Eurobishop

In 2008, an Anglican Communion report on interfaith relations entitled Generous Love , called upon Anglicans to practise "the embassy and hospitality of God". As an embassy, as ambassadors, we have been entrusted with the ministry of reconciliation. The challenges of hospitality include building relationships of trust and respect. Generous Love has an important and insightful sentence: "none of the places, situations or societies where we meet and greet are the exclusive territory of any one group; they are entrusted by God to be shared by everyone, since all humans are made in God's image".   I reflected on this today. The great  building and world heritage site which is Hagia Sophia in Istanbul was built as a cathedral in 537 and served as the seat of the Patriarch of Constantinople until the Ottoman capture of the city in 1453. It was then turned into a mosque. So it has been in its history a sacred space for both Christians and Muslims. In 1934 the...

Tomorrow, 14 May, is an international, interreligious day of prayer to ask God to lift this pandemic from the world, and to inspire scientists to find a cure for the disease. The inspiration for this comes from the "Higher Committee for Human Fraternity" which was set up when Pope Francis visited Abu Dhabi last year. The initiative transcends religious boundaries and invites all religious people to appeal to God, in accordance with their own faith and teachings.  Pope Francis has released a video which I post here to motivate us all. In it he calls on all believers, adherents of all religions to pray, fast and perform works of charity tomorrow. Dr Clare Amos, our Director of Lay Discipleship, was previously the Interfaith Director at the World  Council of Churches. She has composed this prayer which I commend for use: God of life, Creator of all,  Your reach stretches beyond the farthest stars that we can see,  Yet you are nearer to us than our o...

Dr Clare Amos is our Diocesan Director of Lay Discipleship. She is also a theologian, an experienced partner in the area of interfaith dialogue, and someone who knows the Holy Land and its Holy City Jerusalem intimately.  Readers of Eurobishop will find a recent blog article written by Dr Amos for the Anglican Communion News Service to be a moving account of some of the depth of feeling in Jerusalem at present, particularly now that the  search for peace with justice for all its inhabitants has been made potentially more difficult and complex by the recent decision of President Donald Trump to move the US embassy to Israel there from Tel Aviv.  Read Clare’s article here I would also highly recommend a short book written by Clare on Jerusalem, published by the World Council of Churches and widely available, including through Amazon. It is entitled Peace-ing Together Jerusalem . Clare’s biblical scholarship and her own experience of life in Jeruslam makes this compelling re...

The Compound of St John's Foundation stones of the St John the Evangelist Development Project were laid last Wednesday 17 May in Casablanca. It was a joyful international gathering convened by the Revd Canon Dr Medhat Sabry, the Chaplain of St John's. The Church has been serving the English-speaking expatriate Christian community in the city since 1906. The time has come to expand the facilities in the Church compound, including a renovation of the Church itself, and the construction of rooms for community and educational use. As St John's is part of the historic architectural patrimony of the city, some complicated permissions and approvals had to be obtained from several government departments. HE the Wali signs the guest book His Excellency, Khalid Safir, the Wali of Casablanca and Settat, has been very supportive of the project and we were honoured by his presence at the ceremony on the 17th. (The Wali is the representative of the King, in an administra...

Members of the Sunday School in El Campello There is still some myth-busting to be done about the Diocese in Europe. For instance, I often find that people assume that congregations in the Archdeaconry of Gibraltar, and particularly in Spain, are rather sleepy places. It may be that this assumption comes from the fact that many of the members of our parishes in Spain are either retired or senior in years. First of all, it is not the case that our congregations consist only of retirees. And secondly, there is a great deal of activity and life in these congregations, even where there is a large sector who are retired. Our congregations in Spain are outgoing in their mission, building links with other English-speaking institutions and bodies in the pastoral area, such as the British Legion, social clubs, and schools, to make sure that the Anglican Church is known. The local Anglican priest is generally seen by the many English speakers as "their Vicar", even though, like in Eng...

I have just returned from Marrakesh where I witnessed a momentous gathering. The inspired vision of His Majesty, King Muhammad VI of Morocco, has borne fruit. Under his high patronage, the scholars, muftis, academics and government ministers from Muslim countries around the world have agreed a significant statement, entitled The Marrakesh Declaration . The Ministry of Endowments and Islamic Affairs of the Kingdom of Morocco and the Forum for Promoting Peace in Muslim Societies based in the UAE, jointly organised the conference, which after 3 days of intense work and exchange of ideas, histories, theological, legal and textual information, has resulted in this remarkable and historic agreement. In recent years the world has seen brutal atrocities inflicted upon religious minorities in predominantly Muslim countries. Many members of minority groups have been victims of murder, enslavement, forced exile, intimidation, starvation, and other affronts to their basic human dignity. The...

