Rival Clerics clash at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem

A fight has broken out at the church built on the spot where Jesus is said to have been born.
Palestinian police stormed the basilica of the Nativity in Bethlehem after rival groups of Orthodox and Armenian clerics clashed in a row over the boundaries of their respective ancient jurisdictions inside the church.
 Arund 100 priests and monks came to blows during the cleaning of the church in preparation for Orthodox Christmas celebrations.
The former Palestinian minister of tourism and head of the Palestinian forces in Bethlehem were slightly injured.
Administration of the church is shared by Catholic, Orthodox, and Armenian Apostolic clerics.
The relationship between these groups has often been difficult, and there have been similar scuffles in previous years over jurisdiction.

Pray for Palestinian Christians this Christmass-tide

Days getting longer again!

I'm pleased that the winter solstice is passed and we can look forward to summer again! Must dust off the sun loungers and clear the snow off the BBQ!

O Emmanuel

O Emmanuel - December 23rd

 O Emmanuel, Rex et legifer noster, exspectatio gentium, et Salvator earum: veni ad salvandum nos Domine Deus noster.
 O Emmanuel, God with us, our King and lawgiver, the expected of the nations and their Saviour: come to save us, O Lord our God.

O Rex Gentium

December 22nd - O Rex Gentium

O Rex Gentium, et desideratus earum,

lapisque angularis, qui facis utraque unum:

veni, et salva hominem,

quem de limo formasti.

English:

O King of the nations, and their desire,

the cornerstone making both one:

Come and save the human race,

which you fashioned from clay.

Anniversary of Ordination

30 years today since my ordination as a priest in the Anglican Church.

27 weeks and three days since my ordination as a Catholic priest.
Laus deo!!

O Oriens

O Oriens    December 21st

O Oriens, splendor lucis aeternae, et sol iustitiae: veni, et illumina sedentes in tenebris et umbra mortis.
O dawn of the east, brightness of light eternal, and sun of justice: come, and enlighten those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death.

O Clavis

 December 20th - O Clavis David
  O clavis David, et sceptrum domus Israel: qui aperis, et nemo claudit; claudis, et nemo aperit: veni, et educ vinctum de domo carceris, sedentem in tenebris.
O Key of David, and sceptre of the house of Israel, who opens and no man shuts, who shuts and no man opens: come, and lead forth the captive who sits in the shadows from his prison.

O Radix

December 19
O Radix Jesse, qui stas in signum populorum, super quem continebunt reges os suum, quem gentes deprecabuntur: veni ad liberandum nos, iam noli tardare.



O Root of Jesse, that stands for an ensign of the people, before whom the kings keep silence and unto whom the Gentiles shall make supplication: come, to deliver us, and tarry not.

Hildegard von Bingen to be Canonized and made Doctor of the Church

RomeReports.com has reported that Pope Benedict has plans to canonize Hildegard von Bingen a to make her a Doctor of the Church.

Hildegard is the earliest known (i.e. named) composer of sacred music in the Roman Catholic tradition and therefore in the Western music tradition, and is the first name you will hear in a music history class. She was born 48 years after the death of Guido d'Arezzo and was one of the first to take advantage of his newly created musical staff for the purposes of composition. Here compositional style was monodic and is, we might say, one of the most organic outgrowths of the Gregorian chant repertoire that we have.

It seems significant that Pope Benedict has made the decision now to canonize and exalt this true patroness of sacred music. Is it possible that he is building up toward a more intensely focused movement for sacred music in the Church? Is it possible that perhaps a new document or motu proprio might await us with the naming of Hildegard as a Doctor of the Church, or sometime following? One never knows, but this is one of many signs that there may be more to come for us in the promotion sacred music from the highest of ranks in the Church.

Death threats have been issued against the Christians by Islamists in Iraqi Kurdistan.

The violence erupted in the city of Zakho after Friday prayers on 2 December. Hundreds of Muslims, apparently incited by the imam’s vitriolic sermon, headed straight from a local mosque to businesses owned by Christians and Yezidis, another minority group; they set ablaze 20 shops, three hotels, a massage parlour and a hair salon. At least 30 people were injured, and several million dollars’ worth of damage was caused.    The Muslim mob swelled to more than 3,000 and moved on to attack Christian property in the city of Dohuk, the town of Sumaili and village of Shiuz.
The attackers were chanting “Allahu Akhbar” (“god is great”) and abusing Christians, while some were randomly firing shots.
They reportedly torched one man’s restaurant, shop and cafeteria before moving on to his apartment, which they set ablaze with his children inside.
The following morning, more than 100 people, mainly youths, threw stones at a church and homes belonging to Christians in Almansoria.

Now published - Latin-English Psalter

The psalms are the hymn book of the Church and the core of the Daily Office, the Prayer of the Church.

This book is the product of a perceived need for a deeper understanding of the traditional Latin on which our current Psalter is based. There is a simple and yet profound dignity evoked by the ancient words and rhythms.

The Latin text of the Jerome  / Gallican / Clementine Version of the Psalter is printed with Challoner’s revision of the Douay translation.  The former was chosen for its originality and the latter because it seems to convey more accurately the grammar and syntax of the original Latin.

Published by Jacquedaw (available from Amazon)

ISBN : 978-0-9565118-4-3

260 pp      £12.00 (inc p+p)

Huge interest at rare auction of Range Rover without personalised number plate

 

An extremely rare Range Rover, believed by experts to be the only one in the UK without a personalised registration, is due to go on sale at auction today.

The rarity value of the 2008 Range Rover Sport is such that it is tipped to fetch over £150,000 once the bidding starts. This is considerably more than a new model featuring the standard personalised plate would cost, with numbers mangled to vaguely resemble the letters in ‘BIG MIKE’. Experts feel though that it is worth the extra cash to stand out from the crowd of other 4x4s, with a plate that doesn’t make any pretentious statement about the driver.
The current owner of the car has expressed his surprise at the amount of interest generated by the sale. ‘I just don’t get it, I can’t understand what all the fuss is about at all.’ said Mr YG58 HGY.

