This story tries to grab attention by making a big deal out of a wholly incidental detail...
Anglican clergywoman to greet
Pope Benedict in Westminster Abbey
Riazat Butt
Religious Affairs correspondent
Tuesday 7 September 2010
Pope Benedict's arrival in Britain breaks new ground on many levels, with a state welcome from the Queen and the beatification of Cardinal Henry Newman. But buried in the itinerary is another and, some would say, more piquant landmark.
Next Friday, the Pope will meet the Rev Jane Hedges, canon steward of Westminster Abbey and a campaigner for women bishops in the Church of England.
[So??? He will be meeting her because she happens to be one of the officers of the Abbey, and not by design! His main host at the event is the Archbishop of Canterbury who, the last anyone checked, is male.]
It will be the first time the head of the Vatican, which earlier this year declared female ordination a "crime against the faith", shakes hands with a clergywoman.
[But not the first time for Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who was photographed once with Germany's first-ever woman bishop, the Lutheran Maria Jepsen, who was made a bishop in 1992. Ironically, she resigned last July after allegations that she failed to act swiftly and decisively to investigate cases of sexual abuse in her diocese that she had known about since 1999 ! But the MSM was too obsessed with Catholic pedophile priests that few took note of it outside Germany.]
Their meeting will act as a reminder of the differences and difficulties between the Anglican Communion and the Roman Catholic church. The abbey team is aware of the many historic aspects to the visit.
"We shall greet this Pope as our guest. There will no hint of battle," wrote the dean of Westminster, the Very Rev Dr John Hall, last week in the Tablet, a weekly Catholic newspaper.
An ecumenical evensong will begin with an exchange of peace between the Archbishop of Canterbury and Benedict XVI, and include a psalm, the Magnificat, readings and prayers. "I have no doubt that it will be a memorable occasion. Yet it will also be coloured by many emotions," Hall said.
It was almost a year ago that the Pope
created the ordinariate [For a religion affairs correspondent, the wrong terminology for what the Pope did: the Ordinariate is just a mechanism contained in the central enabling document, which is the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum coetibus] - a way for traditionalist Anglicans to convert to Catholicism – their desire prompted largely, but not solely, by the ordination of women, which is often cited as the single biggest obstacle to reconciliation and unity between the two denominations.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, was informed of the initiative two weeks before its announcement. [This is the spin that the Anglicans and their media sympathizers have used. But Williams couldn't have been completely in the dark because it was an open secret for more than a decade that the Traditional Anglican Communion was in correspondence with the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith over the mechanics of a 'mass conversion'!]
"It looked at first as though battle lines were being drawn, to the embarrassment of all: papal tanks to be deposited on the Lambeth palace lawns and groups of partially reordered Anglicans to be landed on Westminster Cathedral's forecourt," wrote Hall.
[Typical Anglican hyperbole at the time, to make it look as though the Pope had actively pursued the disaffected Anglicans, not the other way around.]
However, within a month, amid speculation over Williams's leadership, the two met in Rome, and proclaimed their desire to strengthen ecumenical relations.
This depth of friendship and respect should not be underestimated, says Monsignor Andrew Faley, of the Catholic bishops' conference of England and Wales, who described the body language at that meeting as "utterly cordial and one of equality".
"There is a serenity about the relationship. [The Pope] will be welcomed into the home of the archbishop, it is a very reciprocal gesture of friendship and closeness, the tone of the meeting is a very mature one."
[Williams is too intelligent and too Christian to harbor any resentment against the Pope for doing what he did. If he were in Benedict XVI's shoes, he would have done something similar - more creative or less, we cannot know. But he wouldn't have left the requesting Anglicans stewing without any response!]
