Anglican Church

It’s not just the Catholic ratbags who were covering up the buggering of little boys. The archbishop needs to swing for this.

The Archbishop of York is to set up an independent inquiry into allegations that a senior Church of England clergyman abused choirboys and school pupils.

It will look into claims that the Very Rev Robert Waddington, a former dean of Manchester Cathedral who died in 2007, sexually assaulted young choristers in the 1980s, while Lord Hope, then archbishop of York did not report the abuse claims to police or child protection authorities in 1999 and 2003.

Dr John Sentamu today said he was taking the allegations of abuse with the “utmost seriousness”, calling child abuse a “a heinous and personally damaging crime”.  Read more »

It’s not just the bloody Catholics.

It seems too that the Anglican church has a problem with boy buggering, abuse and coverups:

The former Archbishop of York has been accused of covering up allegations that a senior member of the Church of England had abused choirboys and school pupils.

Lord Hope of Thornes was told of the accusations against the Very Rev Robert Waddington, a former Dean of Manchester Cathedral who was made responsible for Church schools, in 1999 and then again in 2003.

The then archbishop did not refer the allegations to police or to child protection agencies, according to The Times.

Following the accusations, Lord Hope, who was then the second most senior bishop in the Church, revoked Waddington’s right to conduct church services and also ordered internal investigations into the alleged abuse.  Read more »

The UK and David Cameron’s government is getting on with making marriage equal for all. The bigots won’t be happy even though there is an exemption for he Church of England.

The British government has introduced a bill legalising same-sex marriage and says lawmakers will get their first vote on it in Parliament next month.

The Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill, published yesterday, extends marriage to gay couples but excludes clergy in the Church of England – the country’s official faith – from having to carry out the ceremonies.  Read more »

Good grief…first word problems people, first world problems, still at least whining about insider trading in the Anglican Church is better than buggering little boys in the Catholic Church, so things are improving.

A British MP has raised the prospect of insider trading in the Church of England after a last-minute flurry of bets with bookmakers on Justin Welby becoming the Archbishop of Canterbury.

A string of bookmakers stopped taking money on the Bishop of Durham to succeed Dr Rowan Williams earlier this week after a sudden run of money on the favourite even before media reports that the decision was imminent.

You would think Churches should stay out of politics. The Anglicans just don’t seem to be able to. Perhaps the Charities Commission can pull their charitable status too.

There’s this guy….still uncharged, and god knows what has happened with the Police investigation into his vandalism amongst other Electoral Act breaches.

Arch Deacon Dr Anthony Dancer, Social Justice Commissioner for the Anglican Church, says “At its core, global climate change is not about economic theory or political platforms. It is about our human stewardship of God’s creation and our responsibility to those who come after us. It is, literally, all about our grandchildren…. True stewardship requires changes in human actions—both in moral behaviour and technical advancement. A renewed sense of restraint could make an essential contribution to addressing global climate change”.

“Digging up Lignite and burning it is an intergenerational crime”, said Rosemary Penwarden of Coal Action Network Aotearoa. This builds on NASA scientist James Hansen’s statement when he visited Aotearoa in 2011, that “adaption to climate change is mandatory and mitigation is critical”.

Perhaps the church might like to concern itself with saving souls rather than meddling in politics.

ᔥ Stuff.co.nz

The Anglican Church says it will review a report that claims Christ Church Cathedral can be saved.

The church’s Cathedral Project Group said today it had received the Great Christchurch Buildings Trust (GCBT) report.

The trust, headed by former MPs Jim Anderton and Philip Burdon, yesterday gave The Press an engineers’ report that it claimed showed the cathedral could be safely restored.

Acting dean Lynda Patterson said: “We will review this brief report against the considerable work already undertaken in relation to safety, heritage values, financial implications and the need to reinstate the Christchurch Anglican cathedral for the worship of God and Christian mission in the community.”

She said the Cathedral Project Group had taken the trust engineers on site several weeks ago.

It’s rooted. Spend money on Christian endeavors like helping the needy not building wasteful monuments. It is just a silly building…and not even a very good example of a small provincial city cathedral.

