Anglican Mainstream

By John-Henry Westen, LifeSite News

A new Toronto District Catholic School Board motion up for vote on May 23, seeks to reject the Ontario Liberal Government’s enforcement of homosexual activist clubs in Catholic schools. "The Anti-Bullying Clubs Policy Change" motion supports the anti-bullying program recommended by the Archdiocese of Toronto, which opposes bullying of any type in school, thus rejecting Premier Dalton McGuinty’s insistence on homosexual-focused anti-bullying clubs. (See the motion here)

By Graeme Paton, Telegraph

The Roman Catholic Church is set to take over struggling secular schools under Government plans designed to raise standards in the state education system, it has emerged.

Successful Catholic schools could be enlisted to act as “sponsors” to help run community primaries and secondaries in difficult circumstances, it was revealed.

The move would reverse an existing policy that prevents Catholic schools striking up federations with non-religious counterparts as part of the Government’s academies programme.

It comes two years after the Church of England embarked on a similar path which has resulted in a number of secular schools adopting a faith “ethos” under Anglican control.

The Government said it was keen to enlist the support of a range of bodies with a good track record of running schools to help address underperformance in parts of the state system.

But secular groups warned that the move could lead to the Catholic Church imposing its faith with “proselytising zeal”.

Andrew Copson, chief executive of the British Humanist Association, said: “We are alarmed that the Catholic Church is now seeking to extend its influence over the management of schools in a way never previously possible.”

Keith Porteous Wood, executive director of the National Secular Society, told the Times Educational Supplement: “Whenever you have a merger of amalgamation of a faith and non-faith school, everything always leans towards the faith.”

But Paul Barber, director of the Catholic Education Service, insisted that Catholic schools were already part of the state education system and “wanted to make a contribution” to driving up standards.

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By John Bingham, Telegraph

THE future of Roman Catholic weddings in England and Wales is now in doubt because of David Cameron’s gay marriage bill, the church’s chief legal adviser on the issue has disclosed.

Prof Christopher McCrudden said that there are serious questions over whether the 120-year-old legal basis on which 8,500 Catholic weddings a year are performed can even “survive” the passage of the bill currently before Parliament.

He told MPs and peers that, unless urgent changes are made, Catholic bishops may have to reconsider whether priests can carry on performing weddings, in effect, on behalf of the state.

The barrister said his advice to senior bishops is that proposed protections for churches against legal challenges under human rights or equalities laws for refusing to marry gay couples completely overlook the position of Catholics and other denominations.

It means that the entire legal basis for Catholic weddings, operating since the late 19th century, could be “unpicked” with “very uncertain consequences”, he warned.

One possible outcome could even be a complete separation of church and civil weddings, such as happens in France where coupes are married in the town hall with a separate service in churches, he said.

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By John Bingham, Telegraph

THE outpouring of public grief over the death of Diana Princess of Wales marked the moment England returned to its Roman Catholic roots almost 500 years after the reformation, according to the leader of the Catholic Church in England and Wales.

Acts such as showering the Princess’s hearse with flowers show that the public is reverting to a “Catholic” approach to death after centuries of protestant reserve, the Archbishop of Westminster, the Most Rev Vincent Nichols suggested.

He said that the Princess’s funeral in 1997 marked a watershed in British history and would be remembered as the “end of the Reformation in England”.

Catholic practices such as prayers for the souls of the dead and a belief in saints, which were dismissed by protestant reformers in the 16th Century, are now being rediscovered, he said.

The recent growth in unofficial roadside shrines commemorating people killed in accidents – often filled with flowers photographs and mementos – has also been widely interpreted as marking a change in the way the British respond to death.

Interviewed in a BBC documentary about shrines and other places of religious significance in Britain, the Archbishop said that English people were rediscovering their ancient Catholic “voice”.

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Read also:  Archbishop Vincent Nichols hails 'the end of the Reformation in England' from Cranmer

By Peter Mullen, Northern Echo

I HEAR they are dancing in the streets in San Francisco. But who would have thought we would have a new pope this year, still less that he would be a South American and the first non-European to hold the sacred office for a millennium.

[...]  Francis is said to have an in-tray piled high.

By Tim Stanley, Telegraph

By David Baker, Christian Today

It's unlikely perhaps that many of you reading this article right now are Roman Catholic Cardinals involved in the election of the next Pope. (Although if you are, welcome – it's great to have you with us!).

But whoever we are, if we are Christians, then we can – albeit in an indirect way – have a role in the selection of the next Pontiff through our prayers. God invites us to pray about everything, and there is nothing to indicate in the Bible that somehow the power of prayer stops at the gates of the Vatican.

So, what should we pray? Well, apart from anything else, we will want to be praying that the next Pope is someone who seeks to communicate Jesus clearly. Whatever their faults, it seems to me that both Benedict and his predecessor, John Paul II, have been good at keeping Jesus at the centre in their public proclamations. Indeed, Pope Benedict's final message on Twitter was: "May you always experience the joy that comes from putting Christ at the centre of your lives." As an Anglican, I would wish that our recently-retired Archbishop of Canterbury had been as good at this as they have been (having searched some of his articles and talks at various points, sometimes without success, for any mention of Jesus).

