opinions at Trinity
Gary Wilton wrote about the European Parliamentary elections in last week’s Church Times. See Don’t let the chance of big decisions pass by.
Grace Davie wrote at Cif belief in answer to the question Is Europe’s future Christian? Her answer was: Christian, but not as we know it.
Alister McGrath writes in The Times that A system of belief should not involve point scoring.
Sunny Hundal writes in the Guardian about interfaith dialogues.
Giles Fraser writes in the Church Times that People need something irrational.
Earlier in the week, he wrote at Cif belief about Why I still have faith in politicians.
Andrew Brown wrote there also, about David Hume’s comment policy.
Justin Lewis-Anthony wrote about Why George Herbert must die.
7 Commentsequality bill – committee stage begins
First, there is a Research Paper from the House of Commons Library concerning the bill, available as a PDF, see Research Paper 09/42.
Committee hearings have begun, and Hansard reports can be found linked from this page. A more user-friendly version can be found here at TheyWorkForYou.
Written evidence has been submitted by various organisations, all listed there.
Among them are these:
Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales
Discrimination Law Association
Proposed amendments to the bill can be found here (click on Show+ Amendment Papers and Proceedings).
Ekklesia published on 2 June a study by Savi Hensman The Equality Bill 2008-9 and church responses to it.
21 Commentsmediation ends dispute in Colorado
The Colorado Springs Gazette reports ‘Everyone just agreed to walk away’ from Grace Church dispute.
Litigation over the Grace Church property downtown seemed destined to drag on for years.
But all that changed Tuesday.
In a marathon mediation session, the Episcopal Diocese of Colorado agreed to drop its lawsuit against 18 Anglican parish members being sued for damages. Also several motions, including an appeal of the March 24 court decision upholding the diocese’s ownership of the Tejon Street church property, were quashed…
And there is this earlier report, Dispute over Grace church property settled.
A press release found at the website of the CANA congregation says:
14 CommentsFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 3, 2009St. George’s Responds to Settlement with the Diocese of Colorado
COLORADO SPRINGS, CO – St. George’s Anglican Church issued the following statement in response to the settlement agreement reached with the Diocese of Colorado:
“We are pleased with the settlement, particularly since it relieved our staff and vestry members of the burden and expense of defending against $5 million in unjustified claims brought against them personally by the Diocese of Colorado and The Episcopal Church.
“The settlement reached also means that all the costs associated with maintaining the property of Grace Church and St. Stephens, including payment of the $2,500,000 mortgage, belong to the Episcopal congregation and the Diocese of Colorado.
“Our only remaining obligation is to pay final operational expenses we had incurred during our possession of the property, but were unauthorized to pay until this settled agreement was reached.
“We look forward to fulfilling God’s call to us for mission and ministry.”
RC adoption agency loses appeal
Updated again Saturday
Charity Finance reports Charity Tribunal dismisses Catholic adoption case
The Charity Tribunal has rejected the latest attempt by a catholic adoption charity to circumnavigate rules preventing it from discriminating against homosexual couples seeking to adopt children.
Catholic Care (Diocese of Leeds) had sought to take advantage of an exemption in the Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2007, which suggests that discrimination can occur if it is in pursuit of charitable objectives.
In its preliminary judgment in March, the Tribunal had ruled the exemption could only apply if the charity’s activities were not made unlawful by other provisions.
But at the final hearing last month, the charity was unable to demonstrate that it could operate in such a way.
See also Third Sector Online reports (registration required)
Children’s charity Catholic Care (Diocese of Leeds) has lost its appeal to the Charity Tribunal against the Charity Commission’s refusal to allow it to change its objects to allow its adoption service to discriminate against homosexual parents.
The charity wanted to take advantage of an exemption in the Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2007 that permits charities to discriminate on the grounds of “the provisions of a charitable instrument”, such as a governing document.
But in its first ever final judgement, the tribunal’s panel of three legal members, led by president Alison McKenna, concluded that Catholic Care would infringe other provisions in the regulations if it discriminated against homosexual parents and would therefore be operating unlawfully…
Two earlier reports from the same source:
Allow us to exclude gay people, Catholic adoption charity tells Charity Tribunal.