Advent

Bishop of London on the use of the new translation of the Roman Missal

In the new context of the erection of the Personal Ordinariates for the corporate reunion of Anglicans with the Holy See, and with the new translation of the Missale Romanum about to come into effect in England & Wales, Dr Richard Chartres, the Anglican Bishop of London, writes:

At Advent, our brothers and sisters in the Roman Catholic Church will be required to use new liturgical texts. We can always learn from the example of other members of the Christian community and indeed our own liturgy has been reformed by reference to the testimony and practices of the Church of the first centuries.

In former times before the liturgies of our Church had fully recovered these early forms, some of our priests adopted the Roman rite as a sign of fidelity to the ancient common tradition and an expression of our unity in Christ. At best their intention was to contribute to the recovery of a tradition which is both Catholic and Reformed, while pointing the way to the liturgical convergence we now enjoy, not least through the work of the international English Language Liturgical Consultation. They also recognised the proper place in the liturgy of prayer for leaders in the world wide church in addition to our own Archbishop. This is especially true of the Pope, who is undeniably the Patriarch of the West and as head of the Roman Catholic Church is charged with awesome pastoral and missionary responsibilities.

Much has been achieved and the debates of previous generations have influenced the Church’s liturgical practice and contributed to a convergence of eucharistic doctrine and rites. So it is with some dismay that I have learned of the intentions of some clergy in the Diocese to follow instructions which have been addressed to the Roman Catholic Church and to adopt the new Roman eucharistic rites at Advent.

The Pope has recently issued an invitation to Anglicans to move into full communion with the See of Rome in the Ordinariate where it is possible to enjoy the “Anglican patrimony” as full members of the Roman Catholic Church. Three priests in the Diocese have taken this step. They have followed their consciences.

For those who remain there can be no logic in the claim to be offering the Eucharist in communion with the Roman Church which the adoption of the new rites would imply. In these rites there is not only a prayer for the Pope but the expression of a communion with him; a communion Pope Benedict XVI would certainly repudiate.

At the same time rather than building on the hard won convergence of liturgical texts, the new Roman rite varies considerably from its predecessor and thus from Common Worship as well. The rationale for the changes is that the revised texts represent a more faithful translation of the Latin originals and are a return to more traditional language.

Priests and parishes which do adopt the new rites – with their marked divergences from the ELLC texts and in the altered circumstances created by the Pope’s invitation to Anglicans to join the Ordinariate – are making a clear statement of their disassociation not only from the Church of England but from the Roman Communion as well. This is a pastoral unkindness to the laity and a serious canonical matter. The clergy involved have sworn oaths of canonical obedience as well as making their Declaration of Assent. I urge them not to create further disunity by adopting the new rites.

There will be no persecution and no creation of ritual martyrs but at the same time there will be no opportunity to claim that the Bishop’s directions have been unclear. All the bishops of the Diocese when visiting parishes will celebrate according to the rites of the Church of England allowing for permitted local variations under Canon B5.

The full text may be read here.

New Ordinarate for USA - date set for 1st January 2012.

A new ordinariate will be created on January 1 to bring Anglicans into the US Catholic Church, Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington has announced at an annual meeting of the country’s bishops’ conference.
Cardinal Wuerl also said 67 Anglican priests had submitted their dossiers seeking ordination in the Catholic Church, and 35 of those had received initial approval from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
They can now move to the second stage of approval, which includes a criminal background check, psychological evaluation and recommendations from the Catholic bishop where he lives and from his Anglican ecclesiastical authority, he said.
The actions followed the November 2009 issuance by Pope Benedict XVI of an apostolic constitution, Anglicanorum coetibus, authorising the creation of an ordinariate to bring in Anglicans, or Episcopalians as they are known in the United States, who seek to leave their tradition and join the Catholic Church but retain certain elements of the Anglican faith.

The announcement in the final hour of the public portion of the annual meeting in Baltimore brought immediate logistical questions, such as the relationship between the ordinariate – which will cover the entire US – and the dioceses in which the former Anglican priests will live. The physical location of its offices has not been announced.

Pyramid closed for 11/11/11!

Egypt will close the Great Pyramid of Giza on Friday to avoid any rituals by a group rumoured to have plans to mark the date of 11/11/11 at the site, an official said.
The decision came "after much pressure" from Egyptian Internet users that strange rituals were going to be held "within the walls of the pyramid on November 11, 2011," Atef Abu Zahab, head of the Department of Pharaonic Archaeology, told AFP.
The Supreme Council of Antiquities confirmed the closure Friday of the tourist site, in a statement that only referred to the need for maintenance following a busy period during Muslim holidays.
The Pyramid of Cheops is the biggest and most famous of the three Giza pyramids. It houses the tomb of Pharaoh Khufu, and is the only surviving one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.
Numerologists are anxiously awaiting Friday, when the digital alignment of ones occurs at 11:11 am, which some believe will lead to unusual events.
Thousands of people plan to meet at the time around the world for ceremonial dances, and several pages devoted to the date have appeared on social networking website Facebook.
Some attribute the number 11 to paranormal powers that provide a channel of communication with the subconscious, others see a mystical connection between the number and disasters, like the 9/11 attacks on the United States.

"The Conversion of St Paul's" - read all about it!!!

Value and Values: Perceptions of Ethics in the City Today
Analytical Report

The 25th anniversary of the Big Bang deregulation of the UK financial markets presents a good opportunity to examine current perceptions of ethical values in the City. This report explores issues of ethical culture, financial history and the place that the financial sector has in relation to wider society.

This report can be downloaded here.

No Christmas for Thomas!