  Over 300 Muslim scholars and government representatives from Muslim states are gathering in Marrakesh for a conference on religious minorities in Muslim lands. Some representatives of other faith groups have also been invited, including our Priest-in-Charge of St John's Casablanca, the Revd Canon Dr Medhat Sabry, and myself. The meeting is at the invitation of and is hosted by the Kingdom of Morocco. The matter under discussion is an important one, and commentators have noted that this might be the first time in 1400 years that such an international group has gathered to address it: the thesis that protection of religious minorities is itself deeply rooted in and required by traditional Islamic law. For Christians living in countries such as Pakistan, Syria and Iran this is a vital issue. It is also of importance to other communities such as Yazidis in Iraq or Jews in Yemen. The meeting gets underway tomorrow, 25 January and runs through until Wednesday 27th. The opening keynote...

The Church of England along with the French Protestant Church, the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church (Greek and Russian) are the 4 Christian Churches which are permitted by His Majesty King Mohammed VI of Morocco to function in the Kingdom, ministering to our own expatriate members. Indeed, our Anglican Church is treated with great respect in Morocco, shown by the most cordial welcome I have been given by HE Ahmed Toufiq, the Minister of Endowments and Islamic Affairs. His Excellency provides us with support and advice when we need it, to enable our ministry to expatriate Anglicans to flourish. During a recent courtesy visit to his office in the grounds of the Royal Palace on 12 October, His Excellency gave me a gift of a copy of the Quran which has a special significance. Hundreds of thousands of women are being taught to read and write through special classes run by mosques throughout the country. This year alone, a quarter of a million women are enrolled in t...

I feel honoured each year during the month of Ramadan to receive an invitation to an Iftar reception hosted by the the Royal Moroccan Embassy in London. ( Iftar is the evening meal when Muslims break their fast, at sunset). The reception   is attended mostly by diplomats and people with business interests in Morocco. But this officially Muslim nation always invites leaders of other faiths represented in the country. My invitation is a way of acknowledging the place of the Anglican Church in the Kingdom, one of the four Churches (the others being the Roman Catholic, the Orthodox and the French Protestant) which are officially recognised by the King. There is also an historic Jewish community in Morocco. This year's Iftar reception was a chance for a mini interfaith encounter when my good friend Archbishop Gregorios and I were able to greet Rabbi Dr Abraham Levy OBE, the Emeritus Spiritual Head of the Spanish and Portuguese (Sephardi) congregation in London. Rabbi Levy is a...

It's a little known act of bravery - how two British priests serving in Christ Church, Vienna, rescued Jews from the Nazis by baptising them.  Between March and September 1938, after the annexation of Austria by the Third Reich, the Revd Hugh Grimes and the Revd Frederick Collard baptised some 1,800 Viennese Jews in the hope that the resulting baptismal certificate would help provide them with safe passage out of the country. At that time, Austria's neighbours, although wary of allowing Jewish refugees to enter, were more prepared to admit those who could demonstrate that they belonged to the Christian religion. The baptismal register of this Church of England parish in Vienna contains this remarkable story. On some days over 100 baptisms were held. On Saturday 18 May, at a service of Evensong in Christ Church, a memorial plaque was unveiled to commemorate the act of courage and compassion shown by these two priests. Testimonies were given by Dr Harold Chipman...

Inter-religious dialogue has an important place in the work of any bishop. On behalf of the Archbishop of Canterbury, I carry some responsibility for relations with Muslim leaders who are engaged in Muslim initiatives, such as the dialogue resulting from A Common Word Between Us and You , a letter signed by 138 Muslim scholars in 2007 and sent to Christian leaders throughout the world. Additionally, this vast diocese which I serve includes two countries where the majority of the population are Muslim: Morocco and Turkey. Consequently I sent a letter of friendship and greeting to dialogue partners and Muslim contacts, on this the feast of Eid al-Fitr which marks the end of the month of fasting, Ramadan. The text of the letter is below. I send you warm wishes on the great feast of Eid al-Fitr which concludes the holy month of Ramadan. As the Muslim community throughout the world has been observing this sacred time of prayer, fasting and almsgiving, your Christian friends have been ...

