UK News

from FaithWorld:

Kate Middleton confirmed ahead of royal wedding

(Kate Middleton, fiancee of Britain's Prince William, during a visit Witton Country Park in Darwen, northern England April 11, 2011/Alastair Grant)

Royal bride-to-be Kate Middleton has been confirmed into the Church of England ahead of her wedding to Prince William this month, his office said on Wednesday. The ceremony, carried out by the Bishop of London Richard Chartres who will give the address at the April 29th wedding, took place on March 10 with Middleton, 29, accompanied by her future husband, a spokeswoman for St James's Palace said.

"Catherine Middleton was confirmed by the Bishop of London at a private service at St James's Palace attended by her family and Prince William," the spokeswoman said. "Miss Middleton, who was already baptised, decided to be confirmed as part of her marriage preparations."

William himself was confirmed by Chartres in a ceremony at Windsor Castle in March 1997 when he was 14, around the usual time for a youth to be confirmed. That ceremony represented a break in tradition as the Archbishop of Canterbury, the spiritual leader of the Church of England and the worldwide Anglican Communion, usually performed such services for the royal family.

The Church of England and the throne have been linked since Henry VIII broke with the Roman Catholic Church in the 16th century and had himself declared the supreme head of the Church of England, a position currently held by the Queen. As second in line to the throne, William is set to become supreme head of the Church of England when he becomes monarch.

British law forbids a Catholic, or anyone married to a Catholic, from taking the throne.

from FaithWorld:

UK to allow same-sex marriage in church – reports

(Bride and groom figurines on wedding cakes at Cake and Art bakery in West Hollywood, California June 4, 2008/Mario Anzuoni)

Britain plans to allow same-sex unions to be celebrated in places of worship, removing a key legal distinction between homosexual civil partnerships and heterosexual marriage, newspapers reported on Sunday. The move would lift the ban on religious ceremonies for the registration of gay unions imposed when Britain legalised civil partnerships six years ago.

The government may also propose scrapping the legal definition of marriage as a relationship between a man and a woman, allowing gay men and women to call their partners husbands or wives, the Sunday Times said. Equalities minister Lynne Featherstone will launch a consultation on the issue next week, the Sunday Telegraph said.

Critics say restricting homosexuals to civil partnerships rather than marriage is a form of discrimination, even when, as in Britain, there little or no difference in the legal rights conferred.

If passed into law the plan would bring Britain closer to countries such as the Netherlands and Canada where gays can legally marry.

Read the full story here.

from FaithWorld:

Church of England to wash some Bible imagery from baptism rite

(Sistine Chapel fresco The Baptism of Christ c. 1482 by Pietro Perugino)

The Church of England has voted to use more accessible language during baptisms to help it connect better with congregations, especially non church-goers.  Members attending the Church's General Synod, or parliament, in London, agreed that the Liturgical Commission should provide supplementary material to help prevent the eyes of  worshippers "glazing over" during important parts of the service.

The Reverend Tim Stratford, from Liverpool, said on Wednesday his motion was "not a request for christenings without Christianity." Quite the opposite.  "I am not asking for the language of Steven Gerrard," he said, referring to the Liverpool and England  soccer star. "Just references that could be understood by the majority."

Parts of the service were difficult to use "without seeming inappropriately schoolmaster-like", he said.  Stratford said he did not disagree with the words currently being used, such as "I turn to Christ, I repent of my sins, and I renounce evil."

"But it sounds to many as if the church wants an entirely religious response -- removed from our behaviour, actions and conversations". Instead, he wanted words that showed Christ's neighbourly love. "Not inquisitorial, but aspirational."