More generally, the New Testament gives us some important guidelines for picking church leaders. The Apostle Paul tells his colleague Timothy that an overseer should be "above reproach… temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, and not a lover of money," (1 Timothy 3v2-3). They must also "not be a recent convert, or they may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil", and "have a good reputation with outsiders, so that they will not fall into disgrace and into the devil's trap," (v6-7). Plenty of food for thought there for the Cardinals, I would have thought – and for us in our prayers.

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By Jeffrey Walton, IRD

When Roman Catholic Cardinals select a new pope early next week, they should select a pontiff who embraces legalized abortion, ordination of women to the priesthood and affirmation of homosexual and transgender persons, according to a coalition of liberal Catholic dissident groups.

“I want a pope who listens with a big heart,” announced Linda Pinto of CORPUS, a group that advocates overturning the required discipline of clerical celibacy. While Pinto and other gathered representatives articulated a desire for sweeping change within the church, they acknowledged it would take a “miracle” for leadership that held their views to reach the highest levels of the Vatican.

Meeting Friday morning just outside of Washington, D.C., Catholic Organizations for Renewal hosted a press conference in which the Roman Catholic hierarchy was described as “punitive,” “over-centralized,” and “out of step with the people of God.” Attendees also decried a now-retired pope who made overtures to conservative Anglicans and “wants to get back schismatics who reject Vatican II,” while excommunicating women who believe they are called to the priesthood.

“We appreciate this opportunity for the majority of U.S. Catholics to be heard,” asserted Marianne Duddy-Burke, Executive Director of the homosexual advocacy group DignityUSA. “If the Catholic Church is to carry the Gospel into the future, much needs to change.”

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By Lizzy Davies, Guardian

Roman Catholic cardinals will enter Sistine chapel on afternoon of Tuesday 12 March to begin process of electing 226th pope

By Fr Dwight Longnecker

I can speak from experience. I was a celibate Anglican priest for seven years. Then I got married. I was a married Anglican priest for three years. Then we joined the Catholic church. I was in the married state as a layman for ten years. Now I am a married Catholic priest and have been for six years.

This week the question of mandatory celibacy for Catholic priests is in the news again. The question is a real one–especially in light of the most recent scandal involving Cardinal O’Brien of Scotland. One of the most vociferous voices opposed to same sex marriage, it turns out that he had a few homosexual adventures of his own in his younger years. Repeatedly we have heard rumors and whisperings of the sexual crimes and misdemeanors of clergy who have taken a vow of celibacy and then fallen off the chastity wagon.

Is celibacy the problem? Would the sexual scandals be solved if priests were allowed to marry? We have to stop, take a deep breath and think it through with common sense. First of all, celibacy in and of itself doesn’t necessarily cause a person to run out and commit a sexual crime. One only has to check out sexual offenders. Many of them are married men, some are sexually promiscuous, some are using prostitutes. Sex crimes are more likely to be committed by the sexually active than they are by the celibate. Therefore, we can conclude that celibacy (not being engaged in sexual relations with anyone) is not the cause of sexual crimes and misbehaviors.

In addition to this argument is the fact that a huge number of men and women, for many different reasons, are sexually inactive. It is not just celibate Catholic priests who are not having sexual relations on a regular basis. Many single people are not involved in sexual activity. Many older people are not involved in sexual activity. Members of certain professions which involve solitude or separation from their spouse are not involved in sexual activity. These other people who are not sexually active are not immediately and insatiably involved in sex crimes. Therefore we can conclude that celibacy in and of itself does not cause sexual crimes and misdemeanors.

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By Nicole Winfield, AP

Cardinals said Monday they want to talk to Vatican managers about allegations of corruption and cronyism within the top levels of the Catholic Church before they elect the next pope, evidence that a scandal over leaked papal documents is casting a shadow over the conclave and setting up one of the most unpredictable papal elections in recent times.

The Vatican said 107 of the 115 voting-age cardinals attended the first day of pre-conclave meetings, at which cardinals organize the election, discuss the problems of the church and get to know one another before voting.

The red-capped "princes" of the church took an oath of secrecy and decided to pen a letter of "greeting and gratitude" to Benedict XVI, whose resignation has thrown the church into turmoil amid a torrent of scandals inside and out of the Vatican.

"I would imagine that as we move along there will be questioning of cardinals involved in the governing of the Curia to see what they think has to be changed, and in that context anything can come up," said U.S. Cardinal Francis George.

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By Peter Ould

Cardinal Keith O’Brien, who was forced to resign by the pope last week, has made a dramatic admission that he was guilty of sexual misconduct throughout his career in the Roman Catholic church.

In a short but far-reaching statement issued late on Sunday, the 74-year-old stated that “there have been times that my sexual conduct has fallen below the standards expected of me as a priest, archbishop and cardinal”.

 

The former archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh, and until recently the most senior Catholic in Britain, apologised and asked for forgiveness from those he had “offended” and from the entire church.

