For three decades, a succession of conservative bishops here barred women from being ordained as priests in the Episcopal Church.

But the conservatives went their own way last fall, forming the Anglican Church in North America. And so on Sunday, exactly one year after that schism, Susan Slaughter will become the first woman in the Episcopal Church’s Forth Worth diocese to don a red stole for ordination to the priesthood.

“God works in mysterious ways,” Ms. Slaughter said, “and this is one of those.”

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THE Grahamstown community is reeling in shock at the mystery murder of an Anglican priest who survived a gruesome attack by two men on a countrywide killing spree in 1991.

Clive Newman, 45, a lecturer at the College of the Transfiguration in Grahamstown for the past four years, was found murdered in his room at the college residence yesterday morning.

Newman was attacked in his car in Bluewater Bay 18 years ago. His throat was slit and one of his vocal chords was severed. His testimony helped convict Antonie Wessels, 31, and his 16-year-old homosexual lover, Jean Havenga. Newman was the fourth and final victim of the pair and the only one to survive.

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The Anglican Church of Kenya has created its 31st diocese, raising its Chaplaincy to the Armed Forces to the status of a “Military Episcopate”.

At a service at St Paul’s Garrison Church at the Kahawa army barracks outside Nairobi, the Protestant Suffragan Bishop for the Armed Forces, Colonel the Rt Rev Peter Wanyonyi Simiyu was enthroned as Bishop-in-Ordinary for the Armed Forces.

A former British Army Garrison chapel, St Paul’s will serve as the pro-Cathedral of the new diocese, the ACK reports.

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Members of Congress are putting pressure on U.S. intelligence agencies to say what they knew about Nidal Hassan’s alleged radical views and whether they shared that knowledge with local Army and law enforcement agencies in the weeks and months before the Fort Hood, Texas, shootings.

In response, U.S. investigative officials acknowledged Monday that Hasan, the only suspect in last week’s deadly shootings at Fort Hood came to their attention last December, when they learned he was in contact with an individual “espousing radical views.” Other reports have identified the individual as Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical imam in Yemen who once presided at a mosque in Falls Church, Va., that Hasan attended.

Awlaki, who was released from a jail in Yemen last year, writes a blog that denounces U.S. policies as anti-Muslim. He was a spiritual leader at two mosques where three Sept. 11 hijackers worshiped.

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We need to rededicate ourselves to the work of Christian charity and the Catholic soul of our insti­tutions. Charity is a duty for the whole believing community. But it is also an obligation and privilege for every individual member of the Church, flowing from our personal encounter with the mercy of Jesus Christ.

Government cannot love. It has no soul and no heart. The greatest danger of the modern secularist state is this: In the name of humanity, under the banner of serving human needs and easing human suffering, it ultimately, ironically””and too often tragically”” lacks humanity. As Benedict foresees in his encyclical, Deus Caritas Est:

The state which would provide everything, absorbing everything into itself, would ultimately become a mere bureaucracy incapable of guaranteeing the very thing which the suffering person””every person””needs: namely, loving personal concern. We do not need a state that regulates and controls everything, but a state that, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity, generously acknowledges and supports initiatives arising from the different social forces and combines spontaneity with closeness to those in need. The Church is one of those living forces: She is alive with the love enkindled by the Spirit of Christ. This love does not simply offer people material help, but refreshment and care for their souls, something that often is even more necessary than material support.

In the face of modern critics who would crowd out the Church’s ministry of love, American Catholics must reclaim the vision Benedict speaks of here. We need to insist on the guarantees promised by the founders at the beginning of the American proposition: autonomy and noninterference from civil authorities.

But a more important task also remains. Catholics must come to a new zeal for that proposition, a new faithfulness to their own Catholic identity as they live their citizenship, and a new dedication to renewing the great public philosophy implicit in America’s founding documents.