On the subject of the ordinariate, which will allow Anglicans to convert but retain aspects of their own heritage, he said: "
It might have been more helpful had the archbishop been kept informed. [When was it ever prudent to telegraph a move that was clearly going to be controversial before it was ready to be executed? I think Williams was informed as soon as talks with the TAC were conclusive and the Pope had taken his final decision. Even TAC, which had been quite gung-ho in their PR campaign about their decision to convert, held on their horses in the run-up to the Vatican announcement!] I do not think the Ordinariate is anything to do with the strength of our relationship."
One senior Anglican also thinks
the papal project will have little or no impact on the visit, calling it a "red herring". [That's the sensible and realistic view.]
The Rt Rev Tom Wright, the former bishop of Durham, said: "People leave the Roman Catholic church for Anglicanism and the other way round. It has always been the case, it is two-way traffic.
"It is easy to think ecumenical relations are what happens at a high level in public statements, but it's what happens on the ground that is important."
He dismissed the Vatican's horror over women's ordination as "surface noise", but it is difficult to see past robust views.
[That cavalier attitude is similar to the Church of England's attitude towards the concerns of the traditional Anglicans that led to Anglicanorum coetibus! Besides, to call the Vatican's opposition to women's ordination as nothing but 'surface noise' is insulting to the Church's doctrinal integrity!]
At the 2008 Lambeth Conference, the once-a-decade meeting of the world's Anglican bishops,
the Vatican contingent scolded them for failing to reach a consensus on the ordination of women and gays as bishops.
Liberal churches were suffering from "spiritual Alzheimer's and ecclesiastical Parkinson's", homosexuality was "disordered behaviour" that must have the clear condemnation of all and unrest in the Communion posed a "further and grave challenge for full and visible unity". [
Why is it that everytime the Church expresses its doctrine in unadulterated terms, she is accused of 'scolding' others? She is dutybound to reiterate her teachings on every possible occasion, as Cardinal Kasper and Cardinal Dias did at the Lambeth Conference. And yet, everyone else has been lecturing and hectoring the Church on her internal affairs!]
The Roman Catholic archbishop of Southwark, the Most Rev Kevin McDonald, spent eight years at the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. He said those involved in ecumenical dialogue had to consider where it was leading. "It is a matter of trust and faith.
"The Church of England has been trying to find a way of accommodating people.
[And have decided lately that they will not accomodate the anti-liberal elements of their Church even with a compromise arrangement that the latter were willing to live with!] They are running into a lot of trouble doing that.
The Catholic Church does not want to tell the Church of England how to deal with this. There is no reason to think there is a pulling back on either side, but there has been a reality check."
Anglicans and Roman Catholics are in a "different place" to where they were in the 1960s and 70s,
"People should not underestimate what we do have in common, perhaps it is best to capitalise on that, not make the best enemy of the good."
Previous meetings between popes and archbishops have been heavy with symbolism: Paul VI presenting Archbishop Michael Ramsey with his diamond and emerald episcopal ring in 1966, John Paul II walking with Robert Runcie in Canterbury cathedral in 1982.
The sight of Benedict XVI and Williams praying for unity at the shrine of Edward the Confessor could be a defining moment: the 11th century monarch is the patron saint of kings, difficult marriages and separated spouses.
[I believe the Catholic Church has taken the most realistic attitude about Christian unification. Everyone must continue to work at it, but ultimately, it will happen when God thinks it is the right time... Anglicans and evangelical Protestants should consider that the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Churches, which are the only authentic 'apostolicc' churches, together comprising almost 1.5 billion individuals [against a worldwide total of 670-million for all other Christian denominations including the Anglican Communion's 80-million), are in complete agreement against any liberalizing of traditional Christian doctrine and practices. If it were an issue that could be put to a vote - and even allowing for the proportion of dissident liberal Catholics - 1.5 billion Catholics and Orthodox against 670-million Protestants is an overwhelming majority!]
On a happier note...
Spiritual bouquet for the Pope
from Aid to Church in Need
LONDON, SEPT. 6, 2010 (Zenit.org).- Over 32,000 rosary decades and 11,500 Masses will be offered for Benedict XVI's Sept. 16-19 visit to the United Kingdom.
