From the Guardian’s Face to Faith column: Martyn Percy writes about Anglican diversity.
In The Times William Taylor of St Ethelburga’s Centre asks How do Christian, Jewish and Muslim leaders work together to sort out hate crimes? in Honesty will help to prevent acts which bring shame on the community.
Christopher Howse writes in the Telegraph about psychoanalysis and religion in Sharing a couch with believers.
The Tablet has Keith Ward writing about the recent Richard Dawkins TV programmes in Faith, hype and a lack of clarity.
The Tablet also has a review by Owen Gingerich of Exploring Reality: the intertwining of science and religion by John Polkinghorne in Evolving, unfolding world.
1 CommentThe BBC reports that Nigeria to outlaw same-sex unions and illustrates the story with this picture. Update the picture has been changed to this one.
See also this earlier story which still uses the first picture (see George Conger’s comment below for why it is the wrong picture).
This is confirmed in a report from Nigeria in the Daily Champion previously found at FG moves to ban same-sex marriage which also says:
Besides, formation of association of homosexuals and lesbians as well as any form of protesting for rights recognition by the affected persons will be outlawed.
That web page has now changed so the full text of it is saved here, below the fold. Thanks to Tunde for providing the original link.
Update Voice of America reports that Anglican Church in Nigeria Welcomes Ban on Homosexuality thus:
…The spokesman for the Anglican church in Nigeria, Reverend Tunde Popoola, says the proposed ban is appropriate. The Anglican community in Nigeria has long waged a vigorous campaign against homosexuals, as Reverend Popoola explains.
“The Anglican church in Nigeria has been in the forefront of condemning the attitude because the church sees it as an aberration, in other words, we see it as against the norm. We see it as an abomination,” he said…
A VOA radio interview with Tunde Popoola can be heard here (Real Audio)
Updated Saturday – additional links
IRIN News NIGERIA: Government proposes law to ban same-sex marriage
Nigeria First via allAfrica.com ‘Gay Marriage Will Be Punished in Nigeria’
35 CommentsFor earlier bishops’ views see here.
Michael Nazir-Ali Bishop of Rochester has issued an Ad Clerum letter which is reproduced in full below the fold.
This was first reported on in the Church of England Newspaper (online yesterday, issue datelined Friday) by Jonathan Wynne-Jones in Civil partnership row erupts.
It is also reported today in The Times by Ruth Gledhill as Bishop attacks civil partnerships.
And in the Telegraph by Jonathan Petre and Jonathan Wynne-Jones as Gay weddings for priests ‘unbiblical’.
There has also been a Statement from Anglican Mainstream and the Church of England Evangelical Council and others in Support of Bishop Michael Nazir Ali’s Statement Ad Clerum. The signatories to this statement include Archbishop Peter Jensen, Sydney.
36 CommentsToday’s newspaper had further reports on the matter of women bishops, and also some stories about what else will occur at the February synod meeting.
Earlier women bishops stories are here.
Stephen Bates in the Guardian had Clerics open long path to female Archbishop of Canterbury together with lots of pictures.
Jonathan Petre in the Telegraph said Female Archbishop of Canterbury ‘a possibility’ and also had Church told to apologise for its part in slave trade.
In The Times Ruth Gledhill also had two items: Ordination of women bishops a step closer and Churches facing ‘apocalypse soon’
2 CommentsUpdated Friday 20 Jan
The Tablet has today published a report of the conference: Amid the cold, signs of a thaw, and the Church Times has Unity is symphonic, says Cardinal.
The BBC Sunday programme has kindly made available to Thinking Anglicans a transcript of part of the item linked here earlier.
0 CommentsChanging Attitude has today published a web page concerning Mr Davis MacIyalla, Director of Changing Attitude Network (Nigeria).
This page contains a number of photographs of Mr MacIyalla in earlier years at various church events, a photograph taken at the recent CAN meeting, and a detailed analysis of the many charges against Mr MacIyalla made by an official of the Church of Nigeria, including those contained in this press release.
