POPE BENEDICT TO ESTABLISH ORDINARIATE FOR AMERICAN ANGLICANS

From Catholic Culture.org:

Cardinal Donald Wuerl has announced that Pope Benedict XVI will establish an ordinariate for American Anglicans who wish to enter into full communion with the Catholic Church. Two Anglican communities--one in Texas, the other in Maryland--have entered into full communion in recent months and are expected to become part of the ordinariate.
....

The US ordinariate will be established on January 1, and “at that time, I assume that an Ordinary will be named,” Cardinal Wuerl said at the fall meeting of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. “If the Ordinary of the new Ordinariate is married, then he can be ordained a priest, but not a bishop.”

“From its erection, an Ordinariate will have the option of using the Roman Missal or the Book of Divine Worship already used by the Pastoral Provision or Anglican Use parishes,” Cardinal Wuerl added.

Read the rest at the link.

Blessings on the journey to the American Anglicans who will enter the Roman Catholic ordinariate. The members of the group may be able to continue to use their Book of Divine Worship, but methinks they will no longer be Anglicans, but rather Roman Catholic converts.

I wonder what present members of the Roman Catholic Church who don't like the new liturgy for the mass will think about the 'Anglicans' being privileged to use a different liturgy. Will Roman Catholics who do not like the new mass be given the privilege to use the Book of Divine Worship, if they so choose?

And then there's the matter of the RC priests who remain under the obligation of celibacy, who may be disgruntled that the 'Anglican' priests have their wives and families.

Thanks to Ann V. for the link.

AM I A LIBERAL?

 

Click on the image for the larger view.

Of late, I've shied away from calling myself a liberal, not out of fear or because the label is derided by conservatives and the extreme right, but because, in many ways, the meaning of liberal has been blurred to the point that I'm not sure what the word means today. However, with this reminder of the accomplishments of liberals from O'Donnell, I'll wear the label proudly...for today.

STIRRINGS IN AMIA

From BabyBlueOnline:

1. A Letter to Bishop Chuck Murphy from Archbishop Nathan Gasatura, primate of the Anglican Church of Rwanda.
2. A Letter to Bishop Chuck Murphy from Bishop John Rucyahana.
3. A Letter from the Rev. Cynthia Brust of the AMiA Press Office to the Rev. Canon George Conger.

BabyBlue posts the entire text of a letter from Bishop Terrell Glenn announcing his resignation from AMiA:

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Grace and peace to you in the name of our Lord Jesus.

I am writing to inform you that I have resigned from the Anglican Mission in America. I communicated this to my brother bishops earlier this week at our fall retreat in Myrtle Beach and submitted a letter to that effect to Bishop Murphy, our Chairman and Archbishop Rwaje’s Primatial Vicar. This is not a decision that I have made lightly or in haste or in reaction to any of the impending decisions about the future direction of the Anglican Mission that are before the Council of Bishops and the Anglican Mission. Rather, it is a decision that Teresa and I have made after several months of agonizing prayer as we have sought to do what we believe the Lord has called us to do.

Read the rest of Bishop Terrell's letter at BB's link above.

BabyBlue's post also includes a video of 'Anglicans Unscripted' with Kevin Kallsen and George Conger discussing the present situation in AMiA, along with commentary on the relationship between AMiA and ACNA, which now seems to be fraying, followed by a segment with Bishop Julian Dobbs of CANA. By now, my head is spinning. I confess that I don't have a firm grasp of the identities and history of the several groups. I'll take a stab at making connections: AMiA is connected to Rwanda; CANA is connected to Nigeria; ACNA is connected to the Southern Cone; the kneebone is connected to the thighbone.... Oops! I went off the rails there.

Then I sobered up quickly. The next two segments of the video contrasted the handling of allegations of child abuse by assistant coach Jerry Sandusky at Penn State and the subsequent cover-up, resulting in the firings of head coach Joe Paterno and the president of the university, with the months-long silence of Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori about questions concerning the reception of Bede Parry, a former Roman Catholic priest with a history of sexual abuse of young people, into the priesthood in the Episcopal Church. The subject of the final section of the video was the Anglican Covenant.

The Parry story is not going away. The PB's silence is deafening.

Thanks to Lapin for the link.

BOROWITZ REPORTS...

Startled Deer Becomes New Republican Frontrunner

Inability to Speak Considered a Plus

Read the rest.

OUR DOUGHBOY - JOSEPH T. BUTLER, SR.

 

I wanted the picture above of my father-in-law for Armistice, Remembrance, Veterans Day, but it was in New Roads. Now I have a scan, and I'll use it next year at the proper time, on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.

 

Joe's papers show that he was not discharged until many months after the armistice was signed. As you see, Joe was one of the fortunate ones, as he did not engage in even a skirmish or an expedition. He brought home a French sword, which was given him by a Frenchwoman of his acquaintance. The sword belonged to her deceased husband. I'm sure she was a very nice lady, so no 'Madame from Armientières, parley voo' here. Besides, the two were single at the time.

 

Joe's occupations are listed as mechanic and farmer on the papers, and his home town as Butler, Louisiana. The small community of Butler, Louisiana, disappeared from the map, if it was ever on the map. Once the older folks died off, and the youngsters migrated away, the community was no more.

Joe competed in The Inter-Allied Games, which were...

...a one-off multi-sport event held from June 22nd - July 6th 1919 at the newly constructed Pershing Stadium just outside Paris, France following the end of the First World War. The forum for the games, Pershing Stadium, had been built near the Bois de Vincennes by the U.S. Military in cooperation with the YMCA. The event was only open to participation by military personnel who were currently serving or had formerly served in the armed forces during the War. 18 Nations participated in the proceedings which included, among others, track & field events, swimming, baseball, football, rugby, basketball, tennis, boxing, horse riding events, pistol and rifle marksmanship, and wrestling. Following the conclusion of the games, Pershing Stadium was presented as a gift to the people of France from the United States of America. The area, still known as Le Stade Pershing, continues to be used as an open air recreation park to this day.

After the war, Joe attended Louisiana State University and won letters in several sports. He was inducted into the LSU Athletic Hall of Fame in 1982. It was only right. When he competed in the early 1920s, athletes got no help or scholarships. They even had to buy their own uniforms.

 

 

Joe was musical, too, and played the violin, the guitar, and the banjo. He loved the old country hymns and went to the Baptist church for choir practice on Wednesdays, but he didn't go to church on Sundays. He liked the singing but not the sermons. Joe and Grandpère both say Joe's mother preached frequently to her husband and children, and he'd had enough. We still have some of her letters, and they are quite like sermons.

When he graduated from LSU, Joe took a job as a teacher/coach at the high school in New Roads, LA, met Laura Janis, married, and settled there for the rest of his life. His teaching career ended when his principal wanted him to wear a tie, and he refused. He then took up welding, opened his own shop, and worked as a welder for the rest of his working life. Come hell or high water, Joe took a nap after lunch from which he was not to be disturbed.

SPEAKS FOR ITSELF

Thanks to Ann for my first laugh of the day.

The colors are so pretty.

IN ST ANDREWS SQUARE

From Thinking Aloud, the blog of Bishop David Chillingworth, Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church:

In the Square
by david

‘One of the clergy at St Paul’s said that he found Jesus in the Occupy encampment. Do you expect to find Jesus here?’

As an opening question from a reporter from The Times as I arrived at the Occupy camp in St Andrews Square in Edinburgh .. it seemed challenging enough to be going on with. To which I responded that I expected to find Jesus in every place of suffering and poverty – indeed with the late Bishop David Shepherd I believe that the Gospel has a ‘bias to the poor’. But I also expect to find Jesus among bankers of good will and integrity .. among financiers and politicians who are desperately trying to rescue a failing financial system .. After all Jesus called Matthew the Tax-Collector

I’ve been wanting to visit for some time and I was glad to do so today. They are a community – attempting to function without leaders. They have a cause but they don’t see themselves as strategists – they are there and they intend to stay there, letting their presence and perseverance speak for itself.

And of course the really interesting thing is the speed with which the conversation turns to what the Bible says or doesn’t say about their issues. In that sense it is humbling to be with them because they expect so much from those who claim to stand for something better – and the question about whether or not Jesus was there was maybe not so wide of the mark.

I hope Bishop David doesn't mind that I borrowed his entire post. I agree with the two Bishops David that the Gospel has a 'bias to the poor'.

Here's the link to website of Occupy Edinburgh.

'LET'S NOT BRING HITLER INTO IT'

Alan Wilson, Bishop of Buckingham in England, writes in the Guardian on Alan Craig's despicable article in the so-called Church of England newspaper asking readers to "confront the Gaystapo", and which the editor of the newspaper says he didn't bother to read before it was published.

The worst of Craig's rant is not quoted here, because I did not want his words on my blog. Did you know? Alan Craig is today's Churchill, the lone voice against the "Gaystopo".