Aid to the Church in Need reported that its prayer and action campaign for the intention of the Pope's visit has seen an "enthusiastic" response.
[The current newscrawl on the charity's UK site also says that as part of 'spiritual gifts for the Pope' from its supporters, there have been 6,344 donations for projects in the Middle East and 3,286 hours of Eucharistic Adoration.]
Neville Kyrke-Smith, the national director of the aid agency's U.K. branch, said, "Whilst there has been much negativity in the secular media about the visit of Pope Benedict, it is a fantastic sign of faith that the friends of Aid to the Church in Need have renewed their commitment to pray for the Holy Father and the suffering Church."
He noted that the spirit of Cardinal John Henry Newman, who will be beatified during the Pontiff's visit, is "very much alive -- the generosity of so many Catholics speaks 'heart to heart' to all those who suffer today."
"The commitment of prayer equates to over six months of continuous prayer," Kyrke-Smith affirmed.
He said, "Our hope is that prayer will continue, in support of the proclamation of the Gospel in today's challenging world."
Supporters who requested to have Masses said for the intentions of the Pope will have their names written in a commemorative book, which will be presented to the Pontiff on his visit.
Stipends for these Masses will be used by the aid agency to help priests in countries experiencing persecution or other forms of suffering.
The agency is also including in the commemorative book the names of donors who support its work in the Middle East.
It noted that the emphasis on aid to that region comes "in direct response to a request from Benedict XVI who warned that as a result of oppression, poverty and emigration, the Church there is threatened in its very existence."
The agency received over 6,300 donations for the Middle East projects, which include subsidized housing for Christians in Jerusalem, emergency support for Iraqi Christians who are displaced in other countries or regions, support for seminarians and religious, construction of churches, and media initiatives.
Kyrke-Smith stated that "this positive Papal campaign encourages us all in faith, hope and charity for Christians in the Middle East and elsewhere in the world."
Patricia Hatton, the agency's U.K. fundraising and marketing manager, underlined the fact that this campaign has "given a voice" to those benefactors "who, in the face of media indifference and worse, believe strongly in the message of Christ and who are convinced that prayer has the power to strengthen the life of the Church."
The agency shared some of the messages from these benefactors. One stated, "I am concerned that every opportunity should be taken to show the world, particularly the secular ascendancy here, that British Catholics are devoted to the Pope."
Another donor affirmed the aid agency's work to "support the suffering Church," while being "totally loyal to the Holy Father."
And a necessary reminder of the immediate motivation for the papal visit:
Pope Benedict XVI to highlight
ongoing relevance of Newman
By Cindy Wooden
VATICAN CITY. Sept. 7 (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI's decision to travel to Great Britain to personally beatify Cardinal John Henry Newman will give him an opportunity to highlight Cardinal Newman's teaching about the relation between faith and reason, the role of conscience and the place of religion in society.
During his Sept. 16-19 trip, the Pope will visit the Scottish cities of Edinburgh and Glasgow before traveling to London and Birmingham for the beatification. Cardinal Newman was a 19th-century theologian and intellectual who was a leader in the Anglican reform effort known as the Oxford Movement before becoming a Catholic.
The Pope will celebrate open-air Masses, meet Queen Elizabeth II and Prime Minister David Cameron and make a major address to leaders of British society. His visit includes a meeting with leaders of other religions, an ecumenical prayer service and a visit to a home for the aged.
But the Vatican has billed the trip as a pastoral visit "on the occasion of the beatification of Cardinal John Henry Newman."
Since his election more than five years ago, Pope Benedict has presided over several canonization ceremonies, but he always has delegated the task of presiding over beatifications to highlight the different importance of the two ceremonies.
[More precisely, his primary reason for this rule is that beatifications generally have local significance primarily - except universally-known figures like Mother Teresa, John Paul II and now Cardinal Newman - and therefore, the beatification is most appropriately celebrated in the candidate's home diocese (or diocese most associated with him/her) with local bishops presiding.]