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For a person with old-fashioned values, and an old-fashioned sense of English word meanings, the reports of the Fort Hood massacre were almost as provoking as what happened there. In the larger view of things, they may be more consequential….

Falsehood has more consequences than the revelation of personal insincerity. What happened at Fort Hood was no kind of “tragedy.” It was a criminal act, of the terrorist sort, performed by a man acting upon known Islamist motives. To present the perpetrator himself as a kind of “victim” — a man emotionally distressed by his impending assignment to Afghanistan or Iraq — is to misrepresent the reality.

This man was a professional psychiatrist, assigned to help soldiers cope with traumas. Is this the profile of a man with no control over his own emotions? It appears he had hired a lawyer to get him out of the military before his deployment overseas. Is this consistent with spontaneity?

He reportedly shouted “Allahu Akbar!” before opening fire on American soldiers. Would that perhaps offer a little hint of the actual motive? He shot about 40 people, over 10 minutes, with two pistols, neither of them military issue. Might that perhaps suggest premeditation?

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Liberals furious over a last-minute deal that secured passage of healthcare legislation in the House by restricting abortion coverage threatened Monday to derail the massive overhaul bill.

At least 40 House members pledged to reject the final bill if the abortion provision survives in the Senate and the conference that joins the Senate and House versions into a single piece of legislation.

At issue are the insurance policies offered in a new “exchange,” or marketplace, where many people would use federal subsidies to buy coverage.

The House measure bars any insurance policy from covering abortions if it was purchased with a federal subsidy.

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First, let there be no more wrangling about the facts. The Bill as proposed by Nancy Pelosi – an unfaithful Catholic who should be ashamed and strongly opposed in her next campaign while we all pray for her return to the truth – promoted the intrinsic evil of abortion. It would have funded the feticide of our first neighbors in the womb. End of discussion. All of those folks who tried to argue that all of us who sounded the alarm over this evil were wrong have been exposed as frauds. The phony compromises and fake amendments were a subterfuge.

Before the determined and courageous efforts of Congressman Bart Stupak, a Pro-Life Catholic Democrat whose name along with Republican Joe Pitts of Pennsylvania of the 16th District of Pennsylvania is on the now historic amendment, the legislation would have funded more abortions with tax dollars. The “Health Care Reform” legislation which passed last night as HR 3962 – by a vote in the House of Representatives by a vote of 220 ”“ 215 – would have had a lethal effect, resulting in the intentional killing of potentially millions more of our first neighbors. Thank God for the courage and perseverance of faithful Catholic Democrat Bart Stupak!

The Stupak/Pitts Amendment was strongly supported by the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops who worked with admirable persistence and courageous clarity in order to force its passage. It actually was passed earlier in the evening by an historic vote of 240 to 194.Some cowardly members did not vote at all.

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Benedict XVI’s apostolic constitution establishing personal ordinariates for Anglicans in communion with Rome does not alter the discipline of clerical celibacy nor the esteem the Church has for this practice, the Vatican clarified.

This clarification was given today in a statement from the Vatican announcing “Anglicanorum Coetibus,” Benedict XVI’s apostolic constitution for Anglicans who want to enter the Catholic Church. Complementary norms and an official commentary were also published.

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We have received the Archbishop of Canterbury’s letter informing us of the Pope’s offer of an ”˜Apostolic Constitution’ for those Anglicans who wish to be received into the Roman Catholic Church. We believe that this offer is a gracious one and reflects the same commitment to the historic apostolic faith, moral teaching and global mission that we proclaimed in the Jerusalem Declaration on the Global Anglican Future and for this we are profoundly grateful.

We are, however, grieved that the current crisis within our beloved Anglican Communion has made necessary such an unprecedented offer. It represents a grave indictment of the Instruments of Communion whose very purpose is to strengthen and protect our unity in obedience to our Lord’s clear command. Their failure to fully address the abandonment of biblical faith and practice by The Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada has now brought shame to the name of Christ and seriously impedes the cause of the Gospel.

