Eurobishop

Some Anglican Participants in the Anglican - Protestant Consultation It is often assumed that our diocese is interested in ecumenical dialogue only with Roman Catholics and Orthodox. This is not the case. Our ecumenical engagement and official conversations are much wider. Recently I was able to be part of the third Faith and Order consultation between the British and Irish Anglican Churches and the Community of Protestant (mostly Lutheran and Reformed) Churches in Europe (CPCE). The meeting was facilitated by the Institute for Ecumenical Research of the Lutheran World Federation, Strasbourg , and took place at Chateau Klingenthal, France, on 13-15 April 2011. The consultation heard reports about recent developments in international ecumenical dialogues, in the ecumenical scene in Scotland , in the CPCE and in the Anglican Communion. It looked at reports from the Church of England on The Journey of Christian Initiation , from the Church of England and the United Reformed Ch...

Here is May’s book selection (there was none for April!). These are 10 seriously impressive volumes including a work by the Russian Patriarch of Moscow and an important book exploring the myths of Calvinism. You will also find some biography, church history and more on the important area of bioethics. Bonne lecture à tous! For the reviews, press the   read more  button.

With great joy I announce the following persons are to be ordained this Petertide: Sacred Order of Deacon Mr Nigel Thomas (to serve as assistant curate of St George’s Madrid ) by Bishop David on Saturday 2 July at 11.00 , in St George’s Church , Madrid . The street address for   St George’s Church is: Nuñez de Balboa 43, (corner of Hermosilla), Madrid, Spain. For further details please contact the Revd Canon Ian Hutchinson-Cervantes on +34 915 765 109, or email: chaplain@stgeorgesmadrid.com Liturgical colour: red Mrs Jennifer Elliot de Riverol (to serve as assistant curate of All Saints Tenerife with St Martin de Porres, La Palma ) by Bishop David on Sunday 3 July at 12.00 in All Saints Church, Tenerife . The street address    for All Saints Church is: Taora Park , Puerto de la Cruz, Tenerife , Spain . For further details please contact the Revd Mike Smith on +34 922 384038, or email: mike.tenerifechaplain@gmail.com; Liturgical colour: red Sac...

Dr Paul Bradshaw with POT participants the Revds Jady Koch (Vienna) and Sampson Ajuka (Padua) The Director of Training, the Revd Canon Ulla Monberg reports on another fruitful session of Post Ordination Training (POT) for our recently ordained clergy. They met from 10th – 13th May at St. Columba’s House, Woking, and spent three days together for worship, lectures and fellowship. (In the Church of England, newly ordained clergy are required to complete 4 years of training after their ordination). The theme for this POT session was “Liturgy  - Common Worship”  and the sessions were taught by the Reverend Professor Paul Bradshaw, Professor of Liturgy at Notre Dame University and Liturgical Advisor  for the Diocese in Europe. Bishop Geoffrey also provided some input. The 12 men and women who participated in this POT session came from churches across the Diocese - from Austria, Belgium, France, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands and Switzerland.

Please read below an urgent message from the Chaplain of Christ Church Amsterdam, the Revd Mark Collinson: ______________________________________________________________________________ David Mukasa has been part of the community of Christ Church Amsterdam since 2003, when I first got to know him. He had escaped from custody in Uganda having been detained after writing letters to a newspaper objecting to the government’s land reforms. His political opposition have put him on the wanted list in the eyes of the Ugandan government. His attempts at seeking asylum in the Netherlands have failed. He has lived as an illegal delivering newspapers, paying his rent, and supporting his family, which at various times have visited the Netherlands from Uganda.  David is a committed Christian, having been brought up in a clergy family. His father, Canon Mukasa, is old and frail and cannot actively help his son. We believe there is no reason why David should not be allowed to live peaceably ...

Archbishops David Moxon and Bernard Longley, ARCIC Co-chairmen With all the news around Anglicanorum Coetibus, the provision of ordinariates  for Anglicans to become Roman Catholics while maintaining some aspects of Anglican patrimony, it is easy to overlook the fact that the official Anglican-Roman Catholic ecumenical dialogue continues with full vigour. When Pope Benedict XVI and Archbishop Rowan Williams met in November 2009, they gave a mandate for the third phase of the official ARCIC (Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission) dialogue to commence. Yesterday, 17 May, at the monastery in Bose, northern Italy, the Commission began its meetings. The theologians on ARCIC are officially appointed by the Pope and the Archbishop to continue to work towards the goal first declared by Pope Paul VI and Archbishop Michael Ramsey, that the dialogue might lead to "that unity in truth for which Christ prayed" which would be manifest in a "a restoration of complet...

US Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori Each year the Anglican and Old Catholic bishops on the continent of Europe meet together to share information about the lives of our Churches and to address matters of common concern. On 19 - 20 May, our meeting was held in Amersfoort, Netherlands. Also present were some members of the Anglican-Old Catholic International Coordinating Council (AOCICC) because the Council's draft paper on ecclesiology and mission entitled Belonging Together in Europe  was to be discussed by the bishops. I am also a member of AOCICC, so was present with both hats. Mrs Marion Jagers from Holy Trinity Utrecht is also a member of AOCICC and was present. Anglican and Old Catholic Churches have been in communion since 1931 when the  Bonn Agreement  was signed. Bishops John Okoro (Austria) and Fernando Soares (Portugal) Mrs Marion Jagers, Fr Lars Simpson (interpreter), Bishop Joachim Vobbe But there was another high profile guest at the ...

Confirmations were celebrated at St George's Berlin on 8 May. As is the case in many Diocese in Europe parishes, candidates came from many backgrounds and ages. At this service among others confirmed was a German in a kilt and a Dutch professor of particle physics at the Max Planck Institute. A typical Berlin barbecue in the parish grounds followed with additional dishes provided by members of this multicultural congregation. There has been Anglican worship in Berlin since at least 1830.

Canon Hugh Broad and the Revd Christopher Scargill Yesterday 11 May, an earthquake of magnitude 5.3 hit the town of Lorca, in the Province of Murcia, Spain. Our nearest Church of England parishes are Torrevieja and Costa Almeria. Both our priests in the area, Fr Christopher Scargill of Torrevieja and Canon Hugh Broad of Costa Almeria (who is also Area Dean) have been in touch with my office to report that members of our own communities seem to have been unaffected. The clergy are still making sure that any contacts at all in the affected zone are being followed up. The priests have also been in touch with local undertakers, just in case. Earthquakes are quite rare in this part of Spain. Our prayers extend to all those who have been affected. Many are fearful to return to their homes in the ancient town. At least 10 have died. We also pray for the local Spanish Churches and of course the emergency services who are responding to the needs of the people of the area.

Visitors to Florence seeking quality accommodation should look no further than St Mark's English Church in that city. St Mark's (pictured above) can provide hospitality for short or longer term visits in 4 spacious and well appointed apartments in the very the heart Florence, just a couple of hundred metres from the Ponte Vecchio. The apartments are in the upper floors of the medieval palazzo which houses the Church, and which is considered to have been at one time the home of the Machiavelli family! For more information about the accommodation, visit this website .   S t Mark's  English Church has a proud Anglo-Catholic tradition and has since its inception been a centre for the both the Pre-Raphaelite and Art and Crafts Movements. It presently has an active worshipping life and is the centre for many cultural and musical events and an impressive outreach programme, thanks to the leadership of the the  parish priest, the Revd Lawrence MacLean, who has led the C...

On Sunday 1 May Malcolm Tracey was licensed as a reader in St George's Church, Malaga, Spain. Malcolm comes to Europe from the Diocese of Wakefield where he served an active ministry in the parishes of Emley and of Flockton with Denby Grange. St George's, Malaga is in the final stage of appointment of a new priest-in-charge, but as there are several worship centres in the parish it was important to begin to use the considerable gifts which Malcolm brings, so I was pleased to give a commission to the interim priest-in-charge, the Revd Dr Raymond Taylor, to license him, in the "interregnum". We welcome Malcolm to this diocese, and to the cadres of over 100 readers which serve the congregations in Europe! Fr Raymond is himself a previous priest-in-charge of Malaga and is now, in retirement, serving as an honorary assistant. There is one other assistant priest, the Revd Sheila Mitchell. St George's is home to the first non-Roman Catholic cemetery in Spain, with...

Yesterday, 5 May, the Archbishop of Canterbury, at a press conference to do with another matter entirely, was asked a question about the death of Osama Bin Laden. His response has had some coverage in the media in the UK. Given the way news can become distorted, it is always useful to know precisely what was said. Therefore I post the question and answer below, for the information of those in our Diocese in Europe who often are asked about the position of our Church or statements of our leaders: Q: Do you believe that the killing of Osama Bin Laden is justice for the 9/11 attacks and indeed other attacks? And was the US morally justified in shooting him even though he was unarmed as the White House now admits? A: I think that the killing of an unarmed man is always going to leave a very uncomfortable feeling because it doesn't look as if justice is seen to be done, in those circumstances.  I think it is also true that the different versions of events that have emerge...

The Rt Revd Dr Thomas Brown, Bishop of Wellington St Michael's Church in Paris will host a unique event on 27 May. On that day, the Rt Revd Dr Thomas Brown, Bishop of Wellington, New Zealand, will ordain Paul McIntosh to the diaconate at 18.30. Although happening in a Church in the Diocese in Europe, the ordination will actually be an event of the Diocese of Wellington and according to the rites of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia. Mr McIntosh, a candidate for Holy Orders in New Zealand, has been studying in England while he and his wife have been living in France. (His wife is a NZ diplomat). He has been engaged in some pastoral work as a lay person in St Michael's Paris, with the permission of his bishop. Following his ordination I will give Paul  receive Permission to Officiate in this Diocese and he will be attached for a short while to St Mark’s, Versailles, before returning to the Diocese of Wellington where he will serve his formal title. ...