…

O’Brien’s much wider admissions are a significant rebuff to some senior figures in the Scottish church who had repeatedly downplayed the allegations disclosed in the Observer, calling them unsubstantiated, non-specific and anonymous.

 

The cardinal’s office warned the Observer it faced legal action after it first contacted him. In further disclosures this weekend, the Observer reported that one complainant had alleged: “He started fondling my body, kissing me and telling me how special I was to him and how much he loved me.”

 

In a fresh interview with the Observer, the former priest, who made his complaint to the nuncio in early February, said that after his disclosures he sensed “the cold disapproval of the church hierarchy for daring to break ranks. I feel [that] if they could crush me, they would.”

 

O’Brien’s resignation was remarkable in its speed; his apology is all but unprecedented in its frankness. Many sexual scandals or allegations of misconduct against individuals or the wider church have dragged on for years.

Hat Tip: Get Religion

By John Bingham, Telegraph

A senior cleric who was forced to apologise after suggesting homosexuality can kill has stepped into the post held by Cardinal Keith O’Brien’s until his resignation.

In one of the final acts of his pontificate, Pope Benedict appointed the Archbishop of Glasgow, Philip Tartaglia, to run the archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh temporarily.

The Vatican announced that Archbishop Tartaglia, the second most senior Catholic cleric in Scotland, would be the Apostolic Administrator until a permanent successor is found for Cardinal O’Brien.

Cardinal O’Brien stepped down with immediate effect and announced he would not be joining the Conclave to elect the next Pope after allegations of “inappropriate” behaviour with male priests emerged.

He denies the allegations and it in understood he has not been told even who his accusers are.

Archbishop Tartaglia faced a furore last year when comments he made about the death of the Labour MP David Cairns in a speech at Oxford were published.

He suggested that the MP’s death from acute pancreatitis could be linked to his homosexuality.

He said: "If what I have heard is true about the relationship between the physical and mental health of gay men, if it is true then society is being very quiet about it.

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By Brendan O'Neill, Telegraph

By David Gibson, RNS

If you want a crash course on how papal politics really works, look no further than the saga of Scottish Cardinal Keith O’Brien.

On Friday, Britain’s most senior Catholic cleric grabbed headlines by telling the BBC that priestly celibacy was “not of divine origin” and that he’d be “happy” if priests had the option to marry.

On Saturday, O’Brien was back in the news, this time after four men reportedly accused him of “inappropriate acts” dating back to the 1980s.

By Monday, O’Brien had resigned as archbishop of Saint Andrews and Edinburgh and announced he would skip the conclave.

From champion of married priests to disgraced churchman within 72 hours, O’Brien’s trajectory is stunning but also emblematic of the frenetic and fever-pitched campaigning that occurs during the tiny window between a pope’s death or resignation and the election of his successor.

The interregnum lasts a few weeks at most, when church leaders and various interest groups can openly voice their views to try to influence the future course of Roman Catholicism. It is also a time when the media act as the chief means for vetting any potential candidate whose track record, views and character might otherwise remain a mystery to the public and even many of his fellow cardinals.

If the process is far less expensive and not quite as mind-numbing as the slog of a U.S. presidential campaign, the condensed papal version is not much gentler, or necessarily more effective. Instead it can be nasty, brutish and short.

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By Sam Jones, Guardian

Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor says no pressure was put on the former archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh to quit

By Damian Thompson, Telegraph

Recently, I was at a dinner party attended by a distinguished monsignor. The elegant red-haired lady sitting next to me introduced herself. “I’m Gill,” she said. “The monsignor’s wife.”

Gill Newton, a schoolteacher, is married to Mgr Keith Newton, who holds the title of protonotary apostolic – the highest rank of monsignor in the Roman Catholic Church. As head of the Ordinariate, the structure set up by Pope Benedict for ex-Anglicans, he is almost a bishop: he wears a mitre and conducts confirmations. He and Gill have three grown-up children.

The Catholic Church in England has been ordaining married ex-Anglican clergy in significant numbers since 1992, when the C of E voted for women priests. It’s no longer much of a novelty for a parish to have a married man in charge, though he can’t technically hold the title of parish priest. There are well over 100 Catholic priests’ wives in England – and, on the whole, folk in the pews are happy.

The question the Church faces now is: will the next Pope allow married Catholic laymen to become priests? And might he go further, and allow existing Catholic priests to marry (something ex-Anglican priests can’t do after they have been re-ordained)? As events over the past few days have shown, the debate is likely to be an awkward one. Last week, Cardinal Keith O’Brien, Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh and Britain’s most senior Catholic cleric, told the BBC: “I’d be very happy if [priests] had the opportunity of considering whether they should be married. Many priests have found it very difficult to cope with celibacy … and felt the need of a companion, of a woman, to whom they could get married and raise a family.”

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Read also:  Married Priests: Not The Solution To Pederasty by David Lindsay

From The Tablet

Read correspondence between bishops and Equalities Minister

This week the bishops' conference of England and Wales published its correspondence with Maria Miller, Minister for Women and Equalities, on the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill.