Vicar threatened with violence if his parish goes over to Rome
By Damian Thompson Last updated: November 23rd, 2009 Telegraph Hat-tip: StandFirm
The noticeboard of St Saviour's, Walthamstow
The vicar of an Anglo-Catholic church has received a threatening phone call warning him of violence if his parish goes over to Rome – and his noticeboard has been defaced with the words “C of E No Pope” daubed across it in white paint.
Fr David Waller of St Saviour’s, Walthamstow, discovered the vandalism on Sunday morning as he prepared for Mass. Then he found the a message waiting for him on his answering machine threatening him with physical violence. But, when I spoke to him a few minutes ago, he didn’t sound remotely intimidated. “The message was distorted – it sounded drunken and I don’t want to make too much of it,” he said.
St Saviour’s is a Forward in Faith parish and, although no decision has been made, Fr Waller is very encouraged by the Pope’s offer of a Personal Ordinariate. “The key players in the parish, including the churchwardens, are completely disillusioned with the Church of England and see the Ordinariate as the solution. I can’t speak for all the silent folk in the pews, but a significant number of them are Eastern European Roman Catholics, so I don’t think it would be a problem for them.”
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