Cometh the hour, cometh the man. For years Winston Churchill was a lone voice against the burgeoning darkness of Nazi ideology and intolerance. In the wilderness and with few public friends, he was marginalised and dismissed as belligerent and a war-monger. He was scorned as a political has-been, out of touch with the then-modern mainstream.

We can only hope that Craig will suffer the same fate as Winston Churchill and be "marginalised and dismissed" for his nastiness, but without Churchill's comeback to a position of power.

Back to Alan Wilson:

I would defend, even on the beaches, the right of eccentrics to hold and publish their views, though I'd prefer them to read them first. May I modestly propose, however, that real debate would be served far better by ditching inflammatory second world war references, certainly those whose relevance cannot be established.
....

If we must bring Hitler into the story of the growth of gay rights, anyone who knows anything of the reality behind Craig's cheap imagery will tell you gay people were prime targets of the Nazi regime, who suffered and died at the hands of its real troops. This shouldn't be forgotten at remembrance tide.

But let's not bring Hitler into it. In the 1990s there was a whole wild west out on the internet, with usenet chatrooms in which no flame war was too hot, or opinion sacred. A general principle emerged that eventually prevailed, pretty well, down the line. In any debate, whatever the subject, the first person to bring Hitler or the Nazis into it automatically lost. Good idea.

Yes, please. Whatever point is being argued, let's leave Hitler and the Gestapo out as an analogy unless there is equivalency involving mass torture and killing? Honest. There really are ways to talk about injustices other than comparing them to to the Nazis in the WWII era. If you throw "Nazi" and "Gestapo" around casually, you lose the argument, so far as I am concerned. I follow Godwin's Law.

Godwin has argued that overuse of Nazi and Hitler comparisons should be avoided, because it robs the valid comparisons of their impact.

Exactly. Thus endeth my mini-rant.

Thank you, Bishop Alan.

Image from Wikipedia.

A VOICE FROM ABOVE

A sprightly 60-year-old woman was walking along 5th Avenue when she heard a voice from above:

"You will live to be 100."

She looked around but didn't see anyone. Again she heard the voice: "You will live to be 100."

Boy, she thought to herself, that was the voice of God!

And then she thought it over: I've got 40 more years to live! Might as well make the most of them.

So off she went to the plastic surgeon. She got everything fixed, from head to toe. She was going to be as gorgeous as a 20-year-old. She was ready for her new second life.

When she left the plastic surgeon's office after her final checkup, she walked across the street, got hit by a bus, died, and found herself in heaven.

She complained to God, "You told me I would live to be 100! I was supposed to have had 40 more years! So how come you let that bus kill me?".

God looked over at her and replied, "Oh, sorry. I didn't recognize you."


Cheers,

Paul (A.)

You know whom to blame.

MARIANN BUDDE CONSECRATED 9TH BISHOP OF DIOCESE OF WASHINGTON DC

From the Episcopal Diocese of Washington:

The bells of Washington National Cathedral, silent since the Aug. 23 earthquake, rang out joyfully following the Nov. 12 consecration of the Diocese of Washington’s ninth bishop, the Right Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde.
And though black netting draped across the cathedral ceiling was testament to ongoing repair work, colored light from the stained glass windows filtered through, one of the many expressions of joy that greeted Budde as she took her place as Washington’s first female diocesan bishop.
....

Budde’s husband, Paul, read Coleman’s Bed, a poem by David Whyte. In a sometimes blunt-spoken sermon, the Rev. Linda M. Kaufman also quoted a portion of the poem:

“… Feel the way the cliff at your back
Gives shelter to your outward view
And then bring in from those horizons
All discordant elements that seek a home…”

Asking Budde to stand, Kaufman said: “Mariann, you must find places where you can lean back. … Trust the cliff because its strength goes back. Its strength is the awesome power of God. … I know in the strength of the cliff and the silence you find there you will find the strength of God wrapping his arms around you.”

Blessings and congratulations, Bishop Mariann!

From Peter Carey at Santos Woodcarving Popcicles:

"What I appreciate most about the tradition that is mine is the person of Jesus, the example of his life, the power of his teaching and the mystical presence of the risen Christ that is the spiritual foundation of Christianity. It's a great gift, to have a sense of the presence and the love of a personal God in your life."
~ Bishop Budde of the Diocese of Washington

And they all said, "Amen!"

UPDATE: The Washington Post has a wonderful slideshow of the ceremony.