The relatives of Thomas the Tank Engine’s author have accused a television company of political correctness against Christian beliefs after it removed references to Christmas in a recent episode.
Rev. W. Awdry’s daughter, Hilary Fortnam, said that her father would have been distressed after executives decided to rebrand Christmas using phrases such as “winter holidays” and “holiday tree”.
“He would feel very strongly about this politically correct age and that those who now write his stories should not have taken Christ out of Christmas. Political correctness against Christian beliefs offends,” Mrs Fortnam said.
She explained that her father, who worked as a vicar for nearly 30 years, “always impressed on reporters and publishers that he ‘was a priest first and a children’s author second.’”
In the episode called “Keeping up with James”, the trains compete to carry presents to children against a background with a fir tree decorated with baubles and a choir.
Mrs Fortnam added that she was worried people would think her father had dropped the idea of Christmas from his books.
“It’s frustrating to me because I don’t want people thinking my father wrote those words,” she said. “The television programmes say they are based on the books of Rev. W. Awdry and I don’t want people thinking a vicar would write that.
“A lot of children just receive presents at Christmas and don’t know why they do it,” she said. “Local councils won’t advertise Christmas carols and nativity plays in case they are sued for not being inclusive.”
Rev Awdry had three children. He wrote 26 books between 1945 and 1972, after which his son Christopher, for whom the original books were created, completed another 42.

Read The Daily Telegraph article Christmas removed from Thomas the Tank Engine to be politically correct

Crisis of Flooding in South-East Asia

Over 700 people – over a quarter of them children – have been killed and at least eight million affected by the flooding that has hit Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos and the Philippines. 
Seasonal rains and back-to-back typhoons have devastated the region. They have destroyied homes, livelihoods and infrastructure. The flooding is already estimated to be the worst in 50 years, with more rain forecast over the coming week.

And in the mainly-Christian Chin Province in Burma (Myanmar), people still desperately need food and shelter after heavy rain caused a major landslide, which swept away homes and damaged bridges and roads, in June.  

A third of Thailand’s provinces have been inundated by floodwaters, forcing tens of thousands of people from the worst-affected areas to live in makeshift shelters for the last two months; they lack sufficient water, food and sanitary facilities. Damaged health amenities and water sources have raised concerns about an outbreak of waterborne diseases.
There is an urgent need for food, clean water and medical assistance in Cambodia, where more than 300,000 affected people are facing food shortages.

New record on Space Invaders!

A New Jersey man has crushed the world record for the retro shoot ‘em up ‘Space Invaders’. It’s only 33 years since the game first swept the arcades, but well done sir!

Richie Knucklez hasn’t so much beaten the previous highscore as obliterated it. His new score, as verified by the record-keepers at Twingalaxies.com, is a whopping 115,510. That’s more than double the 55,160 set by Donald Hayes in 2003, so some respect is probably due.

Try it again:
http://thatvideogamesite.com/play.php?id=107

Catholic Church adds to criticism of secular dating system.

The Catholic Church’s semi-official newspaper has labelled the BBC’s ‘religiously neutral’ terms for dating history as ‘senseless hypocrisy’. L’Osservatore Romano also described the BBC website’s suggestion that BCE and CE should be used instead of BC and AD as ‘enormous nonsense’. Last week, the broadcaster was attacked by religious figures and some of its leading presenters for adopting the terms in order to avoid offending non-Christians. The corporation says it is not enforcing the system but some programmes are already using it. However, a spokesman for the Department for Education said that BC and AD are not offensive, and recommended that teachers keep using them. Meanwhile, a Thomas the Tank Engine DVD has attracted criticism for omitting the word ‘Christmas’, referring instead to a ‘decorated tree’ and ‘winter holidays’.

• http://www.telegraph.co.uk/
• http://www.dailymail.co.uk/

Exhibition of relics at the British Museum

A relic of the skull of Thomas of Canterbury from the Treasures of Heaven exhibition

A startling exhibition of relics at the British Museum until 9 October features important contributions from the British Province of the Society of Jesus and Stonyhurst College. Stonyhurst curator, Jan Graffius describes the fascinating history of the objects on loan to Treasures of Heaven: Saints, relics and devotion in medieval Europe, and urges visitors to appreciate the beauty and meaning of the exhibition.

Historic Orthodox Council moves closer.

 A meeting of three Orthodox church leaders in Istanbul has removed obstacles to a council that would involve most of the world’s Orthodox churches. The patriarchs discussed the plight of Christian minorities in the Middle East but also made agreements that pave the way for the first pan-Orthodox council in centuries. Many Orthodox churches are centred in difficult areas of the world, like the Middle East where there is revolution and persecution, or Russia and Eastern Europe where economic and social challenges remain. Patriarch Bartholemew of Constantinople, Patriarch Theodoros of Alexandria and Patriarch Theophilos of Jerusalem, meeting with Archbishop Chrysostomos of Cyprus and a representative of Patriarch Ignatius of Antioch, ‘all expressed the readiness to proceed to the pan-Orthodox council’.

• http://www.ekklesia.com/

Christians oppose Scottish bid to redefine marriage.

A proposal to change the definition of marriage to include same-sex unions has been condemned by Scottish evangelicals. A public consultation is asking Scots whether the law should be changed, and evangelicals are warning that the move would further undermine marriage. Christian pressure group CARE and the Evangelical Alliance (EA) say the Government is following the agenda of ‘a tiny minority for largely political reasons’. CARE for Scotland’s Dr Gordon Macdonald said: ‘The Scottish government is making a grave mistake.’ EA Scotland director Revd Dr Fred Drummond added: ‘Any attempts to redefine the traditional value of marriage will further damage the well-being of our society.’ Meanwhile, in England, the Law Commission’s recommendation that cohabiting couples should have the same rights as married couples has been rejected by the Government.
Sources: Christian Today (5/9); Christian Concern (7/9)

• http://www.christiantoday.co.uk/
• http://www.christianconcern.com/

A new Canadian Ordinariate?

