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."