SUSPENSE IN SOUTH CAROLINA

From Andrew Gerns at The Lead, we learn that the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina will meet in convention on March 26. I wrote earlier of Bishop Lawrence's pastoral letter announcing that the convention was postponed because requests for certain documents from an attorney for the national office of the Episcopal Church troubled Bishop Lawrence, and he didn't think he should comply with the request.

The resolutions proposed for consideration at the convention, which are now posted at the diocesan website, would make explicit that the diocese intends to position itself with one foot in and one foot out of the Episcopal Church.

Gerns says:

It appears from these resolutions that the Diocese of South Carolina wants to act as if they are an independent body free of accountability to the Episcopal Church, it's governing bodies (that it has heretofore participated and assented to) or her sister dioceses and bishops. They are trying to do what the former leadership in Pittsburgh attempted. Unfortunately, right now there is no Grace Church to hold them accountable from within.

Having declared that they want to isolate themselves from General Convention resolutions and Episcopal Church ministries that they don't like, now they will claim that they do not have to follow any canon of the Episcopal Church that they disagree with. Their resolutions stating that the PB has no ecclesiastical (R-3 and R-4) or legal (R-2) jurisdiction in their space is essentially saying that no one has a claim on their ministry and they are accountable to no one but themselves.

The Special Convention last fall, gave authority to the bishop and the Standing Committee of the diocese to withdraw from participation in bodies in TEC whose "actions [are] deemed contrary to Holy Scripture, the doctrine, discipline and worship of Christ as this church has received them, the resolutions of the Lambeth Conference which have expressed the mind of the communion, the Book of Common Prayer and our Constitution and Canons, until such bodies show a willingness to repent of such actions."

Gerns adds:

Of course there are limits to independence. We wonder if, as outward signs of their independence and self-sufficiency the clergy of South Carolina would like to live without a Church Pension Fund, which depends on all of us. Or if their parishes will make do with Church Insurance, which equally depends on all of us, or if a disaster should strike their diocese if they would refuse the work Episcopal Relief and Development. They should probably stop using the Book of Common Prayer or any hymnals printed by Church Publishing. They know better than the rest of us anyway and probably do a better job.

Yes, indeed! One wonders why the pension plan and health insurance are not tainted by association. By refusing to participate in those programs, the leaders of the diocese could show forth with dramatic clarity that they have the courage of their convictions and are willing to make sacrifices for conscience's sake.

Will the delicate balancing act succeed? Tune in for the next episode of the saga of the Diocese of South Carolina when the convention meets later this month.

MAN OF THE HOUSE

The husband had just finished reading a new book entitled:

'YOU CAN BE THE MAN OF YOUR HOUSE.'

He stormed to his wife in the kitchen and announced: 'From now on, you need to know that I am the man of this house, and my word is Law. You will prepare me a gourmet meal tonight; and when I'm finished eating my meal, you will serve me a sumptuous dessert..

After dinner, you are going to go upstairs with me, and we will have the kind of sex that I want. Afterwards, you are going to draw me a bath so I can relax. You will wash my back and towel me dry and bring me my robe. Then, you will massage my feet and hands. Then tomorrow, guess who's going to dress me and comb my hair?'

The wife replied: 'The feckin' funeral director would be my first guess.'

MORE GOOD NEWS

From The Lead:

The Rev. Mary Glasspool has received a majority of Standing Committee consents needed to confirm her election according to the Diocese of Los Angeles news reports. The bishops' consents are not yet known although Bishop Bruno says he looks "forward to the final few consents to come in from the bishops in the next few days."

Thanks be to God and the Standing Committees. I pray that the SC votes to consent will serve as an example to the members of the House of Bishops who are still undecided.

UPDATE: For those who don't know, I'll add that the Rev. Mary Glasspool is a partnered lesbian in a long-term relationship.

WHY BOTHER?

You may wonder why, since I am no longer an insider in the Roman Catholic Church, I continue to pay attention and be bothered by the church's policies and actions. In the nearly 60 years that I spent in the RCC, there was much that I loved about the church. I'm grateful for my 16 years of RC schooling, where, for the most part, I was well taught. I grew up in a seriously dysfunctional home, alcoholic father, depressed mother. I won't bore you with the details, but my RC school was my safe place, my place of refuge and peace away from the sometimes nightmarish atmosphere in my home. The nuns were, with only one exception that I can think of, good and intelligent women. Under their nurturing, my sense of self-worth and moral core were planted, cared for, and grew. Of course, we were taught a bit of nonsense, too, but on the whole my RCC schooling was a strong, positive force in my life, and I will always be grateful for those years.