ᔥ The Telegraph

The Archbishop of Canterbury has really jumped the shark over same-sex marriage. He says that the same-sex marriage proposals could do serious damage to Britain’s constitution:

The fact is that we have in this country a separation of powers, competence and institutions within an unwritten constitution that has worked well for centuries. This balanced system has evolved in a framework in which decision-makers possess a historical memory and an understanding of the limits of their competence. The same-sex marriage proposals lack both these qualities.

First, they lack historical memory, for the Government seems unaware that the Queen herself, the Supreme Governor of the Church of England, swore to preserve the settlement of the Church of England and “the doctrine, worship, discipline, and government thereof, as by law established in England”. To press ahead with these proposals could undermine the establishment of the Church of England, let alone the monarchy. Second, and just as importantly, the mistaken references to “religious” and “civil” marriage show a failure of competence. They mistake the ceremony of marriage for its whole reality. There is only one form of marriage, enacted in different ceremonies and places: to state otherwise is pure ignorance.

ᔥ Stuff.co.nz

Jim Anderton and various other busy bodies have had a rally to tell the Anglican Church what they think should be done with a rooted cathedral. They conveniently ignore that they don’t own it, the Church does.

The rally came on the day an opinion poll showed the fate of the Anglican cathedral has divided the region, with 54 per cent of those polled favouring demolition and 42 per cent calling for it to be saved.

Former MP Jim Anderton told the crowd that 100 engineers had confirmed the Cathedral could be saved and restoration should go ahead regardless of the cost. If the city could afford to spend money on a new rugby stadium it could afford to restore the city’s most iconic building.

Long-time heritage campaigner and former city councillor Anna Crighton said the Anglican Church should take heed of both the New Zealand Historic Places Trust’s and the Christchurch City Council’s call for a pause to demolition work.

“Pause, consult the experts and let the public … have a say about their Cathedral,” Crighton said.

Jim Anderton wants to spend council money on a private building and Anna Crighton thinks the whole of Christchurch owns the cathedral…newsflash folks….it ain’t yours to decide.

ᔥ The Telegraph

This time it is the Anglicans. They haven’t worked out that the world won’t end if they have women bishops. Better than covering up the buggering of little boys though.

Historic plans to allow women to become bishops have been plunged into crisis after existing bishops voted through an eleventh-hour concession to traditionalists.

Campaigners for women in the episcopacy in the Church of England are considering whether to vote the plan down themselves, with some privately condemning it as a “compromise too far”.

Others say that the concession would give legal status to the view that women bishops would carry a “taint”.

Yet traditionalists also voiced disappointment at the measure, which they said falls far short of the assurances they say they need, and warned the Church is facing a “terminal” crisis.

It comes after the Church’s House of Bishops met behind closed doors in York to give its approval to the long-awaited legislation.

In theory it clears the way for a landmark vote at the Church’s General Synod in July to ordain women as bishops.

ᔥ The Telegraph

It looks like the Anglican Church is facing the some issues. It could be argued that the Labour party is a pretty good example of what happens when you fragment.

However a Church is a little different in you are dealing with matters of faith not public policy. nd so in opposing “fragmentation” you are actually turn your cheek to providing spiritual succour to the masses.

A fixation with gay rights, feminism and separate racial identities is threatening to “fragment” British society, the Archbishop of Canterbury has claimed.

Dr Rowan Williams warned that identity had become a “slippery” word and that, while much had been achieved for minority groups, it was time to focus on the common good.

He also attacked a culture of dependence on welfare handouts, which he said was harmful to society, in an address to members of the Welsh Assembly in Cardiff.

Addressing a group of teenagers during the visit, he also spoke about the possibility that Britain could break apart as Scottish and Welsh nationalism grows in importance.

Dr Williams, who is stepping down as leader of the Anglican Communion later this year, has made a series of outspoken interventions since announcing his resignation.

He signalled last week that he plans to use his final months in office to speak out forcefully on issues which on which he feels passionate.