49 CommentsThe BBC’s Sunday radio programme reported on an international conference on Christian Unity held at Ushaw College, Durham.
The BBC report:
Cardinal Walter Kasper on Ecumenism
Last week one of the Vatican’s top Cardinals came to Durham to host an international conference on Christian Unity. Was Cardinal Walter Kasper wasting his time?
Report by Christopher Landau.
Listen with Real Audio(9m 9s)
Those interviewed also include Bp Tom Wright and Canon Nicholas Sagovsky. But the interview with Cardinal Kasper is particularly worth hearing.
For more backgound on the conference, see the Ushaw College press releases, all in .rtf format:
Press Release, Brief Listing of Participants, Conference Rationale and Schedule.
In The Times Rod Strange writes about gifts, Unearned, undeserved and sometimes unexpected, faith is a gift for life.
Christopher Howse in the Telegraph writes about A papal storm in a Santa hat.
Giles Fraser’s column in the Church Times asks Can war be moral?.
And in last week’s CT Robin Griffith-Jones finds presences and meaning in T. S. Eliot’s poem Journey of the Magi: ‘Eliot takes his readers far from Andrewes’s settled confidence’, Travelling to another death.
Late Addition
Face to faith from Saturday’s Guardian only arrived online today. Gilbert Márkus writes about Intelligent Design.
Last week the Church Times carried a report on this, but it only reached the public web today. Other press reports, contemporaneous with this one, are here.
The CT report by Pat Ashworth was headlined ‘Nigerian allegations are false’.
Today’s paper contains nothing further on this.
6 CommentsThis follows up the posting here on 12 December concerning James Behrens’ further opinion, under the title civil partnerships: a further legal opinion.
Derek Belcher has now issued a revised opinion, which you can read in full here.
This shows that there is even less difference between these opinions than it previously appeared. Also, the opportunity has been taken to restore the markup showing the revisions made by Chancellor Behrens to his opinion, which was missing when originally published.
18 CommentsIn the last issue of 2005, Pat Ashworth of the Church Times reported on this: Malango ‘closes case: Kunonga left to do as he likes’.
Some other recent news reports:
SW Radio Africa Zimbabwe news
4 Jan Anglican parishioners puzzled over Kunonga trial decisions
5 Jan Church has no money for Kunonga retrial
Sokwanele
5 Jan Shameful silence on Nolbert Kunonga, Anglican Bishop of Harare
and this response from a reader on the Sokwanele blog, on 8 January.
I linked earlier to today’s BBC reports on this.
Now, Ruth Gledhill has a report Church wants women bishops by 2012 in Monday’s edition of The Times which discusses further the draft Guildford report that goes before the CofE House of Bishops this week. Ruth has received a copy of this draft.
And she also has a more detailed discussion of the matter on her blog:Women bishops by 2012.
Both items are essential reading.
5 CommentsLast week’s Church Times had a review of the year 2005. Here are links to the various articles:
January, February
March, April
May, June
July, August
September, October
November, December
Press
Radio
Television
Books
Arts
The Press review, which mentions TA, is not actually a review of items, but rather a discussion about the effect of the web on news. TA readers may find this of particular interest.
8 CommentsIn The Times Jonathan Sacks writes about daily prayer: Prayers from the past and present can shape our world of the future.
Christopher Howse writes in the Telegraph about Manger, wine and water.
The Guardian again has multiple items on religion:
Face to Faith is written by an Anglican priest, Ruth Scott, in which she talks about a “safe distance”.
The Essay slot has an article by Ian Buruma titled Cross Purposes in which he suggests that Conflicting views about religion threaten to divide Europe from the US.
And Madeleine Bunting has a very critical review of the forthcoming TV programmes about religion by Richard Dawkins in No wonder atheists are angry: they seem ready to believe anything.