The church was a force for good in other ways, such as in my years at Loyola University, I learned the evils of racism. All I knew growing up was racism. Racist attitudes were a given, not questioned, until I encountered the teachings of the Jesuits. The voices for peace in the church were instrumental in turning me against the Vietnam War. I could go on.

The first seeds of discontent with the RCC were sown when I had three babies in four years, and I had to face the fact that I must break the church's birth control rule or, very likely, end up in a mental institution, because I had what I now believe was postpartum depression after my third child, which went untreated, because the illness was not yet named at the time. The decision to use birth control was difficult. Looking back, common sense tells me that the choice should have been easy, but it was not.

Anyway, to make a long story short, I stayed with the RCC through good times and bad, more good than bad, until the sex abuse scandal broke in our diocese. The sexual abuse of children was horrific enough, but that the powers covered up the abuse and moved the priests from one parish to another to continue the abuse for years was the final straw for me, and I took my leave about 14 years ago.

But for the sake of the good that I received from the RCC, I still care about the church, and I want the institution to be better than it is. Just as I call the powers in my own church, the Episcopal Church, to account, I continue to call the powers of the RCC to account because of the many years I made my home there.

I was thrilled when Katharine Jefforts-Schori was elected Presiding Bishop, but I did not hesitate to call her to account when she asked LGTB members of the Episcopal Church to remain in "a crucified place" and when she waited far too long to speak out publicly against the draconian laws proposed in Nigeria against LGTB persons.

In the beginning of his essay, Richard Sipe writes the following words and quotes the words of Thomas Keating:

I am pursuing this discussion in the spirit of contemplative transformation espoused by Fr. Thomas Keating who challenges us to confront the biases that keep us from facing truth when we fail to ask penetrating questions: “Are you so enamored with your religion that you have a naïve loyalty that cannot see the real faults that are present in a particular faith community? Do you sweep under the rug embarrassing situations and bow to the security or esteem needs of the community?”

I end my post with the words.

THIS IS MY STORY

 

HANS KUNG ON CLERICAL CELIBACY

From Ruth Gledhill in the Times Online:

A leading Roman Catholic theologian has linked clerical sex abuse with priestly celibacy, blaming the Church’s “uptight” views on sex for child abuse scandals in Germany, Ireland and the US.

Father Hans Kung, President of the Global Ethic Foundation and professor emeritus at the University of Tübingen in Germany, said that the Church’s attitude was also revealed in its opposition to birth control.

The German church rejected any suggestion that abuse was linked to celibacy, homosexuality or church teaching.
....

Robert Zollitsch, Archbishop of Freiburg and head of the German bishops’ conference, branded clerical abuse “outrageous” and begged forgiveness from the victims but denied any link between abuse and celibacy.

Writing in The Tablet, Father Kung, who in 1979 was stripped of his licence to teach Catholic theology after he rejected the doctrine of Papal infallibility, welcomed the apology but described the denials of any link between abuse, celibacy and other teaching as “erroneous”.

He said that it was the case that abuse was found also in families, schools and other churches. But he asked: “Why is it so prevalent in the Catholic Church under celibate leadership?” He said that celibacy was not the only cause of the misconduct but described it as “the most important and structurally the most decisive” expression of the Church’s uptight attitude to sex. (My emphasis)

Fr Kung's article in The Tablet appears to be available by subscription only, but the article on the German church's resistance to the state's intervention on the abuse is free.

In the comments to my recent post titled Gay Roman Catholic Bishops, I caught flack for saying that mandatory celibacy, in my opinion, contributes to the abusive behavior by priests in the Roman Catholic Church. I don't know what priestly formation is like now in RC seminaries, but for many years, young boys began seminary training at age 13. In some cases, abuse occurred in seminaries. My contemporaries, and those several years younger, were taught in RC seminaries that women were occasions of sin. Imagine! Half the human race was an occasion of sin! Well, perhaps not old ladies.

Rather than having one determining cause, I suspect that, in most cases, more than one cause led priests into abusive behavior. Men who had been abused as children and men predisposed to child abuse very likely made their way into seminaries and through the ordination process, but I believe that mandatory celibacy and the warped attitudes toward sexuality and toward women within the culture of Roman Catholic clergy, especially the hierarchy, had an effect.