Those speaking against said there was enough flexibility already and it was unwise to add alternatives.  Other synod members suggested that if the children who were being baptised understood the service better, they and their parents may be more keen to attend church in future. It was not a call for words to be watered down, but for simpler, more powerful language to be used.

from FaithWorld:

New Catholic subdivision for ex-Anglicans will not be a ghetto

The new Roman Catholic Church body set up to house disaffected Anglicans would not become a ghetto within the Church, the priest appointed to lead the group said on Monday. The ordinariate, a special subdivision in the Church created by the Vatican to allow the converts to retain some of their Anglican customs, would also seek to evangelise while maintaining good relations with Anglicans, the former Church of England bishop Keith Newton told reporters.

The ordinariate, announced by Pope Benedict in 2009, allows those Anglicans opposed to women bishops, gay clergy and same-sex blessings to convert to Rome while keeping many of their traditions. Newton said there was a danger that people would think of it as an ex-Anglican ghetto within the Catholic Church, but "we want to make clear it is not."

"There are no second-class Catholics," he added.

Newton, who will be the ordinary or leader of the ordinariate, was ordained into the Catholic Church on Saturday along with two other former Church of England bishops, John Broadhurst and Andrew Burnham.

A number of practical issues, including finance, salaries and homes are expected to be settled by Pentecost, June 12, by which time former Anglican priests ready to convert are expected to have been ordained as Catholic clerics.

Read the full story here. See also Anglican bishops ordained as Catholic priests in London.

from FaithWorld:

First group of Anglican bishops to convert to Rome

Five Church of England bishops opposed to the ordination of women bishops will take up an offer by Pope Benedict and convert to Roman Catholicism, heralding a possible exodus of traditionalist Anglicans.

The bishops will enter full communion with Rome through an ordinariate, a body proposed by the pope last October to let traditionalists convert while keeping some Anglican traditions, the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales announced.

The ordinariate will let married clerics become Catholic priests, in an exception to the Vatican's celibacy rule, but not bishops. Married Anglican bishops who convert may be granted a special status almost equivalent to their former rank.

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, head of the Church of England and the worldwide Anglican Communion, accepted the resignations of two bishops directly under his authority, Andrew Burnham and Keith Newton, "with regret." He wished them well "in this next stage of their service to the Church."

The Catholic Bishops' Conference said in a statement: "We welcome the decision of Bishops Andrew Burnham, Keith Newton, John Broadhurst, Edwin Barnes and David Silk to enter into full communion with the Catholic Church through the Ordinariate for England and Wales, which will be established under the provisions of the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus.

"At our plenary meeting next week, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales will be exploring the establishment of the Ordinariate and the warm welcome we will be extending to those who seek to be part of it. Further information will be made known after the meeting."

from FaithWorld:

Anglican gay bishops are okay if celibate, Archbishop Rowan Williams says

The spiritual head of the Anglican Communion, Archbishop Rowan Williams, backed gay people becoming bishops on Saturday as long as they remain celibate, risking more divisions within the Church on the issue.

Making one of the most explicit statements he has made on the subject, the head of the Church of England told The Times that he had "no problem" with their consecration. But he would not endorse gay clergy in active relationships because of tradition and historical "standards" that require celibacy, he said in the interview.

He said he had to decide against endorsing gay relationships for clergy and bishops because "the cost to the Church overall was too great to be borne at that point."

"To put it very simply, there's no problem about a gay person who's a bishop. It's about the fact that there are traditionally, historically, standards that the clergy are expected to observe," Williams said.

His comments provoked an angry response from campaigners who accused him of being inconsistent because they say he previously blocked the appointment as bishop of a celibate homosexual cleric.

Read the full story here.

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from The Great Debate UK:

Pragmatism beats idealism in fight for women bishops

- Reverend Dr. Miranda Threlfall-Holmes is Chaplain and Solway Fellow of University College, Durham. The opinions expressed are her own. -

The Church of England’s governing body, General Synod, has over the past few days given the green light to women bishops once again.

Now each diocese in the Church of England will discuss the proposed legislation, and a final vote is expected to take place in two years time. If all goes to plan, the first woman bishop in the Church of England could be consecrated in early 2014.