A recent meeting of leaders in the Anglican Catholic Church of Canada (ACCC) voted to unite with the Roman Catholic Church through the Apostolic Constitution created by Pope Benedict XVI.

The ACCC, part of the Continuing Anglican Movement, is made up of more than two dozen congregations. Its Eighth Provincial Synod and Thirteenth Diocesan Synod were held simultaneously at the Rosemary Heights Retreat Center in Surrey, British Columbia.

The website VirtueOnline.org published a letter from Dean Shane B. Janzen detailing the event.

The meeting was attended by four ACCC bishops, including Bishop Peter Wilkinson, the communion’s Metropolitan and Ordinary. Archbishop John Hepworth, the Australia-based Primate of the Traditional Anglican Communion (TAC), was also present.

The discussion included the House of Clergy and the House of Laity and focused on the implementation of a proposed Canadian Anglican Catholic Ordinariate under the Apostolic Constitution “Anglicanorum Coetibus.”

Support for the Ordinariate was unanimous in the House of Clergy and received 25 of 30 votes from lay delegates, with two members opposing the proposal and three abstaining.

The synod then passed a resolution enabling Bishop Wilkinson, with the advice and consent of the Provincial Council, to enact the necessary canonical ordinances and rules to establish the Ordinariate.

Australians to write Christ out of History?

Christian leaders in Australia have condemned changes to the national curriculum that will replace the terms BC (Before Christ) and AD (Anno Domini) in text books.

Under the new curriculum, which was due to be released next year but has been delayed, BC and AD will be replaced with BCE (Before Common Era), BP (Before Present) and CE (Common Era).
Peter Jensen, the Archbishop of Sydney, said that taking references to the birth of Jesus Christ out of school books was an “intellectually absurd attempt to write Christ out of human history” that he likened to calling Christmas “the festive season”.

It is absurd because the coming of Christ remains the centre point of dating and because the phrase ‘common era’ is meaningless and misleading.

Christopher Pyne, the education spokesman for the opposition Liberal National Party, said it was pointless to deny Australia’s cultural heritage.
"Kowtowing to political correctness by the embarrassing removal of AD and BC in our national curriculum is of a piece with the fundamental flaw of trying to deny who we are as a people,” he said.

Australia is what it is today because of the foundations of our nation in the Judeo-Christian heritage that we inherited from Western civilisation.

The Reverend Fred Nile, an MP in the New South Wales parliament, described the changes as “an absolute disgrace” and the “final insult” to Australian Christians.
“The direction of the national curriculum is towards almost a Christian cleansing to remove from our history any references to the role Christianity had in the formation of Australia and still has today,” he said.
But the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority, which is responsible for developing the secondary level national curriculum, said the new terms were the increasingly common standard for the representation of dates.
While BC and AD, which translates to “in the year of Our Lord” are designations used to number years in the Christian era, the terms BCE and CE have been widely applied as secular counterparts.
The little-known term BP (before present) is a time scale used by scientists and archaeologists to date past events. The standard year of origin is 1950, reflecting the fact that carbon dating technology became more reliable in the 1950s.
A similar controversy was sparked in Britain nine years ago, when a school banned its pupils from using BC and AD. Christians complained at the time that the authorities were “imposing political correctness in schools to ensure children are cut off from the past, for fear of upsetting someone”.
Defending the change, the British Qualifications and Curriculum Authority argued, “It’s not a question of one way is wrong and one is right, more a question of which is most commonly used. CE/BCE is becoming an industry standard among historians. Pupils have to be able to recognise these terms when they come across them.

More students take religion at A-level

More schoolchildren are both sitting and passing Religious Studies (RS), as the government prepares to exclude it from the new Baccalaureate. This year, 18,463 teenagers chose to take A-level RS – 4.3 per cent up on last year. Nearly a third more pupils now take the subject than in 2005. The pass rate is up too: 80.4 per cent gained a grade A*-C, 2.2 per cent more than 2010. It was expected that GCSE RS results would also show a similar improvement this week. But Premier Christian Media’s Peter Kerridge, a key player in the RE.ACT campaign to include RS in the new Baccalaureate qualification, said: ‘All this good work could be undermined following the exclusion of RS from the English Baccalaureate.’
Source: Christian Today (23/8)

• http://www.christiantoday.com/

East African Food Crisis - please help!

Over 12 million people across east Africa are facing severe food shortages caused by a combination of drought, irregular harvests, high food prices, conflict and displacement. The crisis has been building for some time, and is fast escalating across the region.

Christian Aid is responding in Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia and Sudan. The appeal funds received so far are enabling our partners to provide urgent, life-saving assistance including providing water to villages experiencing the worst drought conditions, food for families in remote areas, and animal feed to protect the livestock that are so crucial to the survival of the pastoralists. Through our partners we are also providing urgently needed food and shelter for people in camps across the region.

However, as you will have seen in the news, the unfortunate reality is that the crisis is only going to get worse in the coming months – so more funds are desperately required to continue to provide aid and help communities rebuild their lives. Tens of thousands of people have already died – many of them children.

We urgently need your support to help save lives:

• £7.50 could buy enough food to feed a goat for a month – and provide a family with milk to supplement their diet.
• £22 could pay for a mosquito net, blankets, sleeping mats, plastic sheeting for housing and other essential items to meet the immediate needs of refugees arriving in camps.
• £61.50 could pay for the labour needed to maintain one borehole, providing water to 1,000 people affected by drought.
• £108 could pay for the parts needed to repair a pump at one borehole, restoring water to more than 140 families.
• £150 could pay for beans, maize, salt and vegetable oil for a family for five months in a camp.

Please, if you can, send a gift TODAY. Because the sooner we receive your donation, the sooner we can turn your compassion into action – and save lives.

