With all the pageantry the Episcopal Church can muster, the Rev. Ian T. Douglas was consecrated Saturday the 15th bishop of the Diocese of Connecticut.
Before numerous bishops laid their hands on Douglas, signifying the unbroken line of bishops stretching back to Jesus’ apostles, the candidate made the promise required of all bishops:
“In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, I, Ian Theodore Douglas, chosen Bishop of the Church in Connecticut, solemnly declare that I do believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the Word of God, and to contain all things necessary to salvation; and I do solemnly engage to conform to the doctrine, discipline, and worship of the Episcopal Church.”
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In his sermon, [Archbishop Desmund] Tutu spoke of how God requires Christians to love everyone, no matter who they are:
“All the poor, rich, white, black, Hispanics, all, all. Clever, not so clever, beautiful, not so beautiful … tea party, Democrat, Republican. This is radical, man. This is radical.
“Bin Laden, George Bush, Sarah Palin, Hillary Clinton, gay, lesbian, so-called straight, all, all …”
He charged Douglas, “Please tell the children of God, each one of them is precious. … Each one of them is a member of God’s family in which there are no outsiders.”
VENERABLE BISHOPS,
Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, and I were the youngest theologians at the Second Vatican Council from 1962 to 1965. Now we are the oldest and the only ones still fully active. I have always understood my theological work as a service to the Roman Catholic Church. For this reason, on the occasion of the fifth anniversary of the election of Pope Benedict XVI, I am making this appeal to you in an open letter. In doing so, I am motivated by my profound concern for our church, which now finds itself in the worst credibility crisis since the Reformation. Please excuse the form of an open letter; unfortunately, I have no other way of reaching you.
I know that many of you are pained by this situation. In his anti-conciliar policy, the pope receives the full support of the Roman Curia. The Curia does its best to stifle criticism in the episcopate and in the church as a whole and to discredit critics with all the means at its disposal. With a return to pomp and spectacle catching the attention of the media, the reactionary forces in Rome have attempted to present us with a strong church fronted by an absolutistic “Vicar of Christ” who combines the church’s legislative, executive and judicial powers in his hands alone. But Benedict’s policy of restoration has failed. All of his spectacular appearances, demonstrative journeys and public statements have failed to influence the opinions of most Catholics on controversial issues. This is especially true regarding matters of sexual morality. Even the papal youth meetings, attended above all by conservative-charismatic groups, have failed to hold back the steady drain of those leaving the church or to attract more vocations to the priesthood.
You in particular, as bishops, have reason for deep sorrow: Tens of thousands of priests have resigned their office since the Second Vatican Council, for the most part because of the celibacy rule. Vocations to the priesthood, but also to religious orders, sisterhoods and lay brotherhoods are down – not just quantitatively but qualitatively. Resignation and frustration are spreading rapidly among both the clergy and the active laity. Many feel that they have been left in the lurch with their personal needs, and many are in deep distress over the state of the church. In many of your dioceses, it is the same story: increasingly empty churches, empty seminaries and empty rectories. In many countries, due to the lack of priests, more and more parishes are being merged, often against the will of their members, into ever larger “pastoral units,” in which the few surviving pastors are completely overtaxed. This is church reform in pretense rather than fact!
And now, on top of these many crises comes a scandal crying out to heaven – the revelation of the clerical abuse of thousands of children and adolescents, first in the United States, then in Ireland and now in Germany and other countries. And to make matters worse, the handling of these cases has given rise to an unprecedented leadership crisis and a collapse of trust in church leadership.
6. Call for a council: Just as the achievement of liturgical reform, religious freedom, ecumenism and inter-religious dialogue required an ecumenical council, so now a council is needed to solve the dramatically escalating problems calling for reform. In the century before the Reformation, the Council of Constance decreed that councils should be held every five years. Yet the Roman Curia successfully managed to circumvent this ruling. There is no question that the Curia, fearing a limitation of its power, would do everything in its power to prevent a council coming together in the present situation. Thus it is up to you to push through the calling of a council or at least a representative assembly of bishops.
He refuses to put into effect the rapprochement with the Anglican Church, which was laid out in official ecumenical documents by the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission, and has attempted instead to lure married Anglican clergy into the Roman Catholic Church by freeing them from the very rule of celibacy that has forced tens of thousands of Roman Catholic priests out of office.
So, today was the big day at the Synod of la Iglesia Anglicana de la Región Central de América (Anglican Church in the Region of Central America, or IARCA). The House of Bishops of IARCA elected the Rt. Rev. Armando Guerra, Bishop of the Diocese of Guatemala, as the new Primado of IARCA, succeeding the Rt. Rev. Martín Barahona , Bishop of El Salvador and Primado for the past eight years.
The Synod has been meeting at Ciudad de Saber, or the City of Knowledge, located in what was formerly Fort Clayton military base, just across from the Miraflores locks of the Panama Canal. We met at the Templo Ecumenico, the former military chapel which is now used by the Ecumenical Committee of Panamá.
"The Rt. Rev. Amranod Guerra of Guatemala was elected Primate of the Anglican Church in the Region of Central America, known in Spanish as IARCA, during the IV Provincial Synod helod April 15 - 17, 2010, in Panamá.