Adoption charities must justify equality law exemption
The decisions of the Charities Commission and the Charities Tribunal are all available online:
Charities Commission:
final decision (PDF) and summary here
Charities Tribunal: (all PDFs)
Directions Order with Ruling (7 January 2009)
Ruling on Preliminary Question (13 March 2009)
Catholic Care (Diocese of Leeds) v The Charity Commission for England and Wales decision (1 June 2009)
Other media reports:
Daily Mail Steve Doughty Catholic ban on adoption by same-sex couples is ruled illegal
Telegraph Catholic charities breaking law on homosexual adoption
Neil Addison writes at Religion Law Blog about this in Catholic Adoption Agencies lose case:
…What the agencies were trying to do was to change their objects so as to add the following
“The Charity shall only provide adoption services to heterosexuals and such services to heterosexuals shall only be provided in accordance with the tenets of the Church. For the avoidance of doubt the Roman Catholic Bishop of Leeds from time to time shall be the arbiter of whether such services and the manner of their provision fall within the tenets of the Church”
They argued that this would enable them to operate because of the exemption for Charities under reg 18 of the Sexual Orientation Regulations 2007 which say
“18.—(1) Nothing in these Regulations shall make it unlawful for a person to provide benefits only to persons of a particular sexual orientation, if—
(a) he acts in pursuance of a charitable instrument, and
(b) the restriction of benefits to persons of that sexual orientation is imposed by reason of or on the grounds of the provisions of the charitable instrument”
Mr Addison goes on to explain where he disagrees with the tribunal, why even if the agency had won it would have been a pyrrhic victory, and he also offers an alternative solution that he had recommended, but which was it seems rejected.
The Catholic Herald has reported on this, Judgment seals fate of adoption agencies. This includes:
However, the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator allowed St Margaret’s Adoption and Child Care of the Archdiocese of Glasgow to change its charitable objects to continue its policy of assessing only heterosexual married couples and single people as adopters.
That has prompted a complaint from the National Secular Society, see Scottish Charity Regulator lambasted for caving in to Catholic Charity over gay adoption.
See also SNP and Catholic Church’s secret plan to sidestep legislation on gay adoptions in the Glasgow Sunday Herald.
Ekklesia has reported on the English case, and refers to the views of the LGCM RC Caucus, see Gay Catholics welcome rulings against adoption agency discrimination.
The publication of the proceedings before the Charities Tribunal has publicised the actual drafting of the proposed charitable objects which the Leeds and Birmingham agencies wished to adopt.
Both draft instruments relied upon the following paragraph to gain the desired exemption: “The Society shall provide adoption services only to heterosexuals and only in accordance with the tenets of the Roman Catholic church”.
The Roman Catholic Caucus of LGCM points out that, contrary to the general press comment about the appeals by these adoption agencies, the agencies were not seeking permission to place children only with married couples. They were seeking to exclude all lesbian, gay and bisexual people from the ambit of their services, including those who choose to live their lives celibately in strict accordance with Catholic church teaching.
“This proposed object is blatantly contrary to Catholic church teaching,” comments the Caucus.
The Caucus says it also became clear in various discussions before the Charities Tribunal that the “adoption services” referred to include services to children who are to be placed or have been placed for adoption. The proposed wording would therefore have required the agency to ascertain the sexual orientation of any child who was placed for adoption as a condition of providing services to that child.
As the “adoption services” described include support after the child has been placed, this would also involve withdrawing after-care services to a family in which the adopted child comes out after the adoption has taken place. The LGCM Catholic Caucus says it considers that “most Catholics will find this proposal both offensive and contrary to the values of the Roman Catholic Church.”
The full text of the statement from the LGCM RC Caucus is available at Caucus reacts to Adoption Ruling.
120 Commentssecret theology committee
Updated again Saturday evening
Here’s a very surprising story from the USA about the Episcopal Church.
Episcopal Café Secret theology committee studies same sex relationships
The House of Bishops Theology Committee is refusing to release the names of members of a sub-committee it has appointed to study same-sex relationships. The existence of the panel was first reported in the Blue Book, which contains information relevant to General Convention, 2009. However, the Rt. Rev. Henry Parsley of Alabama, chair of the Theology Committee has refused several requests to disclose the names of its members.
