Eurobishop

The annual commemoration of the Armenian genocide every April 24th brings up deep emotional memories in Armenians throughout the world. This year marks the 99th anniversary of the beginning of the massacres in 1915.  It is a particularly moving event in Armenia itself as the population remembers the many ethnic Armenians, estimated at between 1 and 1.5 million, who lost their lives throughout the Ottoman Empire. Hundreds of thousands gather at the Armenian Genocide Memorial Complex in Yerevan. Yesterday, the Anglican congregation in Yerevan was represented at the national commemorations when Fr John Barker, the priest-in-charge, laid flowers and said a prayer for the repose of the victims.  He wrote that " Mount Ararat was looking particularly beautiful and could be clearly seen by the hundreds of thousands of people who visited the memorial and left flowers". If you use Common Worship: Daily Prayer, you may be familiar with the ...

Krisztus feltámadt!  The priest-in-charge of St Margaret's Budapest, the Revd Dr Frank Hegedus, sent me the traditional Easter greeting in Hungarian, along with some photos of an important feature in the parish's Holy Week preparations. It has been the custom for the past several years for the children of the congregation to decorate the Paschal Candle towards the end of Lent. These photos show them hard at work in Sunday School on Palm Sunday and presenting the finished product to the congregation. The candle now burns brightly during the Eastertide services.

Mesih dirildi! Christ is Risen! On Easter Day the traditional greeting was on the lips of members of the Church of the Resurrection, the Turkish-speaking congregation in Istanbul. Members gathered in the morning for an Easter breakfast together. Then in the early afternoon the service began, a two-hour celebration of the Easter sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist. It was a joyful and moving occasion for two adults who were baptised and confirmed, and then joined by 5 other candidates for confirmation. Two persons were also received into communion of the Church of England. The baptismal candidates had expressed a desire to be baptised by immersion. This is one of the two ways permitted by the Church of England, the other being pouring. The congregation borrows the Armenian Protestant Church building for their services and the building does not have a font for immersion baptism, but an inflatable pool served the purpose! As each candidate emerged from the w...

The Chrism Eucharist was celebrated on Tuesday in Holy Week in two centres in the Diocese: Rome and the Hague. At these services, the clergy and readers of the area gather with the bishop (in All Saints Rome it was with Honorary Assistant Bishop Michael Colclough) for one of the most solemn and significant liturgies of our Church. Representatives of the laity present the three oils to be blessed I was able to preside at the service in the Church of St John and St Philip in the Hague. During the service, the oil of catechumens, the oil of the sick and the oil of chrism are blessed. We use the first to anoint those who are seeking to become part of the Church through baptism. The second is for anointing those who are sick and the third is used after baptism, in confirmation and in the ordination of priests, to signify the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Church and the faithful at these times. . The Chrism Eucharist is also the time when those in ministry, deac...

Area Deans Ken Dimmick and William Lister receive their official commission On Tuesday 8 April, two new Area Deans were commissioned during the meetings of the Bishop's Senior Staff. The Revd Ken Dimmick became the Area Dean for Germany and the Revd William Lister became the Area Dean for Italy and Malta. The principle task of Area Deans in this diocese is to work with the Archdeacon and Lead Bishop in giving pastoral support to clergy and congregations. In our vast diocese this is one of the ways that we are working to enhance the level of pastoral care and support. Some specific duties include assisting congregations at the time of a vacancy, to work with them in discerning the future shape of their ministry and the sort of priest they require. Area Deans also conduct Ministerial Development Reviews of clergy, along with the Archdeacons and Bishops. I am very grateful to the Area Deans, often serving in busy parishes themselves, who give of themselves and their ministry i...