World Youth Day event 2011

Please pray for the World Youth Day event in Madrid (16-21 August). Young people from all over the world will be gathering before the Pope at the five day event. The average age of participants is 22. Let us pray that this event is a real and lasting inspiration to the young people of the church, and that their enthusiasm and missionary zeal may inspire the rest of us especially the church in Western Europe.

Thanks to Fr Ian Hellyer for the reminder.

Sad reflection on our times!

The Christian employee who successfully won his appeal to display a palm cross in his company van has been suspended.

Colin Atkinson had faced dismissal after refusing to remove the eight-inch woven palm cross from his dashboard after a complaint from a tenant. He had placed them in his van throughout the 15 years he had been working for the Wakefield and District Housing (WDH) association and had never previously received any complaints.

Despite a dramatic U-turn by his employers, which allowed him to display the cross, Mr Atkinson has reportedly continued to face problems at his work.

"WDH have broken faith with me and not restored me to my job as they promised," said Mr Atkinson.

After a holiday in June, he says he returned to find the agreement, which was made in April, "completely blown apart" when he was told to transfer to a new workplace, Winston House in Wakefield.

He said that he had no van at his new workplace and was told to either use his own or use public transport.

"I was told to travel in by bus and I suffered harassment at work. This is all because I wanted to keep a small palm cross in my van. I have not done anything wrong and I just want to return to my normal workplace."

"They said I could go back to a normal workplace and a normal job but I was told I must transfer to a new workplace. I was absolutely appalled by it. I was flabbergasted - I couldn't believe what I was hearing. So I lodged a grievance, saying they had broken the initial agreement signed in April."

Mr Atkinson was then suspended after speaking to the media about what happened to him.

"I've got a right to speak out in the national interest, the interest of the British public and a right to defend myself," he said.

Monastery and Cathedral go Green

Europe’s biggest new monastery will harvest rainwater and plant 1,500 trees, while Bradford Cathedral becomes the first UK cathedral to be solar powered. A new £3m Carmelite monastery for 30 nuns will be built in Allerton, Liverpool, with a wildflower meadow, solar panels and ground source heating. The new building will restore a peaceful atmosphere for the nuns, who are currently surrounded by two growing schools in west Derby. Sister Mary said: ‘The new monastery will allow us to be much more energy efficient and the gardens will also enable us to be self-sufficient.’ Meanwhile, Bradford Cathedral will be the first in the world to install solar panels to provide its electricity. Costing £50,000, the panels will be fitted on the roof of the south aisle.

Cross to be banned from Ground Zero?

A group of atheists in New York have filed a lawsuit to prevent a cross from being displayed at the 9/11 Memorial and Museum.

American Atheists, a Texas-based group that describes its mission as protecting civil rights for non-believers, claims the government installation of the cross is an unconstitutional "mingling of church and state".

The group’s president, Dave Silverman, insists that no religious symbols should be included in the memorial of the 9/11 terror attacks at Ground Zero if the Christian cross is the only symbol being represented.

As a public accommodation, the memorial must allow us (and all other religious philosophies) to include our own display of equal size inside the museum, or not include the cross. Equality is an all-or-nothing deal.

The lawsuit names the museum, New York and New Jersey, as well as Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Governor Chris Christie, among others, as defendants.

The cross is made up of two intersecting steel beams that were found intact amid the rubble of the 2001 terrorist attacks in New York. Originally erected on the side of St. Peter's Church on nearby Church Street, the cross was placed inside the 9/11 memorial museum during a ceremony on Saturday.

According to museum organisers, construction worker Frank Silecchia discovered the 17-foot-tall cross in the vicinity of 6 World Trade Center after the attacks. Since then, the cross, the only thing left standing amid the rubble, has become a symbol of hope and comfort for many citizens of New York.

Joe Daniels, the 9/11 Memorial president, described the cross as:

an important part of our commitment to bring back the authentic physical reminders that tell the history of 9/11 in a way nothing else could. Its return is a symbol of the progress on the Memorial and Museum that we feel rather than see, reminding us that commemoration is at the heart of our mission.

In 2010, the same atheist group also challenged the constitutionality of roadside memorial crosses erected to honour fallen Utah state troopers. A federal court ruled in favour of the crosses, but an appeals court ruled against them.

Mass with School in Shrewsbury Cathedral

I have today reveived a picture of my 'First Mass' as a Catholic Priest on the occasion of a visit by St Mary's School, Crewe, to Shrewsbury Cathedral. A lovely and memorable day!

Ordinariate Pilgrimage to Walsingham

East Africa - Food Crisis Appeal

Ten million people across east Africa are facing severe food shortages caused by a combination of drought, irregular harvests, high food prices and displacement. The crisis has been building for some time, particularly in Kenya and Ethiopia, and is fast escalating across the region.

Christian Aid is responding in Kenya, Ethiopia and Sudan. Appeal funds will enable partners to provide urgent, life-saving assistance.

We urgently need your support to help save lives:

£7.50 could buy enough food to feed a goat for a month – and provide a family with milk to supplement their diet.
£14.50 could provide a plastic drum large enough to hold a day’s water for 70 people affected by the drought.
£61.50 could pay for the labour needed to maintain one borehole, providing water to 1,000 people affected by drought.
£108 could pay for the parts needed to repair a pump at one borehole, restoring water to more than 140 families.

Please, if you can, send a gift TODAY. Because the sooner we receive your donation, the sooner we can turn your compassion into action – and save lives.

Thank you for your generosity in the past. Please give whatever you can today:

christianaid.org.uk/east-africa-appeal

Pakistan - call to ban the Bible

An important Islamic political party has called for Pakistan’s Supreme Court to ban the Bible. A leader of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, Maulana Abdul Rauf Farooqi, made the appeal at a press conference at a mosque in Lahore on 30 May.