The anonymity of the panel raises serious concerns in the Church that prides itself on the transparency of its representative form of governance. In addition, the work of this secret panel has already been cited by some bishops as a reason to delay further legislative action on the issue of same-sex relationships until the panel finishes its work in 2011…
The Chicago Consultation has issued a press release:
CHICAGO CONSULTATION CALLS FOR HOUSE OF BISHOPS THEOLOGY COMMITTEE TO RELEASE NAMES OF SCHOLARS STUDYING SAME-SEX RELATIONSHIPS
…However, we are saddened that the House of Bishops Theology Committee has chosen to begin this important scholarly work without making public the names of the bishops, theologians and scholars who are serving on this panel. The theological study of human sexuality is essential to our common life, to our mission and evangelism, and to our ability to live out our baptismal promises. Such important work deserves to be no less than a model of the transparent governance that the Episcopal Church has upheld for centuries.
As theologians, priests, bishops and laypeople from across the Episcopal Church, we call upon the House of Bishops Theology Committee to release at once the names of those serving on the panel it has appointed to study same-sex relationships. We commit to praying for them by name and to providing our assistance as they continue their work…
Update
EpiScope reports this statement From the HOB Theology Committee:
The following is a statement from the chair of the HOB Theology Committee.
By the Rt. Rev. Henry N. Parsley, Jr.
Chair, Theology Committee of the House of BishopsIn response to questions that have been raised about the panel of theologians appointed by the Theology Committee of the House of Bishops to prepare a paper on same-sex relationships in the life of the church, I wish to assure those concerned that the panel very intentionally represents a robust range of views on the subject and includes gay and lesbian persons.
This project has been designed in full communication with the House of Bishops. It has always been the committee’s intention to publish the names of the panel when the work has reached the appropriate stage. We believe that for a season the work can best be accomplished by allowing the panel to work in confidence. This supports the full collegiality and academic freedom of the theologians and provides the space they need for the deep dialogue and reflection that is taking place among them.
This project is designed to articulate theologically a full range of views on the matter of same sex relationships in the church’s life and to foster better understanding and respectful discernment among us. It will also be a contribution to the listening process of the larger Communion. It has several stages and is scheduled to be complete by early 2011. We are grateful to the distinguished theologians for their generous service to the church.
We wish to invite any member of the church who wishes to address the panel to send comments to the Theology Committee. We will see that these are communicated to the theologians to enrich their reflection and dialogue.
Comments should be directed to the chair of the committee, Bishop Henry Parsley, at hparsley@dioala.org.
ENS has a full report now, see Bishops’ Theology Committee chair declines to release names of same-gender study group.
Saturday evening update
Here’s a further twist to this strange tale. Frank Lockwood reports at Bible Belt Blogger that
Facing criticism for withholding information from its 2.3 million members, the Episcopal Church has quietly removed from its new IAmEpiscopalian.org website assurances that the church is committed to openness and transparency in government.
For months, the site had proclaimed on its home page: “Our controversies and conversations have been public. Our governance is transparent. You are free to see our imperfections…” (See a copy of the original message here.)
But sometime this week, after the church was repeatedly criticized for concealing key governance decisions from the people in the pews, the “transparency” and “openness” message disappeared.
Mark Harris doesn’t think this change is related to the above story. But even if it isn’t the original story is still very surprising. It even made the Church Times this week, see Name gay study group, say activists.
46 Commentsmore Canadian news
Updated Thursday morning
Latest reports from the continuing court case in British Columbia:
Bishop knew of several dioceses blessing same sex unions before the Diocese of New Westminster did
and
Day 5 – Trial of ANiC Parishes v Diocese of New Westminster
And from the New Westminster diocesan synod:
No more parishes may bless same sex couples for forseeable future
From the Diocese of Toronto:
Bishop asks synod for advice on pastoral response
Anglican Journal
Diocese of Huron moves toward same-sex blessings but not nuptial
CoGS won’t ask for change to marriage canon in 2010
Updates Thursday
From New Westminster:
Bishop testifies he came to being in favour of a same sex blessing slowly
Diocese’s witnesses say they continue to be welcome in the Anglican Communion
and
Day 6 – ANiC Parishes v Diocese of New Westminster – June 2 09
16 CommentsThe making of regulation 7(3)
Regulation 7(3) in the Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003 permits religious organisations, but nobody else, to claim an “exception for genuine occupational requirement” related to sexual orientation as distinct from a requirement to be of a particular sexual orientation. The latter exception is provided in Regulation 7(2), and may be claimed by any employer.