There is no shortage of good candidates. The Church of England now has four female Deans of cathedrals, 17 female Archdeacons, and many other senior women such as Canons and staff in theological colleges, all as able and as gifted as the men who get made bishops.

I can’t wait to attend the consecration of the first woman bishop. It will be a great joy to see the Church visibly valuing women and men equally, as Jesus did.

The process by which the Church of England changes it rules can be frustratingly slow, but it does have the advantage that it listens to everyone and tries very hard indeed to accommodate everyone.

How chaplains find peace during wartime

Dozens of chaplains from the Church of England are serving with British armed forces in Afghanistan and Iraq. They are there when soldiers seek redemption around the time of battle, and they there are, standing in the operating theatre, waiting until the surgeon can do no more.

They serve the needs of soldiers sent to war, and they also serve God.

While they adminster balm on the battlefield, their peers preach peace from the pulpit. Which is the more important for the CoE at a time of war?

A recruitment advert for the Royal Air Force in a Christian publication recently said it needed chaplains “to take the church to where it’s needed most” – moving with troops and air-crew, providing support on the front line and at the altar back at base.

Some vicars in the shires and cities would say they are most needed in the pulpit, preaching pacifism.

This is one of the busiest times for armed forces chaplains since World War Two – a war when the role of the church was possibly less blurred.

One of the highest-ranked chaplains in the armed forces touched upon this issue during the CoE’s General Synod in London this week.  The Venerable John Green, chaplain of the fleet and archdeacon for the Royal Navy, told members of the assembly that though they may have views on government defence policy, they should think of those carrying out those policies on the battlefield. You can listen to the audio of his presentation here.

from FaithWorld:

Church of England stops short of links with breakaway U.S. Anglicans

Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury, England, 23 Dec 2009/Suzanne Plunkett

The Church of England stopped short of recognising a new conservative church in North America on Wednesday, avoiding possible embarrassment for the main Anglican church in the United States.

But some evangelicals in the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) said they were encouraged by the decision of the General Synod, the CoE's parliament, for the archbishops of Canterbury and York to report back on the break-away church's progress next year.

Some members of ACNA, formed in opposition to pro-gay members of the official Anglican body in North America, said they had not expected any kind of recognition from the Anglican mother church for another five years.

"We are hopeful on this," Kevin Kallsen, an ACNA member from Connecticut, told Reuters.

The synod voted to "recognise and affirm" the desire of those who have formed ACNA to remain within the Anglican family, amending a private member's motion brought by Canadian-born CoE lay member Lorna Ashworth.

RC archbishop to Anglicans: we don’t want cafeteria Catholics

Those disaffected Anglicans in England and Wales who think they can take up Pope Benedict’s offer and switch to Rome with a “pick and choose” attitude should think again, the Catholic Archbishop of Westminster, Vincent Nichols has said.

Many Anglicans unhappy with women’s ordination and gay clergy cannot just convert to Roman Catholicism as a way out, but must accept Catholic doctrine  wholeheartedly, he said.

“Nothing is envisaged in this provision that the Pope has put in place is a kind of minimalist approach to picking bits of the Catholic faith that I like and then seeing myself as it were contained as a quasi-Catholic, not a real Catholic, under the umbrella of this constitution,” he said, referring to a “buffet approach” to the faith that some Catholics dismiss as “cafeteria Catholicism.”

It is still unclear how many Anglicans will convert, but the invitation, in the form of what’s called an Apostolic Constitution, has opened up old wounds between the Vatican and Lambeth Palace.

It has also crystallised divisions within the Church of England, the Anglican mother church.

A debate is raging over whether the Pope’s offer was an act of undisguised poaching, tapping into discontent among some Anglicans. or whether it was an act of generosity, responding to calls of help.

It has also raised questions about the approach adopted by Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, the head of the Church of England and spiritual leader of the Anglican Communion, towards the offer – details of which he did not know until two weeks before the announcement. Some say he has been too soft, while others say he has been judicious.