Farooqi described the Bible as “pornographic”. He claimed that “blasphemous” portions had been added, which charged some prophets with “a variety of moral crimes, which undermine the sanctity of the holy figures”. Farooqi said such “insertions” strongly offended Muslims, who hold all prophets and holy books in high esteem. He said that if the Supreme Court did not respond by banning the Bible, Islamic clerics would formally petition the court, and added that the move was an act of revenge against the desecration of the Quran by a church in Florida.

Pakistani Christians have strongly condemned the call. A Christian human rights activist from Lahore said, “It is a dangerous move, and this demand is based on hate. It will further promote religious intolerance in the country.”

There are fears that this attack on the Bible signals an intensification of persecution against Christians in Pakistan, where Islamists are said to have become more extreme in the wake of Osama bin Laden’s assassination.

The Ten Most Hated Foods

Below are the ten most hated foods (according to some experts!)
Do you have any others?

Mushrooms

Many people claim to hate the texture or taste of mushrooms. However, if you can get past this, you could be doing your health a big favour. Mushrooms are not only a good source of protein, they are rich in B vitamins and are the only vegetable to naturally contain Vitamin D. To give the healthy fungi another shot, try using as an ingredient in burgers to help disguise their texture and improve their flavour.

Celery

Celery is a commonly disliked vegetable. However, the crunchy veg is packed with nutrients (vitamin K, potassium and folate), is low in calories and can help lower blood pressure. To reap these health benefits, try sneaking some celery into your diet by adding to blended soup. Not only will this help disguise the texture of celery, but with the accompaniment of other tasty ingredients you will hardly know it’s there.

Brussels sprouts

When you consider their smell and appearance, it may not seem surprising that sprouts are an unpopular food. Yet sprouts are an extremely healthy source of vitamins K, C and omega-3 fatty acids, are high in cancer-fighting substances (glucosinolates), and can even taste good when prepared right. To up their appeal, choose fresh sprouts rather than frozen, and be careful not to overcook them as this is what causes that trademark smell.

Fish

Whether it’s the smell, the texture or those hidden bones, many kids hate fish and this can be something that sticks with us well into adulthood. However, fish is not only a great source of protein, but the oily kinds are packed with omega-3 fatty acids which can contribute to a healthy heart and brain. To give fish a second chance, try serving it with a healthy marinade to enhance the flavor, or try a more “meaty” fish such as tuna steak.

Marmite

Marmite is famous for having its haters. However, the savory substance is an extremely healthy, versatile and diet-friendly spread. Not only is it low in fat and calories, but marmite is packed with B vitamins which are good for the nervous system, mood and energy levels. If you want to give it a go but find the taste too strong, dilute marmite by adding to a savory sauce, or try making marmite muffins or bread.

Tomatoes

Although some people hate tomatoes in any form, there are others who dislike the raw fruit but will happily tuck into tomato sauces or salsa. The good news is research has suggested that the antioxidant lycopene is better absorbed by the body when eaten in processed and cooked tomatoes than the fresh, raw variety. As lycopene is great for fighting heart disease and cancer, carry on tucking into tomato products all you like – just try to opt for the low sugar options when possible.

Broccoli

As with sprouts, broccoli’s reputation has been ruined for many of us by our common exposure to badly cooked forms of the veg. However, try ditching the soggy, boiled broccoli for a better recipe and you may find you actually change your mind. To reap the antioxidant benefits of this healthy veg, try lightly roasting broccoli with olive oil, garlic and seasoning for a crunchy, flavourful meal accompaniment.

Tofu

While tofu is not a dietary essential, the product is a staple of the traditional Japanese diet (considered to be one of the healthiest diets in the world) and is a great protein alternative for those wishing to reduce their meat intake. Tofu not only has great cholesterol-lowering properties, but it contains phytoestrogens which can help alleviate symptoms of the menopause. To give tofu more flavor, try marinating with soy sauce before cooking. Alternatively, if you don’t like the texture but want the health benefits, try adding soy milk into your diet instead.

Avocados

Many people dislike the texture of avocados, however this healthy fruit is extremely high in vitamin E, potassium and essential fatty acids and is great for skin and heart health. To add avocado into your diet, try mixing the fruit into a tasty guacamole dip and serving with grilled pita bread wedges or crudités. Alternatively, try blending with lemon juice, oil and seasoning to make a healthy alternative to mayonnaise.

Peanut butter

Hate that stick-to-the-roof-of-your-mouth texture of peanut butter? You’re definitely not alone. In fact, there is even a name for this phobia – arachibutyrophobia. However, while it is not an essential dietary component, peanut butter does have many health benefits including its abilities to lower cholesterol and help ward off heart disease. To dilute the taste and stickiness of the spread, try mixing peanut butter into a satay sauce or adding to a salad dressing.

Ordination - Pentecost Sunday

It was quite a weekend! Full report here:

http://www.birminghamdiocese.org.uk/news.asp?news=243

Ordination to the Diaconate

Monday 6th June at St Mary's College, Oscott. Ordination to the Priesthood on Sunday 12th, Pentecost, at St Chad's Metropolitan Cathedral Birminmgham. What a week! Laus Deo!

Asda goes back to imperial measurements in time for Wimbledon!

Sixteen years after shops in the UK were required to display weights in grams, Asda has said it will return to the imperial measures of pounds and ounces.

From Monday, Asda shoppers can once again buy strawberries by the pound, with plans to roll this out to other fruit and vegetables if it proves popular.

"We have had a steady stream of shoppers asking us to put imperial measurements back on packs as they are still confused with how much they get in grams," explained Andy Jackson, Asda's strawberry buyer.

"We have taken the common-sense approach and are trialling putting pounds and ounces back on our strawberries this summer season and see what the response is. No one wants to order a litre of beer in the pub, so why do we have to buy 453.39g of strawberries?"

Marmite may be 'illegal'!!!!

This is really good news for the 50% (including me!) who can't stand the stuff:

British savoury spread Marmite could be illegal in Denmark if it fails to meet safety requirements, officials say.

