Let’s not turn ‘inward’ amid economic troubles, urges Justin Welby; The Queen once again points her subjects to Jesus Christ; Judge attacks gay marriage plan; Tug of war in the Church of England
Let’s not turn ‘inward’ amid economic troubles, urges Justin Welby in Christmas message
By John Bingham, Telegraph – Britain must not respond to economic hardship at home by turning “inward” and cutting aid to those in far greater need, the incoming Archbishop of Canterbury has insisted.
In his first Christmas sermon since being thrust into the spotlight as successor to Rowan Williams, the Bishop of Durham, Justin Welby, warned against national self-pity and selfishness, becoming obsessed with “our own small battles”.
And in a possible signal of the direction he is likely to take the Church of England in when he takes over as Archbishop, he placed poverty at the centre of his Christmas message urging Christians to “reach to the jagged edges of our society”.
He earlier contrasted the fast and efficient response to flooding at home with a desire to cut aid for people in poorer countries.
And he spoke about the “paranoia of the ultra-rich” who liken calls to pay higher taxes to the threat from totalitarianism.
Bishop Welby, who formally takes over as Archbishop in February, told the congregation in Durham Cathedral that it is “very easy to be despondent” about the Church – with its divisions over issues such as women bishops – and the wider world, citing the massacres in Congo and Syria and the mass shooting in Connecticut.
Meanwhile, he said, Britain remains in the “doldrums” while trust in once respected institutions has been battered by scandals involving Parliament, the police and the media.
The Queen once again points her subjects to Jesus Christ
While the Pope, the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Archbishop of Westminster addressed Syria, women bishops and gay marriage respectively the Queen kept her Christmas message short, direct and simple.
Building on the spirit of togetherness and friendship captured in 2012 by the London Olympics and Diamond Jubilee celebrations she then praised the spirit of service displayed by the armed forces, emergency services and health workers before saying that all of us should reach out beyond ‘familiar relationships’ to serve others.
But then she really cut to the chase – ‘At Christmas I am always struck by how the spirit of togetherness lies also at the heart of the Christmas story. A young mother and a dutiful father with their baby were joined by poor shepherds and visitors from afar. They came with their gifts to worship the Christ child. From that day on he has inspired people to commit themselves to the best interests of others.
Video at:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2012/12/24/queen-christmas-address-2012-commonwealth.html
Judge attacks gay marriage plan
Ministers are pursuing the “wrong policy” on gay marriage, says a High Court judge, after the Archbishop of Westminster denounced the move.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20842884
Tug of war in the Church of England
The Washington Post describes the war for the soul of the Church of the England on the way to modernization.
Debate over that question is upending Britain’s official church, the symbolic heart of a global Anglican Communion that includes the Episcopal Church in the United States. The narrow loss of the measure has so infuriated liberal church leaders that many insist that the only way forward is to simply show conservatives the door….
…At a time when casual churchgoers are abandoning pews, these conservatives argue that the Church of England cannot afford to alienate some of its most active members: Anglo-Catholics and evangelicals whose numbers are swelling even as they organize into what some here are calling a British version of the American religious right.
“What is happening here will fall into a very long story of battles amongst Christians,” said Gill R. Evans, professor of intellectual history and medieval theology at Cambridge. “If women bishops does go through, and we think it will eventually, there may very well be a proportion of the Church of England who walk away.”