The Equality Bill now before Parliament proposes to alter this regulation, among others. In particular a specific definition of “the purposes of organised religion” has been added.
The adoption of the regulation in 2003 was not without controversy. I wrote extensively about this at the time and will review that history here now, for the benefit of those who were not following Thinking Anglicans six years ago.
Regulation 7(3) arose directly from a request made by the Church of England.
Here is the full text of the 23 January 2003 submission made by the Archbishops’ Council to the DTI consultation “The Way Ahead”. The crucial section reads:
…21. This does not mean that the Church challenges the principle that homosexuals should have full equality and protection before the law. On the contrary, we welcome the steps taken over recent years to combat all prejudice, to repudiate homophobic violence and to create new legal safeguards and protections. The new regulations are an important part of that process. Nevertheless, it is crucial that they do not encroach on the freedom which all religious organisations must have to set and enforce their own conduct rules in relation to those who work for and represent them.
22. What those conduct rules should be is a matter of continuing debate within the Church of England and indeed within many other Churches. The point is simply that however those internal debates are resolved, Churches and other faith-based organisations must not find themselves in a position where the law of the land is preventing them from conscientiously applying their own sincerely held doctrines and beliefs on moral issues.
23. The need to safeguard religious doctrine, belief and susceptibilities was, of course, recognised as long ago as 1975 by Section 19 of the Sex Discrimination Act. A corresponding provision was included by the Government in the Gender Reassignment Regulations of 1999. Our officials have already suggested to yours that the solution to our difficulties could be provided by a provision directly modelled on the earlier precedents.
24. We strongly urge the Government therefore to insert in part 5 of the Regulations the following provision:
“Nothing in parts II to IV of these Regulations shall render unlawful anything done for the purposes or in connection with an organised religion so as to comply with the doctrines of the religion or avoid offending the religious susceptibilities of a significant number of its followers.”
That proposal was based on what was at the time the wording of Section 19 of the Sex Discrimination Act.
The government did not accept this wording unchanged but did issue a revised draft on 7 May which included 7(3) for the first time. See here for a comparison of the two drafts. The first was what had gone out to consultation in October 2002, the second was issued on 7 May. There had been no prior notice of the changes being made to Clause 7. The text of the explanatory notes is here.
3 Commentsequality bill – what are the changes?
As you can see from earlier articles here, there is a considerable fuss about certain clauses in the new Equality Bill. The main, but not the only fuss, relates to sexual orientation.
To understand this subject, you need to have the actual texts, not only of the proposed clauses, but also of the current legislation that they are intended to replace.
Current legislation:
Regulation 7 of the Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003.
Amended version of Clause 19 of the Sex Discrimination Act 1975.
Proposed legislation:
Equality Bill, Schedule 9, Clause 2. On this copy I have underlined those parts of the new wording that are, in my opinion, significant.
5 Commentsnews from the world of realigning dioceses
From San Joaquin:
ENS Final depositions for 61 disaffiliated clergy
Press release Letters of deposition sent
PDF of deposition notice
Bishop Schofield responds, see here.
From Fort Worth:
ENS Bishop asks clergy to verify decision to leave
Press release Bishop Gulick sends letters to clergy who left the Episcopal Church
PDF of letter from Bishop Gulick
From Pittsburgh:
TEC Hearing Conducted In Diocesan Assets Case
Southern Cone Legal Update- May 27 Hearing
For an eyewitness account see Lionel Deimel My Day in Court.
PDF of TEC intervention here
PDF of Bp Duncan’s filing here
6 Commentsopinions before Whitsun
Giles Fraser writes in the Church Times that MPs did not drop from the sky.
Last week, Paul Vallely wrote about The lost art of the expenses claim.
Terry Waite wrote earlier this week in The Times that We independents could bring on reform.
Jonathan Sacks writes today in The Times about How Jacob conquered the defining crisis of his life.
Jonathan Romain writes in the Guardian that Faith communities could improve places of worship by learning from football fans.
Andrew Brown wrote at Cif belief about the trip From Avignon to Geneva.
