Papa Ratzinger y el arzobispo de Canterbury se celebrará en el Vaticano y, según las mismas fuentes, el encuentro estaba ya programado antes de que el pasado 20 de octubre la Santa Sede anunciase la aprobación de una Constitución Apostólica (norma de máximo rango) para permitir la entrada de los anglicanos.

Rowan Williams, que ya se ha encontrado en otras ocasiones con Benedicto XVI, participará en la Universidad Pontificia Gregoriana de Roma en los actos conmemorativos del centenario del nacimiento del cardenal Johannes Willebrands, fallecido en 2006.

Willebrands fue uno de los artífices del ecumenismo y presidente del Consejo Pontificio para la Unidad de los Cristianos de 1969 a 1989.

Un anuncio controvertido

El pasado 20 de octubre, el Vaticano anunció su disposición a acoger en la Iglesia Católica a todos los anglicanos que lo deseen y, para ello, ha aprobado unaConstitución Apostólica que prevé, entre otras, la ordenación de clérigos anglicanos ya casados como sacerdotes católicos.

También contempla la concesión a los grupos anglicanos que vuelvan al redil de Roma de prelaturas personales, similares a los ‘Ordinariatos Castrenses‘ (obispos o prelado con competencias no territoriales), que permitirán a esos fieles entrar en plena comunión con Roma conservando su tradición.

De momento se desconoce el número exacto de anglicanos que desean pasarse a Roma, aunque, según fuentes vaticanas, puede rondar sobre el medio millón.

Las mismas fuentes señalaron que entre 30 y 50 obispos, así como un centenar de parroquias, han mostrado su deseo de entrar en la Iglesia de Roma, que abandonaron en 1534 cuando el Rey de Inglaterra y Señor de Irlanda Enrique VIII (1491-1547) no logró del Papa Clemente VII (1478-1534) la anulación de su matrimonio con Catalina de Aragón y creó la Iglesia de Inglaterra, de la que se proclamó Jefe.

Los anglicanos son unos 77 millones y en los últimos años su Iglesia ha vivido momentos de crisis y de fuerte división interna, debido a la ordenación de mujeres como obispos y de homosexuales declarados también como obispos y la bendición de los matrimonios entre personas del mismo sexo. (RD/Efe)

Well, actually, make that a group of ecclesiastical political correctness apparatchiks who know nothing whatsoever about science, climate or normal life, led and hosted by the Anglican Ken Dodd impersonator:

At a meeting hosting by the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, leaders from Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Baha’i, Jain and Zoroastrian faiths called on the UK and G20 governments to fight for an ambitious deal to cut greenhouse gas emissions at UN-led talks in Copenhagen in December.

A statement issued by the groups meeting at Lambeth Palace, London, said catastrophic climate change posed a ”very real threat to the world’s poor and to our fragile creation”.

h/t Damian Thompson

Richard Dawkins, has made buckets of money saying things like “The universe we observe has … no design, no purpose, no evil and no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference”. Yet, when it suits him,  this champion of reason has no qualms in using the concepts – good and evil – that he claims don’t exist:

What major institution most deserves the title of greatest force for evil in the world? In a field of stiff competition, the Roman Catholic Church is surely up there among the leaders. The Anglican church has at least a few shreds of decency, traces of kindness and humanity with which Jesus himself might have connected, however tenuously: a generosity of spirit, of respect for women, and of Christ-like compassion for the less fortunate. The Anglican church does not cleave to the dotty idea that a priest, by blessing bread and wine, can transform it literally into a cannibal feast; nor to the nastier idea that possession of testicles is an essential qualification to perform the rite. It does not send its missionaries out to tell deliberate lies to AIDS-weakened Africans, about the alleged ineffectiveness of condoms in protecting against HIV. Whether one agrees with him or not, there is a saintly quality in the Archbishop of Canterbury, a benignity of countenance, a well-meaning sincerity. How does Pope Ratzinger measure up? The comparison is almost embarrassing.

In a bleak Dawkins universe of “blind pitiless indifference” the above ravings don’t have to make sense: they are merely the random firing of neurons in Dawkins’ fevered – I was going to say imagination, but in a materialist universe, that doesn’t exist – brain. In the real universe where good and evil do exist, a brief search of Catholic charities is all that is needed to see what a fool Dawkins makes of himself when he pontificates outside of his field.

The most disturbing part of this incoherence is the fact that Dawkins thinks Rowan is saintly. It’s hard to know what Dawkins means by that since a saint is a Christian – a person whom Dawkins enjoys hurling inane schoolboy insults at; whatever he means, Rowan Williams doesn’t need a friend like Richard Dawkins.