"Bishop Guerra, who is 60 years old, is married to Norma Elizabeth Romero; they have three children and three grandchildren. The new Primate takes office in the context of a new mission for IARCA.
"This role includes maintaining communication with the rest of the Anglican Communion, working with the other bishops in the region and serving as an expression of the unity of the Church.
"The new Primate's term of office is for a period of four years, according to the canons of the Church.
"Thank you for your support. This is a difficult task. A new era begins. . ." said Bishop Guerra, visibly emotional. At the same time he thanked God, the House of Bishops, and his family.
"Bishop Julio Murray of Panamá was elected Vice-president of theHouse of Bishops and Bishop Hector Monterroso of Costa Rica continues as Executive Secretary of the Province.
"Among the challenges the new Primate will have to take on is the Mission Consultation Report and its implementation. The report was worked on during the Synod and is the basis for several resolutions to strengthen IARCA´s mission.
"IARCA is one of the 38 Provinces of the Anglican Communion, with some 25,000 members, and is multicultural, mutli-ethnic, and multilingual in character.
"Bishop Guerra succeeds Bishop Martín Barahona of El Salvador, who was Primate for the past eight years.
"The installation of Bishop Guerra as Primate of IARCA will take place on June 12. 2010, in Guatemala.
"IARCA celebrates this meeting in the historic "Ciudad de Saber" or "City of Knowledge" in the former Canal Zone, in which the U.S.A. administered the Panama Canal. Currently this facility offers lodging and is the seat of programs of the United Nations and other organizations.
"The new Primate received the congratulations of those present and was received by the house of Deputies with the singing of the Doxology, a traditional hymn of gratitude in the Anglican Communion.
Susana Barrera/Communications Officer of the Episcopal Church of El Salvador."
A report in the German news magazine Der Spiegel, to be published tomorrow, will say that a former aide was put under "heavy" pressure to take the blame for an abuse scandal in the pope's former archdiocese of Munich and Freising. In 1980, while the then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was archbishop, a priest known to be a paedophile was accepted into the archdiocese and, instead of being given therapy as planned, he was swiftly assigned to parish duties.
After the case was brought to light by the New York Times last month, Benedict's former vicar-general in Munich, Gerhard Gruber, accepted "full responsibility" for the decision.
According to Der Spiegel, citing sources very close to the 81-year-old prelate, Gruber received a string of telephone calls in which church officials "begged" him to take the blame. After he agreed, he was sent a fax containing the statement that he eventually issued, the weekly will say. The priest, Father Peter Hullermann, went on to commit an offence involving a boy for which he was tried and convicted.
In Spain, meanwhile, it was reported that a cardinal who congratulated a French bishop on not reporting a paedophile abbot said he had cleared his message of congratulations with the late pope, John Paul II. La Verdad, a newspaper in the southern city of Murcia, said that Cardinal Dario Castrillón Hoyos told a press conference in the city on Friday that he wrote a letter to the bishop "after consulting the pope and showing it to him".
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The statement was one of several indications that Benedict's supporters were shifting from defence to attack in their run-up to the fifth anniversary of the start of his papacy tomorrow.
The painful irony is that TEC's decision to reject the authority of God's Word has been gravely injurious, and has itself caused the very division that TEC's leaders claimed they sought to avoid. Once someone rejects Scripture, then they reject Jesus Christ and Christianity as a whole. It's as simple as that. We could not follow a national body that rejected the very Word of God.
"The New Orleans Jazz Orchestra won for the Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album the debut CD Book One at the 52nd Grammy Awards. The album was composed and arranged by Irvin Mayfield, Artistic Director and founder of the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra - and good friend to our diocese [the Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana]. Book One explores post-Katrina stagnation, the ongoing financial crisis, and falling in love.
Mayfield and Ronald Markham CEO and president of the 20-piece orchestra accepted the award and thanked the City of New Orleans, members of the orchestra and past jazz greats Louis Armstrong, Sidney Bechet, Jelly Roll Morton and Danny Barker. 'This Grammy award demonstrates that jazz is alive and resides in New Orleans,' said Mayfield, adding that 'the musicians in the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra took original compositions and created timeless music.'
Book One was recorded live at Christ Church Cathedral in November 2008 for the Cathedral's annual 'All the Saints' concert. The concert was originally commissioned after Hurricane Katrina and was hailed as the cultural reopening of New Orleans. Each year the performance includes elements of the original along with new music composed by Mayfield. Congratulations to everyone involved!"
Ordained while gay -- it's the new driving while black.
In a revealing campaign, Anglican Mainstream seeks to persuade you that sex with children reveals whether you are gay. And it's using the Catholic sex abuse story to make its claims. (And also is an apologist for that church's handling of sexual abuse.) Anglican Mainstream claims the problem is not with the church, but with homosexuals in the priesthood. According to its website, the "Primatial Adviser" of Anglican Mainstream is The Most Rev Drexel Gomez, former Archbishop of the West Indies who chaired the committee that drafted the Anglican Covenant. (My emphasis)