Mark Vernon reported from the Hay Festival on Rowan, Dostoevsky and a world without God.
15 Commentscritics of the Equality Bill
Updated
There have been quite a few of these during the last week.
The Church of England Newspaper has a news report by Toby Cohen Churches warned over equality laws. In the paper edition the headline was Minister’s warning to churches on equality.
And Andrew Carey discussed it in his regular opinion column in the same issue, headlined A chilling strategy (reproduced at Anglican Mainstream).
Today, the Church Times reported (scroll down to end of article) on what the Christian Institute said about it, which is based on their press releases, linked earlier.
The Spectator published an article by Melanie Phillips entitled The sexualisation of heresy.
Christian Concern for our Nation published Equality Bill will force Churches to Employ Homosexuals. Earlier this organisation had published Equality Bill: An Unworkable, Muddled Hierarchy of Rights.
Update
Neil Addison at Religion Law Blog wrote Religious Freedom in England Today.
17 CommentsAnglican Covenant Working Group
ACNS has issued Anglican Covenant Working Group – Names announced.
8 CommentsThe text of the Ridley Cambridge Draft of the Covenant received strong support at the recent ACC meeting in Jamaica. However concern was expressed that Section 4 had not received the same degree of Provincial consideration that Sections 1-3 had. ACC-14 proposed that Provinces be given time to consider Section 4, that a small Working Group be set up to consider adjustment to Section 4 of the text in the light of Provincial responses, and to ask that Group to report to the Standing Committee before the end of the year.
The Archbishop of Canterbury and the Secretary General have now announced the names of the Working Group. They are:
- The Most Revd Dr John Neill, Archbishop of Dublin (Chair);
- The Most Revd Dr John Chew, Primate of South East Asia;
- Dr Eileen Scully, Anglican Church of Canada;
- The Rt Revd Dr Gregory Cameron, Bishop of St Asaph in the Church in Wales and former Deputy Secretary General of the Anglican Communion.
All have been involved in the Covenant Process to date. Staff support will be provided by Neil Vigers (Anglican Communion Office) and the Revd Canon Joanna Udal (Archbishop of Canterbury’s Secretary for Anglican Communion Affairs).
Meanwhile the Ridley Cambridge Draft text of the Covenant has been sent to Provinces seeking their comments on Section 4 of the Covenant. Responses are requested by 13th November this year. The Working Group will meet on 20 – 21 November in London and report to the Standing Committee meeting of 15 – 18 December.
next Bishop of Stockholm elected
Updated
Although the Church of Sweden is not a part of the Anglican Communion, several provinces of the latter are in full communion with it, by virtue of the Porvoo Agreement. See map showing which provinces here.
The Diocese of Stockholm (link to website in English) has just elected a new bishop. The official news reports are here and also here (both in Swedish). (if the CofS website not working well, here is a Swedish church newspaper report.)
Here’s a report in English from Karl’s Comments:
Lesbian bishop-elect in Stockholm
The Diocese of Stockholm in the (Lutheran) Church of Sweden has elected a new bishop after Caroline Krook, who is retiring. The new bishop-elect is Eva Brunne (55), who received 413 votes against 365 for Hans Ulfvebrand, her opponent in the final second round of the election on May 26.
Bishop-elect Brunne has extensive experience as vicar in the parishes of Flemingsberg and Sundbyberg. Especially Flemingsberg has given her insights into the present religious situation in urban Sweden, where the Church of Sweden is increasingly becoming a minority church, in parallel with Catholic and Orthodox churches of different hue, as well as Muslim and non-religious people. In Flemingsberg, she habitually introduced herself as “the Evangelical Lutheran pastor”, just to make sure.
Eva Brunne lives in a registered partnership with another woman, and has a three-year-old son.
Another blogger reports change is a-coming at prästflickan:
On Monday the Diocese of Stockholm voted for a new bishop. The person who won is called Eva Brunne, and she will be the fifth female bishop in the Church of Sweden.
I know her a little. My experience of her is that she is wise, kind, pious, structured, humble and funny. She is also known to be loyal and a very good leader who takes care of her flock, both employees and other sheep smiles
All in all, she seems to be a perfect choice for bishop, right?