The Primates Council of the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (GAFCON/FCA) is convinced, however, that Anglicanism has a bright future as long as we remain grounded in the Holy Scriptures and obedient to our Lord Jesus Christ’s call to reach the lost and make disciples of all nations teaching them to observe the whole Gospel. We also believe that there is room within our Anglican family for all those who hold true to the ”˜faith once delivered to the saints’. We would like to encourage those Anglicans who are considering this invitation from the Roman Catholic Church to recognize that Anglican churches are growing throughout the world in strength and offering a vibrant testimony to the transforming work of Christ.

We are convinced that this is not the time to abandon the Anglican Communion. Our Anglican identity of reformed catholicity, that gives supreme authority to the Holy Scriptures and acknowledgement that our sole representative and advocate before God is the Lord Jesus Christ, stands as a beacon of hope for millions of people. We remain proud inheritors of the Anglican Reformation. This is a time for all Christians to persevere confident of our Lord’s promise that nothing, not even the gates of hell, will prevail against His Church.

(signed)

+Peter Abuja (Archbishop Peter Akinola),
Chairman,
GAFCON/FCA Primates Council

Anglicans who have sought communion with Rome are giving a positive initial reaction to the apostolic constitution released today that outlines how their personal ordinariates will be established.

In a report posted today on the Messenger Journal, the Great Britain province of the Traditional Anglican Communion said they are “the first to accept” the Vatican initiative.

The vote was unanimous including mail-in votes from those not present, and took place before the constitution was even released, the report explained.

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Swedish press reports that the Church of England and Church of Ireland will boycott the consecration of a partnered lesbian priest as Bishop of Stockholm are not true, spokesmen for the Archbishop of Canterbury and Archbishop of Armagh told The Living Church.

Nevertheless, no episcopal representatives from the Churches of England or Ireland, the Church in Wales or the Scottish Episcopal Church will be present for the Nov. 8 consecration of the Rev. Eva Brunne by Swedish Archbishop Anders Wejryd of Uppsala.

The Swedish Christian newspaper Dagen reported on Nov. 3 that the Church of England and Church of Ireland will boycott the ceremony as a sign of their displeasure with the ordination of Pastor Brunne, who lives with her partner, a fellow Church of Sweden pastor, the Rev. Gunilla Lindén.

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–Former Catholic priests who became Anglicans can’t be priests, and likewise men in “irregular” marriages are ineligible.
–Former Anglican bishops not recognized as bishops in the new ordinariates may nevertheless take part in bishops’ conference meetings (with the status of a retired bishop), and may ask Rome’s permission to wear the insignia of a bishop.
–Priests will be permitted to have a “secular” job outside the church, with the permission of their ordinary ”“ perhaps a concession to the reality that at least at the beginning, these ordinariates are likely to struggle with financial resources.

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I am unaware of any clergy or lay people in the Diocese of St Albans who have decided to take up this offer of joining one of the ”˜Personal Ordinariates’ yet. Personally, I will feel sad if anyone decides to leave us. However, there has always been two-way traffic between the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of England. I expect that we will still see a small but steady stream of Roman Catholics being received into the Church of England. Meanwhile, the overwhelming majority of people in St Albans Diocese will continue to worship and serve their communities as before and are preparing for enthusiastic and joyful celebrations of Advent and Christmas.

Read the whole statement.

While acknowledging the correct stand taken by Anglo-Catholics against theological liberalism (the features of which do not represent true, Biblical Anglicanism), it should also be noted that the true doctrine of the Church of England does not embrace any of the teachings or practices which characterise the Church of Rome. For instance, the Church of Rome is fundamentally flawed in its claims about its own nature and authority and in its teaching about the means of salvation.

A proper rejection of theological liberalism should therefore not be accompanied by a turning to the Church of Rome and its unbiblical teachings and practices. Rather, both theological liberalism and the unscriptural teachings and practices of the Church of Rome are contrary to the Bible and to the historic doctrines of the Church of England as a Protestant, Reformed, Evangelical and catholic church.