By law, the Danish authorities must give their approval for food fortified by vitamins or minerals before sale.

Products with such additives need to be assessed for any security concerns posed to the population, the Danish Food and Veterinary Administration say.

Denmark has previously banned several popular items, including the drink Ovaltine and some breakfast cereals.

Recently a shop in Copenhagen received a visit by local authorities seeking official paperwork for the sale of Marmite.

Cambridge top again!

The University of Cambridge has come top of the latest ranking of UK universities, published yesterday by The Guardian newspaper.

Universities are ranked according to how much they spend per student, their staff/student ratio, the career prospects of their graduates, what grades applicants need, a value-added score that compares the academic achievements of first years with their final degree results, and how content students are with their courses based on the National Student Survey.

A spokesman for the University said:

Cambridge is proud of the world-class education we offer - our students benefit from intensive tuition, exceptional individual support and some of the best academic facilities in the world, and they have excellent career prospects.

We admit the brightest and best students regardless of background and financial circumstances. We will continue to provide an extensive and flexible bursary scheme and invest in outreach activity to ensure this continues to be the case.

Any student who has the ability should consider making Cambridge one of their five choices when they apply to University.

The Danger of Digital Fixation

When it comes to the dangers of the digital age, most parents worry about what is on the screen of the computer. Recent research indicates that the screen itself just might be a very real danger.

Writing in The New York Times, physician Perri Klass warns that many parents are unaware of the risks posed by the digital screen. She tells of parents who tell the pediatrician that their child cannot have attention problems because he can watch a digital screen for hours on end. The child may have attention issues elsewhere, but not in front of a screen.

She writes:

In fact, a child’s ability to stay focused on a screen, though not anywhere else, is actually characteristic of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. There are complex behavioral and neurological connections linking screens and attention, and many experts believe that these children do spend more time playing video games and watching television than their peers.

The beatification of Pope John Paul II

The beatification of Pope John Paul II, due to be celebrated in Rome – and around the world – on 1 May 2011, will mark the Church’s affirmation of the faith and life of a worthy servant of God. Blessed John Paul will be promoted as an exemplar of how to live the life of faith, with honesty, integrity and whole-hearted commitment.
Thursday 27 October 2011 will mark the silver jubilee of that invited gathering of religious leaders at Assisi, to mark the World Day of Prayer for Peace. Pope Benedict XVI, at the midday Angelus on the first day of this calendar year, called for this anniversary to be marked by a similar gathering. Our world needs peace and mutual understanding more than ever. Prayer across our divides – together – is one way in which we can strive for this. We can look to Blessed John Paul, Karol Wojtyła, to encourage us forward with a smile – and to bless again the new life taking shape within us.

Seeing things in perspective!

Elizabeth decided that Grandad needed to wear a pair of her play spectacles in order to see the Connect 4 game properly. She would wear his glasses! True to form she continued to win consistently and, to my mind, deviously!

Oh, by the way, I was received into the full communion of the Catholic Church yesterday as a member of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham. More seeing things in perspective?

Now for the final vision of ordination to the Catholic Priesthood at Pentecost!

Independence of Ordinariate from Joint Contact Group

Bishop Alan Hopes, Episcopal Delegate to the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England & Wales for the implementation of the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum coetibus, has written to the Tablet to correct some inaccuracies regarding the Joint Contact Group established to liaise between the Church of England House of Bishops and the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England & Wales. His letter, which is not published in this week’s edition, can be found on our website here. Bishop Hopes states that “[t]he Joint Contact Group has no remit or oversight in relation to the establishment or the implementation of the Personal Ordinariate” but, rather, “to provide a forum for contact between the House of Bishops of the Church of England and the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales for discussion on pastoral and practical issues arising from the establishment of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham; and, to inform and advise the Archbishop of Canterbury and the President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference on specific pastoral issues, practical developments and any potential ecumenical implications”.

The full text of the letter can be found below:

Dear Ms Pepinster

I write in respect of the ‘News’ article by Christopher Lamb entitled “Ordinariate gets joint liaison group”.

The article states that the “Church of England and Catholic bishops have set up a joint liaison group to help to oversee the implementation of the British Ordinariate”. This, I must inform you, is inaccurate.

The establishment of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham and the implementation of the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus is the responsibility of the Personal Ordinary, Mgr Keith Newton, working in collaboration with the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales. The Joint Contact Group has no remit or oversight in relation to the establishment or the implementation of the Personal Ordinariate.

The Joint Contact Group was formed for a particular purpose and with a limited remit, namely: to provide a forum for contact between the House of Bishops of the Church of England and the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales for discussion on pastoral and practical issues arising from the establishment of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham; and, to inform and advise the Archbishop of Canterbury and the President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference on specific pastoral issues, practical developments and any potential ecumenical implications. The Joint Contact Group has no decision making power or powers of oversight.

Yours sincerely

Right Reverend Alan Hopes, Episcopal Delegate

The original story, which appeared on the Tablet website, can be found below:

The Archbishops of Canterbury and Westminster agreed this week that it was too soon for Anglicans who join the ordinariate within the Catholic Church to share Anglican churches. Dr Rowan Williams cited “pastoral sensitivities” and Westminster Archbishop Vincent Nichols said ordinariate groups in Westminster could share Catholic churches. Archbishop Nichols stressed that the ordinariate should not be seen as “alternative ecumenism” with Anglicans. Three Anglican and three Catholic bishops are overseeing the implementation of the ordinariate: Anglicans Christopher Hill (Guildford), Anthony Priddis (Hereford) and Stephen Platten (Wakefield), and Catholics Thomas McMahon (Brentwood) and auxiliaries Alan Hopes and Paul Hendricks.