But are those qualities listed above what people discuss? Are they what makes blogs and comments splutter with indignant rage? Of course not. Some people don’t care about Eva’s suitability. The only thing that makes all of these bloggers go absolutely bananas is the fact that Eva happens to be married to a woman.
Funny. And tragic. Mostly tragic.
Please pray for Eva and the Diocese of Stockholm. They have made a good choice, and a brave choice, and your prayers will be needed.
Hat tip Kelvin.
34 CommentsSt Albans Festival Pilgrimage 2009
Saturday 20 June
10.30 Pilgrimage Procession from Roman Verulamium
(the site of Alban’s trial)
11.30 Festival Eucharist
Preacher: The Rt Revd Graeme Knowles, Dean of St Paul’s
11.30 Children’s Worship and Activities in the Abbey Primary School. Celebrations of St Alban continue with drama, games and worship. All children welcome.
From lunchtime food and drink will be available from the Café at the Abbey and stalls on the Abbey Orchard, along with chariot racing, lion taming, bouncy castles, circus skills, and lots more.
14.00 Molieben (Orthodox Service of Intercession)
held at the Shrine of Saint Alban: all welcome.
16.00 Festival Evensong and Procession to the Shrine
Preacher: The Revd Canon Giles Fraser, Vicar of Putney
Groups and individuals are warmly welcome to take part in the Festival Pilgrimage.
To help with our planning, please register to let us know you’re coming! Contact the Cathedral Office on 01727 890245 or email pilgrimage@stalbanscathedral.org.uk
Information for Pilgrims is available as PDF file.
8 CommentsNew Westminster court case opens
Updated again Saturday
The trial before BC Supreme Court Justice Stephen Kelleher over the lawsuit brought by members of four dissident congregations against the Diocese of New Westminster began today (May 25) in Vancouver.
Those bringing the suit, 22 leaders in the four congregations, including three former diocesan priests, have left the Anglican Church of Canada, but want to keep their parish buildings, which the Diocese of New Westminster says it owns.
Read more about this from the diocese:
Cases outlined before BC Supreme Court Justice
Trial involving suit brought against Diocese of New Westminster begins
Some prominent members of the Church of England are supporting the group bringing the lawsuit, see Bishop Michael Nazir Ali adds support to St John’s Shaughnessy at Anglican Mainstream. Also, Letter of support for St John’s Shaughnessy Vancouver from Anglican Mainstream.
Wednesday updates
Court learns former bishop was asked to help in diocese
From the Anglican Network of Canada:
Mediation unsuccessful; Parishes and Diocese of New Westminster head for trial on May 25 over church property
Day 1 – Trial of ANiC Parishes v Diocese of New Westminster
Day 2 – Trial of ANiC Parishes v Diocese of New Westminster – May 26, 2009
And now also from Anglican Journal
B.C. Supreme Court begins to hear case over New Westminster diocese properties
And again from the diocese:
Dissident Anglicans say they were upset by more than same sex blessings
And support from Church of England Evangelical Council recorded here.
Saturday updates
Leader of St. John’s Shaughnessy says he wanted to remain in Canadian Church
and
Day 3 – Trial of ANiC Parishes v Diocese of New Westminster
Day 4 – Trial of ANiC Parishes v Diocese of New Westminster
bishops oppose repeal of Waddington amendment
Updated Tuesday evening
Update The text of the “Waddington amendment” can be seen in the context of the legislation it amends by going here.
Today’s Observer has a report by Jamie Doward headlined Bishops fight for right to criticise gay lifestyle.
Church of England bishops are on a collision course with the government over its plans to amend the incitement to hatred laws, claiming they will stifle what they believe is legitimate criticism of homosexual lifestyles.
In what is being portrayed in some parliamentary quarters as a battle for free speech, a coalition of Anglican bishops, Conservative peers, Labour malcontents and leading crossbenchers have united to block the proposals.
You can read exactly what the Bishop of Southwell and Nottingham said over here.
For the background to this development, see these two TA articles from 2007:
- Tuesday, 9 October 2007 incitement extension proposed
- Tuesday, 27 November 2007 Anglican and Roman church bodies comment jointly
The latter item contains a link to the statement issued jointly by the Church of England and the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales at that time.