The longing of Church Society is that all Anglicans, whether in England or elsewhere, would see and understand both the destructive nature of theological liberalism and the false nature, teachings and practices of the Church of Rome.

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From here:

I had thought the original notice from Rome was extremely generous. Today all the accompanying papers have been published and they are extremely impressive. I have been horrified that the Church of England while trying to accommodate us has consistently said we cannot have the jurisdiction and independent life that most of us feel we need to continue on our Christian pilgrimage.

What Rome has done is offer exactly what the Church of England has refused. Indeed it has offered the requests of Consecrated Women? with the completion of its ecumenical hopes. We all need now to ask the question ‘is this what we want?’ For some of us I suspect our bluff is called! This is both an exciting and dangerous time for Christianity in this country. Those who take up this offer will need to enter into negotiation with the Church of England about access to parish churches and many other matters. This situation must not be used to damage the Church of England but I do believe we have a valid claim on our own heritage in history.

The doctrinal standard demanded by Rome is the New Catechism which most of us use anyway. We would be allowed to use Anglican or Roman rites and our ordinaries would have jurisdiction. We will all need to meet and talk. I would hope that this could take place in collaboration with the PEVs and other Catholic bishops. It is not my style to give a expansive analysis of a document that I have only received today nor will I answer the question ‘What are you going to do?’ That is something we need to work out together.

Every Blessing,

–(The Rt. Rev.) John Broadhurst, Bishop of Fulham

Anglican clergy claim the rules set out in the document make the offer seem more generous than it first seemed.

Fr Geoffrey Kirk, the national secretary of Forward in Faith, which represents Anglicans sympathetic to Catholicism, said more clergy would probably convert as a result.

“Of the 450 parishes I knew would take it (the Pope’s invitation) seriously, I said between 150 and 200 would convert. Now I think it’ll be more than 200.”

The details published today confirm that Church of England priests who are married will be allowed – on a case-by-case basis – to serve as Roman Catholic priests.

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4. What is the role of former Anglican bishops?
A married former Anglican bishop is eligible to be appointed Ordinary. In such a case he is to be ordained a priest in the Catholic Church and then exercises pastoral and sacramental ministry within the Ordinariate with full jurisdictional authority.

A former Anglican bishop who belongs to the Ordinariate may be invited to participate in the meetings of the Bishops’ Conference of the respective territory, with the equivalent statutes of a retired bishop.

A former Anglican bishop who belongs to the Ordinariate and who has not been ordained in the Catholic Church, may request permission from the Holy See to use the insignia of the episcopal office.

5. What is the role of former Anglican priests?
Former Anglican priests who are married may be re-ordained to the priesthood in the Roman Catholic Church. “Those who have been previously ordained in the Catholic Church and subsequently have become Anglicans, may not exercise sacred ministry in the Ordinariate,” the constitution says. “Anglican clergy who are in irregular marriage situations may not be accepted for Holy Orders in the Ordinariate.”

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Prime Minister Gordon Brown is pedaling smartly back on his proposal for a financial transactions tax or ‘Tobin Tax’ after his surprise presentation, delivered at a Group of 20 finance meeting in Scotland, was met with a chorus of criticism over the weekend.

It is believed that Brown’s handling of the issue provoked renewed dispute with the Treasury. Chancellor Alistair Darling is said to be frustrated by the prime minister’s promotion of a plan he already knew would be publicly shot down by the US.

The American rejection of the proposal – “A day-by-day financial transactions tax is not something we are prepared to support,” said US Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner (above, with Alistair Darling) – was followed by rejections from Canada, Russia, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank.