The Pope's decision to make an exception for Cardinal Newman demonstrates his personal admiration for the British churchman, an admiration he once said went back to his first semester of seminary theology studies in 1946.
"For us at that time, Newman's teaching on conscience became an important foundation" for theological reflection, the then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger said at a conference in 1990 marking the centenary of Cardinal Newman's death.
World War II had just ended, he said, and the German seminarians who had grown up under Adolf Hitler witnessed the "appalling devastation of humanity" that resulted from a totalitarian ruler who "negated the conscience of the individual."
While most of the world's totalitarian regimes have fallen, Pope Benedict often has warned that the individual conscience -- which must seek and try to act on truth -- is being threatened today by a culture of moral relativism, which asserts that nothing is always right or always wrong and almost anything is permissible.
Pope Benedict also often speaks of the essential interplay of faith and reason, a point Cardinal Newman emphasized. While embracing faith and knowing there were no scientific proofs for God's existence, the cardinal was convinced that believing in God was reasonable, an idea that frequently is challenged by modern British schools of philosophical atheism.
Cardinal Newman's commitment to the search for truth, his concern for fidelity to doctrine and his conviction that faith must be lived publicly all are key concepts in the teachings of Pope Benedict as well.
In his celebrations with Catholics in Great Britain and his addresses to British leaders, the Pope is expected to emphasize his conviction that religious belief is not a hindrance to social progress and peaceful coexistence.
Over the past year, news of the trip led to anti-visit petition drives and promises of protests, primarily over the use of taxpayer money to fund the visit of a religious leader, but also because of Catholic Church positions on moral issues such as contraception and homosexuality.
Groups representing victims of clerical sex abuse also have threatened to protest the papal visit, while officials at the Vatican and in England have said it is possible the Pope would meet privately with some victims as he did in the United States, Australia and Malta.
Pope Benedict will be welcomed to Great Britain by Queen Elizabeth, who is the supreme governor of the Church of England. He also will meet privately and pray publicly with Archbishop Rowan Williams of Canterbury, primate of the Church of England and spiritual leader of the Anglican Communion.
The fact that Cardinal Newman's Christian faith and theology initially was formed within the Church of England will require particular sensitivity at a difficult time in the Roman Catholic-Anglican search for full unity.
The Rev. David Richardson, director of the Anglican Center in Rome and the archbishop of Canterbury's representative to the Vatican, said that while some people may see Cardinal Newman's beatification as another point of contention, "it's much more likely that the beatification will be bridge building."
The liturgical calendar of the Church of England already commemorates Newman, whom many Anglicans honor as an eminent theologian, a person of prayer and a force of renewal for the church, he said.
"This beatification is not simply a piece of triumphalism for a dead Roman Catholic, but it's actually an opportunity to embrace a wholeness -- his Anglicanism as well as his Catholicism," Rev. Richardson said.
At a time when many saw a danger of the Church of England being treated almost as a department of the English government, Newman was a leader in the Anglican Oxford Movement's effort to return to the teachings of the early Christian theologians in order to recover a sense of the church as a sacred institution with a divine mandate.
As he continued his search for the truth, he was received into the Catholic Church in 1845, was ordained a Catholic priest in 1847 and was named a cardinal in 1879.
Msgr. Mark Langham, a priest of the Diocese of Westminster and an official of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, said, "You cannot begin to understand Newman the Catholic without Newman the Anglican."
"It is very clear that it was his study and his quest for the truth -- an absolutely integrated quest for the truth as an Anglican -- that moved him toward Catholicism," Msgr. Langham said.
At the same time, while convinced that the fullness of truth was found in the Catholic Church, Cardinal Newman valued the formation he received as an Anglican and "was always very clear that his role was not one of trying to poach people for the Roman Catholic Church," he said.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 08/09/2010 09:06]