On Sunday 30 March, in the presence of brothers and sisters from the Diocese in Europe and the Old Catholic Diocese of Austria, I presided at the ordination to the priesthood of the Revd John Barker. The service was in Christ Church Vienna, where Fr John is technically an assistant curate serving under the supervision of Archdeacon Patrick Curran. But his real ministry is in Armenia where he lives and where he has a particular responsibility to develop the Anglican congregation in the capital city, Yerevan. The preacher for the service was the Diocesan Director of Ordinands, the Revd Canon William Gulliford. Fr John is a pioneer in ministerial terms. Several years ago, as a Reader, he worked to establish a congregation in Skopje in the FYR of Macedonia. Now in Yerevan under Fr John's leadership, Anglican life is beginning to flower again, after a hiatus of more than 10 years. Fr John with his wife Ella and daughter Laura The Catholicos of All Armenians, His Holi...

Readers from the Diocese in Europe with Bishop Robert Patterson Jan Waterschoot, a Reader in Eindhoven, Netherlands, was one of five Readers who attended a recent "national" gathering for Readers held from 4 - 6 April. Jan has written the report below: About a hundred and fifty Readers met in the first weekend of April in Milton Keynes for the bi-annual Reader's Conference, including the Annual General Meeting of the Central Readers' Council (CRC). At the Annual Meeting our Diocese was represented by Angela Mirani (Italy) who also is a member of the Executive of the CRC, and Jan Waterschoot (Netherlands). For the rest of the Conference they were joined by Linda Brooke (France), Brenda Juntunen (France) and Linda Cade (Majorca). Calling this meeting a 'national' Readers Conference was about the only time during the weekend that it could have looked as if Readers from outside England were not part of it all. Time and time again it was made clear that Wal...

The Revd Steven Foster The Parish of Holy Spirit Costa Blanca, is probably the largest of our Church of England parishes in Europe, with 7 congregations, and a large electoral roll. The Revd Canon Peter Edwards is the Senior Chaplain. He is assisted by the Revd Marcus Ronchetti and on 2 February I was able to license the third priest for the team, the Revd Steven Foster, as Team Vicar. Fr Steven is accompanied by his wife Ruth. He previously served in the Diocese of York. He is an enthusiastic musician as well as an experienced priest. At Fr Steven's service of licensing, one of the local Franciscan brothers was in attendance. The parish supports the Franciscans who run a home for homeless men. Fr Steven is pictured above with his Franciscan colleague. The Parish Reader, Stephen Carden is between them. The ecumenical relations are very warm indeed in Costa Blanca. Fr Juan Carlos, the RC priest of one of the Churches we borrow recently described Fr Marcus, who takes the...

Archdeacon Peter Potter With the resignation of the Venerable Jonathan LLoyd, as Archdeacon of Germany & Northern Europe, I have asked the Venerable Peter Potter, the Archdeacon of Switzerland, to be the Acting Archdeacon as well for Germany and Northern Europe. I am grateful to Fr Peter for agreeing to these extra duties, taking on a large additional area which covers 9 countries from Iceland to Estonia. He is also the Chaplain of St Ursula's in Bern. This is an interim measure. The next Bishop of Gibraltar in Europe will need to make a more permanent arrangement. Canon Jonathan LLoyd, now the incumbent of The Bridge and LIttlebourne Benefices in the Diocese of Canterbury, has accepted my invitation to be Canon Emeritus of the Cathedral Chapter of the Diocese in Europe, so we can keep our contacts alive. He is greatly missed from our Senior Staff team.

Church of England services in Lisbon can be traced back to 1654 when Oliver Cromwell and the representative of Portuguese King John IV signed a treaty giving English residents in Portugal freedom to profess their religion privately. The first resident Anglican priest was appointed in 1658, the Revd Zachary Craddock. He was young, only 23 years old!  Recently I celebrated the 125th anniversary of the consecration of the second St George's Church building (the first was destroyed by fire in 1886). The present building (photo of the west front above) was consecrated on St Patrick's Day, 17 March 1889.  The present priest, the Revd Nigel Stimpson, is not quite as young in years as his very first predecessor, although he is very young in outlook and vision! And the congregation is now serving not only English residents, but Anglicans and other English speakers from around the world. This was celebrated during the anniversary service with the confirm...