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The enrichment is mutual: the faithful coming from Anglicanism and entering into full Catholic communion receive the richness of the spiritual, liturgical and pastoral tradition of the Latin Roman Church in order to integrate it into their own tradition, which integration will in itself enrich the Latin Roman Church. On the other hand, exactly this Anglican tradition ”“ which will be received in its authenticity in the Latin Roman Church ”“ has constituted within Anglicanism precisely one of those gifts of the Church of Christ, which has moved these faithful towards Catholic unity.

What is involved in this provision, therefore, goes beyond what was envisioned in the Pastoral Provision adopted by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and approved by John Paul II on June 20, 1980. Whereas the Pastoral Provision foresaw that the faithful coming from Anglicanism would be members of the Diocese in which they were domiciled, although receiving special care from the diocesan Bishop, the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum coetibus considers them as members of a Personal Ordinariate and not of the Diocese in which they are domiciled. Furthermore these Ordinariates will be composed of faithful from every sate of life (laity, priests and members of Institutes of Consecrated Life and of Societies of Apostolic Life) coming from Anglicanism either in groups or individually, or receiving the sacraments of initiation within the Ordinariate itself (Ap. Cons. I § 4).

Posted in * Anglican - Episcopal, * Religion News & Commentary, Anglican Provinces, Archbishop of Canterbury, Church of England (CoE), Ecumenical Relations, Other Churches, Pope Benedict XVI, Roman Catholic

Indeed, it’s time for us to dust off James Baker’s line: “When you’re serious, give us a call: 202-456-1414. Ask for Barack. Otherwise, stay out of our lives. We have our own country to fix.”

The fact is, the only time America has been able to advance peace ”” post-Yom Kippur War, Camp David, post-Lebanon war, Madrid and Oslo ”” has been when the parties felt enough pain for different reasons that they invited our diplomacy, and we had statesmen ”” Henry Kissinger, Jimmy Carter, George Shultz, James Baker and Bill Clinton ”” savvy enough to seize those moments.

Today, the Arabs, Israel and the Palestinians are clearly not feeling enough pain to do anything hard for peace with each other ”” a mood best summed up by a phrase making the rounds at the State Department: The Palestinian leadership “wants a deal with Israel without any negotiations” and Israel’s leadership “wants negotiations with the Palestinians without any deal.”

It is obvious that this Israeli government believes it can have peace with the Palestinians and keep the West Bank, this Palestinian Authority still can’t decide whether to reconcile with the Jewish state or criminalize it and this Hamas leadership would rather let Palestinians live forever in the hellish squalor that is Gaza than give up its crazy fantasy of an Islamic Republic in Palestine.

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The Vatican said on Monday that its new rules facilitating the conversion of Anglicans, including married Anglican priests, did not “signify any change” in its rules for priestly celibacy.

The announcement seemed aimed at dampening recent debate about whether in creating a new Anglican rite within the Roman Catholic Church, the Vatican had brought in a kind of Trojan horse ”” married former Anglican clergy ”” a practice that might someday normalize the acceptance of married Catholic priests.

In a watershed in Catholic-Anglican relations, Pope Benedict XVI announced three weeks ago the creation of a new structure in which Anglicans could convert to Catholicism yet keep certain parts of Anglican ritual, including liturgy. The move was widely seen as aimed at traditionalist Anglicans uncomfortable with the ordination of women and gay clergy members.

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[Oliver] Karsitz, who works as a cameraman for German TV, is unsentimental about that night. “I always try to look to the future and live for today,” he says.

His daughter, who is about to turn 20, is training to be a Web designer. His relationship with her mother didn’t last. Karsitz’s father still lives in what was East Germany.

Karsitz says that his generation lived with the East-West tensions every day, but they are “meaningless” today to his daughter and her friends.

“My daughter has no inkling of what it was really like then. Our generation is still working through it all, to some extent. East and West come together everywhere in this city now. At your job, for example, you work with people from both sides of the wall, and you notice the divisions a little bit, the different outlooks. But for her it plays no role whatsoever,” he says.

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