Whether celibacy is imposed as a condition of service upon a Roman Catholic man who believes he is called to serve God as a priest, or whether celibacy is imposed upon an LGTB person in another denomination who feels a call to serve God as clergy as a condition for being permitted to serve, mandatory celibacy is just plain wrong.

Understand that I do not in mean to suggest that genuine calls to live celibate lives do not exist. From the early church on, we see examples of saints who lived holy, celibate lives. But the call to celibacy is between God and an individual and is not to be ordered from outside.

I did not come to my opinion lightly. I come with 60 years experience of life in the Roman Catholic Church. I'm not saying that I am right and that those who disagree with me are wrong, however, that the distinguished theologian, Fr Hans Kung, is of a similar opinion, heartens me and makes me think that my reasoning is not entirely off the wall.

H/T to MadPriest at OCICBW for the link to Ruth's article.

THE SHREDDER

A young engineer was leaving the office at 3.45 p.m. when he found the acting CEO standing in front of a shredder with a piece of paper in his hand.

"Listen," said the acting CEO, "this is a very sensitive and important document, and my secretary is not here. Can you make this thing work?"

"Certainly," said the young engineer. He turned the machine on, inserted the paper, and pressed the start button.

"Excellent, excellent!" said the acting CEO as his paper disappeared inside the machine, "I just need one copy."

Lesson: Never, ever, assume that your boss knows what he's doing.


Thanks to Paul (A.)

BISHOP-ELECT MORRIS THOMPSON RECEIVES CONSENTS

From Lisa at My Manner of Life, comes the news that the bishop-elect of my diocese, Morris Thompson, received the necessary consents to be consecrated 11th bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana.

Also, Rev. Diane Jardine Bruce received consents to be consecrated bishop suffragan of the Diocese of Los Angeles and the Rev. W. Andrew Waldo received consents to be consecrated 8th bishop of the Diocese of Upper South Carolina on Dec. 12.

Good news all around

"...A WARM CHRISTIAN WELCOME TO THE EVIL DOERS...."

The following quote is from a satire at the The Daily Mash, which is almost too close to the "Love the sinner; hate the sin" mindset of certain Christians to be funny, but the piece hits the target.

CHURCH of England vicars will bless gay couples as long as they are allowed to quote Bible passages about them being abominations who must be put to death.

As the House of Lords voted to allow same-sex church ceremonies, vicars said they would extend a 'warm Christian welcome to the evil doers and their perverted bedtime acrobatics'.

Rev Denys Hatton, vicar of St Gary's in Folkham, said: "I am more than happy to perform a gay blessing as long as I am allowed to pick the reading. And since you ask, I would kick things off with a spot of Corinthians, where St Paul makes it abundantly clear that homosexuals are 'unrighteous'.

"Then I'd crank it up with a quote from Romans where St Paul describes them as 'degrading', 'depraved' and 'indecent'."

Read the rest at the Mash.

Thanks to Lapin for the link.

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nobody can make you feel inferior without your permission. ELEANOR ROOSEVELT

To those who can dream there is no such place as faraway. ANON

"The history of all times, and of today especially, teaches that ... women will be forgotten if they forget to think about themselves." LOUISE OTTO

Hold fast to dreams for if dreams die, life is a broken winged bird that cannot fly. LANGSTON HUGHES

"A free race cannot be born of slave mothers." MARGARET SANGER

"It takes a lot of courage to show your dreams to someone else." ERMA BOMBECK

"So much has been said and sung of beautiful young girls, why don't somebody wake up to the beauty of old women?" HARRIET BEECHER STOWE


Prayer from The Sisters of Mercy.

Let us go forth then, O Living and Loving God,

Let us go forth in the power of Your Presence deep in our hearts, and the power of your presence overflowing in our communities,

Let us go forth confirmed and strengthened in our vision

Let us go forth named in Hope and Love, and sustained in these challenging times.

Let us go forth as valiant women of justice and peace. Amen.


Thanks to Doug for the images.

Quotes from Altius Directory. The history of International Women's Day may be found here.

Note: The Sisters of Mercy were my high school teachers. My teacher in my senior year, Sr. Mary Regius, inspired me by her teaching and encouragement to do good work, especially in writing. Since I started my blog, I've used her lessons more than I ever have before in my life.