The most recent newsletter for supporters of InclusiveChurch can be found on its website. A copy is also below the fold here.
Some dates to note:
Seminar with Bishop of Worcester: Sunday 22 January (application form here, scroll down)
St Albans Pilgrimage: Saturday 24 June, more details here
Day Conference Saturday 14th October
The laity elections for the Archbishops’ Council have now completed:
Archbishops’ Council: Lay members elected.
There is a further election to be held for two clergy places on the Council.
The most current membership list can be found here.
0 CommentsUpdated Sunday
The BBC Sunday radio programme had this report by Robert Pigott:
House of Bishops
There are increasing signs that division among Anglican bishops is intensifying over how to proceed towards legislation in the Church enabling women to be ordained as bishops. The House of Bishops is to meet tomorrow to discuss what options should be on the table at the General Synod meeting in a few weeks’ time, with opinion on both sides apparently polarising.
Listen with Real Audio (3m 38s)
See also this much briefer summary, Split over women bishops deepens
The Church Times has this report today: Hill sceptical about leak of ‘TEA’ plan which refers to rumours found in two earlier reports: this one in the Church of England Newspaper Commissary plan to appease the opponents of women bishops and this one in the Telegraph Church group is split over women bishops.
The official report of the Bishop of Guildford’s Group will be published on Monday 16 January.
Meanwhile the full transcript of the seminar on episcopacy held during the November synod is available within this rtf file. An html copy of the transcript is now here.
0 CommentsUpdated again Monday 9 January
Anglican gay group threatens legal action against Church of Nigeria appeared in Black Britain
Updated Thursday
Reports of the charges made against Changing Attitude by the Church of Nigeria are appearing in other places:
Church of England Newspaper George Conger Answers wanted on Nigerian gay charity
Ekklesia Nigerian church fraud warning includes allegation against gays
And the ACNS has republished one of the two Nigerian press releases here.
And in Nigeria:
Daily Independent Anglican Church disowns Nigerian gay activist
This Day Anglican Church Disowns Nigerian Gay-Activist
Vanguard Anglican Church disowns Nigerian gay-activist
But there is more information about this issue in the comments on this blog than in any of these reports so far.
Update
Changing Attitude has published a new press release today:
Statement by Changing Attitude (England) about allegations against Changing Attitude Network (Nigeria)
There has been a further development in the story about Changing Attitude Nigeria which has been chronicled in detail on TA previously.
First, the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) issued two press releases on 28 December, see PRESS RELEASE – DISCLAIMER– Davis Mac- Iyalla. This leads to a second release which is more general in character, but also contains specific reference to Mac-Iyalla. (The page is currently poorly formatted but remains legible. A copy of it has been republished by ACNS.)
Second, Changing Attitude issued a press release in response to the above, on 31 December, Changing Attitude Network Nigeria responds to criticism by the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion).
50 CommentsThe BBC’s radio programme Sunday has several items of Anglican interest today. (Real Audio required.) Full programme details including interesting items on Judaism and Islam as well here.
Richard Harries
A big figure on the national religious landscape is stepping down in 2006 – like the Chief Rabbi, Richard Harries, the Bishop of Oxford, has a voice that is listened to outside his immediate constituency. He has been doing the job for 19 years – they were turbulent years for Anglicanism, and he was often to be found hacking away at the coal face of controversy. He talks about the highlights of his career.
Listen (6m 7s)
Guest discussion
Ned Temko from the Observer also the former editor of the Jewish Chronicle, Fareena Alam editor of the Muslim magazine Q-News and religious correspondent for The Times; Ruth Gledhill discuss the issue of homosexuality in the Church of England.
Listen (3m 43s)
New Year predictions
A New Year’s Day programme would not be complete without the predictions parlour game. Find out what big stories that the guests think will make it onto all the front pages in the course of the year.
Listen (2m 55s)