More recently (my copy undated, but was sent to me in March) the CofE issued a briefing note to parliamentarians which is reproduced in full below the fold. This shows that the CofE has changed its mind since 2007 about the adequacy of the legislation as originally proposed:
…While we were satisfied with the definition of the offence as it stood, we believe that the amendment successfully moved by Lord Waddington now provides a valuable safeguard…
(The relevant clause was numbered 58 in the original bill but because of other amendments has now becomes clause 61.)
32 Commentsjoint statement from archbishops on elections
Joint Statement from the Archbishop of York and Archbishop of Canterbury
“The European Parliamentary and local elections on June 4th will take place at a time of extraordinary turbulence in our democratic system. It is a time for great vigilance over how to exercise our democratic right to vote.
“The temptation to stay away or register a protest vote in order to send a negative signal to the parties represented at Westminster will be strong. In our view, however, it would be tragic if the understandable sense of anger and disillusionment with some MPs over recent revelations led voters to shun the ballot box.
“Those whom we elect to local councils and the European Parliament will represent us and our collective interests for many years to come. It is crucial to elect those who wish to uphold the democratic values and who wish to work for the common good in a spirit of public service which urgently needs to be reaffirmed in these difficult days.
“There are those who would exploit the present situation to advance views that are the very opposite of the values of justice, compassion and human dignity are rooted in our Christian heritage.
“Christians have been deeply disturbed by the conscious adoption by the BNP of the language of our faith when the effect of those policies is not to promote those values but to foster fear and division within communities, especially between people of different faiths or racial background.
“This is not a moment for voting in favour of any political party whose core ideology is about sowing division in our communities and hostility on grounds of race, creed or colour; it is an opportunity for renewing the vision of a community united by mutual respect, high ethical standards and the pursuit of justice and peace.
“We hope that electors will use their vote on June 4th to renew the vision of a community united by the common good, public service and the pursuit of justice.”
Dr Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury and Dr John Sentamu, Archbishop of York
This statement also appeared on the CofE website at 8.45 pm Sunday. It has yet to appear on the Lambeth Palace website.
8 Commentsbank holiday weekend opinions
Nitin Mehta writes about Indian religions in the Guardian.
Also Stephen Bates reviews Rupert Shortt’s biography of Rowan Williams, see God’s squad.
In The Times Roderick Strange writes about Bede. See More than a brief flight through warmth and light.
At the Church Times Giles Fraser reflects on his job change in Seeking the reality of solid joys.
A week ago, Paul Vallely wrote Get some perspective on MPs’ cash.
And Adrian Thatcher wrote The Word was made of flesh and blood, not ink.
Over at Cif belief Ben White wrote Palestinian rights deserve Anglican action.
9 CommentsArchbishop speaks about parliament
Updated again Monday morning
Ruth Gledhill reports in The Times about an article to be published on Saturday by Rowan Williams.
Her blog entry: Archbishop of Canterbury: ‘Stop humiliating our MPs.’
Her preview article, with video: Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams: humiliation of MPs must stop
Here is the article itself: Enough humiliation. We must move on by Rowan Williams.
Updates Saturday
The Independent has a leader agreeing with the archbishop, The pursuit of MPs is becoming a witch-hunt.
The Telegraph has an article headlined MPs’ expenses: politicians and church leaders defend Telegraph’s investigation which reports the opinions others, including Lord Carey and the Bishop of Rochester, and opening with:
There was strong opposition to a call from Dr Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, for an end to the “systematic humiliation” of MPs, which he claimed was undermining democracy…
Ekklesia has published Poll challenges Archbishop’s idea that expenses scandal is bad for democracy and You’re missing the point, archbishop told over scandal-hit MPs. And also Public backs independent candidates to challenge failing system.
Update Monday morning
George Pitcher has some interesting comments about all this, in the Telegraph. See MPs’ expenses: Things the Archbishops never told us.
13 Comments…unbeknown to either of us, as we were talking a column by his successor to the See of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, was being put to bed by The Times, along with the headline: “Archbishop appeals for end to MPs’ humiliation”.
When I relayed the headline to Lord Carey later, he said he was “surprised that Rowan is taking this approach”. So, presumably, was Dr Williams. Because actually he had said nothing of the sort.
two more college inspection reports
Reports are now available (PDF files) concerning
Download these and earlier reports from this page.
See earlier article with some background.
19 Comments