Church of England Considers Creating “Gender-Neutral” God
For the Church of England, considering and potentially changing the Our Father that Jesus Himself taught us to appease a radical and small minority is about as valueless as one can get.
The Church of England: Not of Sound Mind
Church of England bishops have decided to stick to the church’s traditional teaching that marriage is “between a man and a woman,” which will lead to no small amount of lamenting within that Church about not keeping up with secular morality.
Practicing Christians Who Don’t Believe
Most of us have probably wondered why people who clearly do not believe in Catholicism choose to remain within the Church, actively working to undermine its doctrines, structures, and practices. I have thought of more and more such reasons as time has gone on, some of whose validity has recently been confirmed by my reading … Read more
Anglican Bishops Approve Transgender “Baptism”
Last spring, I wrote about a new book, put out by British publisher Darton, Longman, and Todd: Transfaith. The book is a collection of seven experimental liturgies for “transgender” use composed by a Church of England priestess and a former Metropolitan Community Church minister who “retrained” for ministry in the United Reformed Church. The story … Read more
Westminster Abbey: A Beautiful Confusion
Not long ago, I had the opportunity to visit Westminster Abbey. My stride was brisk as I made my way past Big Ben and took my place in line before the north door. However, my experience with this quasi-sacred space was clouded by the schizophrenia of the current Westminster Dean, with momentary flashes of exquisite … Read more
Has Christianity Become a Coward’s Religion?
Renaissance political thinker Niccolo Machiavelli castigated Christianity for making its adherents weak. Looking to the next world, he charged, Christians forget their public duties in this world, leaving their communities weak in the face of their enemies. Early Christian martyrs were hardly cowards. There were martyrs in Machiavelli’s day as well, and as I write … Read more
There is No Link between Celibacy and Clerical Sexual Abuse
The Independent newspaper reported last August that “the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, said he dealt with issues of child sex abuse on a daily basis (my emphasis) and he anticipated that more ‘bad stories’ would emerge. He said: ‘I would love to say there weren’t, but I expect there are.’ He told the BBC that it was ‘becoming … Read more
Anglican Ordination of Women Bishops Ends Reunion Prospects
It was, of course inevitable, having ordained women to its “priesthood” that the Church of England, mother Church of the Anglican Communion, would in the end ordain women to its “episcopate” (I place the key-words in inverted commas, not to be insulting but to indicate simply that most Anglicans use the words to describe something … Read more
Anglicans Choose Egalitarianism Over Christian Unity
On 14 July, the General Synod of the Church of England voted in favor of allowing women to become bishops. The measure had previously been rejected in 2012 by the Synod, the Church of England’s deliberative and legislative body composed of “houses” of bishops, clergy and laity, when it failed to gain the requisite two-thirds … Read more
Anglicans Set to Remove Satan from Baptismal Rite
Declaring that the devil has departed from the Church of England’s baptism service, the Guardian reported on June 20 that “a simplified baptism which omits mention of the devil” is now favored by the clergy who have test-marketed it throughout the United Kingdom. Claiming that the traditional rejection of the devil and all rebellion against … Read more
Sign of Hope: Anglican Nuns Become Catholic
I have had, as we all have, many good moments in my life as a Catholic (greatly outweighing the inevitable bad ones); but yesterday was one of the very best. Have I ever, I try to recall, had such a vivid sense of how glorious it is to be a Catholic, of the transcendent splendor … Read more