Bloggers head for Rome!¬

I was quite disappointed when I read the detail! Catholic bloggers will converge on the Vatican for landmark talks next month. The conference will be held on 2 May, the day after Pope John Paul II’s beatification, as it is assumed many of the bloggers will already be in Rome and won’t have to make a special trip. Dr Richard Rouse of the Pontifical Council for Culture said culture today was strongly formed and shaped in the blogosphere. ‘Bloggers have an enormous influence,’ he told Vatican Radio. But the meeting would not propose rules. ‘It’s not a meeting in which we’re going to tell people how to blog properly,’ said Dr Rouse. ‘It’s just a very simple encounter, a first step along a road of dialogue.’
Source: Catholic Herald (15/4)

Volume Three now published!

At last I have finished the three year cycle of Sunday Meditations based on the (Anglican) Lectionary Readings! Available on Amazon from Sunday! Now to concentrate on Allen Hall, CCC and Pentecost!!

Revival of Latin in schools!

A world-leading language project based at the University of Cambridge is rekindling an international love of Latin.

Four million copies of the Cambridge Latin Course (CLC) have now been sold around the world, which have helped an estimated eight million students.

The course is part of the Cambridge School Classics Project which was set up 40 years ago and now supports 1,100 schools in the UK and 500 adult learners from China to Chile.

Worldwide, more than 85 per cent of all schools now use the Cambridge course which features the everyday life of Pompeiian folk before the volcanic eruption.

This, along with a wealth of online resource has brought global fame for its characters including Caecilius, the father, Grumio, the cook and Cerberus, the dog.

Director Will Griffiths said the project had helped revive the teaching of Latin, especially in state schools.

"Ten years ago around 150 state schools taught Latin. Now that figure is 650, including 58 state schools which joined in this academic year.

Ordinariate bound!

After much prayer, thought and consultation I have offered myself for ordination as a Catholic Priest within the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsinham. To this end I have resigned from my ministry within the Church of England from Sunday 6th March and expect to begin a course of formation with a view to ordination as a Catholic Priest at Pentecost. This will bring me into the full communion of the Catholic Church.

Although I live in Shrewsbury the Ordinariate Group with to which I belong is based in the Black Country area of the Midlands. I hope to be able, in the fullness of time, to form the nucleus for a new Group in Shropshire, Mid-Wales and across the Catholic Diocese of Shrewsbury.

In November 2009 Pope Benedict XVI issued an Apostolic Constitution called Anglicanorum coetibus (“By groups of Anglicans”) which set out the structure whereby ex-Anglicans could be received into full communion with the Catholic Church while retaining some of their identity as Anglicans.

It would not be true to say that this decision is motivated by any particular issues. It is rather the culmination of nearly half a century of spiritual journeying which has led me to this point. The offer of Pope Benedict is one which I know I must accept. His vision of the unity of the Church is what has inspired this initiative.

The move, like all moves and partings, is full of a mixture of sadness but excitement. I have no regrets about moving on after over thirty years as an ordained Anglican, nor do I see it as a negation of what has gone before. It is a whole new chapter in the spiritual adventure. Please pray for me and those taking the steps with me!

Murder of Shabaz Bhatti

This week, unidentified gunmen in Islamabad shot dead Federal Minister for Minority Affairs Shahbaz Bhatti.

The assailants sprayed bullets at Bhatti’s car after he came out of his mother’s home in a residential area of Islamabad to attend a cabinet meeting.

Bhatti, a 42-year-old bachelor, was Pakistan’s only cabinet-level Christian and an outspoken critic of the country’s widely condemned blasphemy laws. Suspected Islamic extremists from Pakistan’s Taliban and al Qaeda reportedly left a letter at the scene saying those who try to change Pakistan’s blasphemy laws would be killed.

The murder comes two months after Punjab Governor Salman Taseer was killed by his bodyguard for supporting Asia Bibi, the first Christian woman to be sentenced to death in Pakistan on blasphemy charges.

Bhatti had defied death threats after the assassination of Taseer, conceding in several interviews that he was ‘the highest target right now’, but vowing to continue his work and trusting his life to God. The federal government had provided bodyguards for Bhatti, but they were not present at the time of the attack.

In a recent interview with the BBC, Bhatti had said he was ‘ready to die for a cause’ as a Christian. "I am living for my community and suffering people, and I will die to defend their rights," he said. “These threats and warnings cannot change my opinion and principles."

The Right to Religious Freedom

Routledge has published Dr Anat Scolnicov's book The Right to Religious Freedom in International Law Between Group Rights and Individual Rights.

This book analyses the right to religious freedom in international law, drawing on an array of national and international cases. Taking a rigorous approach to the right to religious freedom, Anat Scolnicov argues that the interpretation and application of religious freedom must be understood as a conflict between individual and group claims of rights, and that although some states, based on their respective histories, religions, and cultures, protect the group over the individual, only an individualistic approach of international law is a coherent way of protecting religious freedom. Analysing legal structures in a variety of both Western and Non-Western jurisdictions, the book sets out a topography of different constitutional structures of religions within states and evaluates their compliance with international human rights law. The book also considers the position of women's religious freedom vis-agrave-vis community claims of religious freedom, of children's right to religious freedom and of the rights of dissenters within religious groups.

Oh, what a tangled web we weave!

Equalities Minister Lynne Featherstone has announced plans to remove the ban on civil partnership ceremonies in places of worship, and a consultation on giving gays the right to marry. The latter move may mean changing the legal definition of marriage as a heterosexual institution. The Church of England won’t allow it’s churches to be used for civil partnerships, and said the proposals could have ‘unintended consequences for churches and faiths’. But the Archbishop of York gave the ideas a cautious welcome, provided churches were not forced to marry homosexuals. The Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches and the Catholic Church rejected the plans, but Quakers, Unitarians and liberal Jews welcomed the news. The ban on night-time nuptials is also to be lifted, and civil partnerships may be offered to heterosexuals.