For many years, the Conference of European Churches (CEC) and the Council of European Bishops' Conferences (CCEE) have held an annual joint meeting.  This year from 7-11 March 2010 the meeting was held in Istanbul, at the invitation of the Ecumenical Patriarch His All Holiness Bartholomew I. I went as part of the CEC delegation, as a proxy for Bishop Christopher Hill, one of the Vice-Presidents of CEC, who was unable to attend. The meeting focused on the issue of migration, as this is the European Churches' Year of Migration. This is of particular interest to our diocese, as we are largely a community of migrants ourselves  4 key presentations were given by the panelists above, from left to right: Doris Peschke, General Secretary of the Churches’ Commission for Migrants in Europe (CCME); Theodora Tzakri, Greek Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs; Alp Ay, Director for Public Affairs of the Turkish Government; and Johan Ketelers, General Secretary of the ICMC (I...

St Paul's Monaco helped to host a group of 5 Tibetan Buddhist monks who were visiting the Principality over the weekend  of 27-29 November. The monks joined the congregation of St Paul's at the 10:30 Service on Sunday 29th. I found it particularly encouraging to learn of this interfaith outreach by St Paul's. At last September's Pastoral Conference for the clergy the theme of hospitality as mission was central. We learned that a gesture of hospitality to people of other faiths is not about concealing our convictions or watering them down. It is a way of expressing them in a practical way, demonstrating the welcoming generosity which is at the very heart of God.

On 29 October, the Archbishop of Canterbury hosted a meeting of faith communities to raise awareness of the effects of catastrophic climate change on the world's poor, as part of the preparations for the upcoming Copenhagen Climate Change Summit. Participants came from Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Bahá'í, Jain and Zoroastrian faiths. I share the statement below for the prayerful attention of the people of the Diocese in Europe. As leaders and representatives of faith communities and faith-based organisations in the UK we wish to highlight the very real threat to the world's poor, and to our fragile creation, from the threat of catastrophic climate change. The developed world is primarily responsible for the already visible effects of global heating. Justice requires that we now take responsibility for slowing the rise in global temperature. We call upon UK negotiators at Copenhagen, and the other nations of the G20 in particular, to fight for a dea...

It is very difficult to do put into words my feelings on being confronted today with the horror of Auschwitz-Birkenau. Passing under the gates with the cynical words “Arbeit Macht Frei” was chilling as I entered the site of the most horrific crimes ever committed by human beings. The enormous factory of evil, torture and death is just too hard to describe. But it is very real; the holocaust happened, and it is forever on the conscience of mankind. Thousands of people walked in silence along the railway track to join the representatives of the major religions for the ceremony of remembrance. We walked to proclaim to the world that never again can we sink into such an abyss of hatred and depravity. Representatives of Christian Churches, the Jewish community and of other faiths, Buddhists, Hindus and Muslims, laid 21 wreaths before commemorative plaques, in what is the largest cemetery in history. It is estimated that close to 4 million people, mostly Jews, died in this immense comple...

I was among about several thousand people gathered this morning in the Shrine of the Divine Mercy south of Krakow, Poland, for a eucharist presided by Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz of that city, to open the International Meeting for Peace, sponsored by the Community of Sant'Egidio. (I have the privilege of representating the Archbishop of Canterbury at the gathering). At 12 noon Pope Benedict XVI joined us by live video connection! He gave this greeting to the various Christian Churches and representatives of world religions present for the meeting: "I now wish to convey my heartfelt greetings to the participants of the International Congress "People and Religions" in Krakow, which is held on the topic "Faiths and Cultures in Dialogue". A number of personalities and representatives of different religions - invited by the Archdiocese of Krakow and by the Community of Sant'Egidio - are assembled to pray for peace, 70 years after the outbreak of World War ...

On Saturday I leave for Krakow, Poland to take part in an international meeting of prayer for peace, sponsored by the Sant'Egidio Community , a lay movement within the Roman Catholic Church, and the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Krakow, Cardinal Stanislao Dziwisz, (who was the former Secretary of Pope John Paul II). The meeting runs from 6 to 8 September. This is a further gathering in “the spirit of Assisi”, continuing the movement begun in 1986 when Pope John Paul II convened a historical meeting of leaders from around the world and from the major world religions in the city of St Francis, to pray for and to promote mutual understanding, dialogue, and cooperation towards peace. This year's meeting is at a crossroads of European history, shortly after the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of World War II, when Nazi Germany invaded Poland on 1 September 1939. We will be participating in an interfaith pilgrimage to the Auschwitz-Birkenau...