Photo from Svenska Dagbladet |
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Photo courtesy of the Church of Sweden |
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The Archbishop of Uppsala with the two new bishops and Their Majesties, the King and Queen |
Photo from Svenska Dagbladet |
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Photo courtesy of the Church of Sweden |
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The Archbishop of Uppsala with the two new bishops and Their Majesties, the King and Queen |
It was not what I was planning for the week after the New Year break, but nevertheless it was a privilege to be one of the representatives of the Anglican Communion at the funeral of Pope Benedict XVI. Bishop Christopher Hill, a distinguished ecumenist and one of my predecessors as Co-Secretary of ARCIC, and Archbishop Ian Ernest the Director of the Anglican Centre in Rome and I made up the trio of delegates.
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Bishop Hill, Fr Martin Browne OSB (the Vatican's man for Anglican relations) and Archbishop Ernest |
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Preparing for the Requiem |
There is no denying the range of views about Pope Benedict. He was loved by some for his strong teaching, particularly in his encyclical letters, and his emphasis on the beauty of the liturgy which he taught should be at the heart of the Church's life. Others were less pleased with the inadequate way he dealt with clerical abuse and with his conservative theological positions. But at his simple, dignified funeral such differences were put aside; we were all aware that we had gathered to commend a human being, like us prone to failings and error, to God our loving and merciful Father.
I was able to speak to Pope Francis for a moment to convey the condolences of the people of the Church of England Diocese in Europe.
A Ukrainian Icon of the Nativity |
The greatest and most loving gift we celebrate at this time of the year is the very birth of Our Lord. The great Jesuit theologian Karl Rahner summed it up: “When we say, ‘It is Christmas,’ we mean that God has spoken into the world his last, his deepest, his most beautiful word in the incarnate Word, a word that can no longer be revoked because it is God’s definitive deed, because it is God himself in the world. And this word means: I love you, you, the world and humankind”
A Ukrainian Christmas hymn also affirms this truth:
God eternal is born tonight.
He came down from above
To save us with his love
And he rejoiced.
The mass for the Third Sunday of Advent at St Nicholas, Helsinki, was an
all age eucharist, incorporating a nativity play for the Liturgy of the Word,
and after the communion of the people, Christingles!
Most Anglicans know about Christingles, a custom which originated in Germany in the 1700s. At St Nicholas’s the symbolism
of the Christingle itself, the orange representing the world, and the red ribbon
the love of Christ which embraces the world and her peoples, came alive as the children of the
chaplaincy had links to every continent on the planet. Together and with great joy, (suitable for Gaudete Sunday!) they
bore witness to Christ, the Light of the World.
TV cameras making last minute adjustments at the rehearsal for the service |
The next day, the Chaplain, Fr Tuomas Mäkipää, was equally busy, as the Chaplaincy's annual Service of Nine Lessons and Carols held in the (Lutheran) Cathedral was this year to be recorded for broadcast on Finnish State Television this coming Sunday.
Helsinki Cathedral |
Ambassador Bubbear |
While the order of service was the traditional one, some parts were in Finnish, including the 8th lesson read in excellent Finnish by HE Mrs Theresa Bubbear, the UK Ambassador to Finland.
Fr Tuomas and Dr Hamid |
On Sunday 30 October, the Archbishop of Uppsala, the Most Revd Dr Antje Jackelén retired. Archbishop Jackelén is a long-standing friend of the Church of England and as the Archbishop of the Church of Sweden has played a significant role as one of the primates of the Churches which are in communion as a result of the Porvoo Agreement.
“To live together. In the home, among neighbours, in villages and cities, in a society that is shaped by everyone's participation, in the interdependence between all the countries of the world, in community with all other living beings on a planet where the climate is changing, and to live together with and before existence's deepest secret, that we, along with most people on earth, call God”.
Summing up the many
tributes, the General Secretary of the Lutheran World Federation, the Revd Anne
Burghardt, spoke of the Archbishop’s role in leading the Church’s humanitarian
and development work, and strengthening the work of advocacy,
theological education and gender justice.
Professor Methuen and a Representative of the Sámi Community |
Particularly
notable at the service was the presence and participation of representatives of
the Sámi People. One of the lessons was read in the South Sámi language. Last
year, Archbishop Jackelén led her Church in issuing an official apology to the Sámi
for centuries of mistreatment towards them, and for the pain and shame inflicted
on generations of these indigenous peoples through racism and abuse of power.
The presence and participation of the Sámi was a sign of the commitment to the
path of reconciliation.
Every time I pay a pastoral visit to St Anthony Abbot Church in Padova, I come away inspired and deeply moved by the infectious and joyful faith of the community. My most recent visit in October was no exception. The priest, Fr Amos Osaromkpe, leads his people forward, following the COVID difficulties, to rebuild the life of the chaplaincy.
Lay commitment and discipleship in the parish goes from strength to strength, evidenced by many new members of the Mothers’ Union whom I admitted during the (3 1/2 hour!) Sunday liturgy. I was assisted in this very happy task of admission by Mrs Tonie Chandler, the Diocesan President of the MU.
Many young people were confirmed and committed themselves to be active followers of Our Lord. During the eucharist, as they gathered around the waters of baptism, they solemnly reminded themselves of that most important moment in their lives, when they became joined to Christ Our Saviour.
It was a blessing to be able to celebrate all this, and much more during my visit, and to receive the warm hospitality and generosity of the faithful. The parishioners are determined to ensure that I am the best dressed bishop in the Church of God, and presented me with a very fine pair of new shoes!
St George’s Taormina, which has to be located in one of the most dramatically beautiful settings in the diocese, celebrated the centenary of their building on 14 October. The festive eucharist on the occasion was according to the Book of Common Prayer, the rite that would have been used 100 years ago.
Taormina has been a favoured destination for British visitors since the 19th century when writers, actors, poets and film stars on the Grand Tour descended on this town, perched under Mount Etna, overlooking the Mediterranean. Visitors continue today in great numbers and swell the congregation of regulars. St George’s is thus a meeting place for so many from around the world.
Civic and ecumenical guests, as well as parishioners, visitors, clergy who have served St George’s, and neighbouring Anglicans from Palermo and Randazzo helped to fill the Church on the joyful occasion. I was assisted at the mass by the Archdeacon of Italy and Malta, David Waller. The locum priest, Fr Shawn Denney, and his wife Mary Ann, who live in Springfield, Illinois, worked with the lay leadership of St George’s over many months, to plan the celebrations. It was a fitting and historic event!
Later that same weekend, the Sacrament of Confirmation was celebrated in St George’s with candidates from Taormina and from St Alberto congregation in Randazzo.
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James Bartle, Fr Tony, John Wilson and Daniel Tsoi |
At the weekly eucharist at the Anglican Centre in Rome this week, on the Feast of St Luke the Evangelist, I had the privilege of presiding and preaching. It was a joy to see in the congregation one of our own Diocese in Europe ordinands, John Wilson, who is on placement at the Pontifical Beda College in Rome. He was joined by two other colleagues from the Church of England also on placement, James Bartle (Diocese of Newcastle) and Daniel Tsoi (Diocese of Southwell and Nottingham).
Their formation as future priests will be enhanced by this experience of living and studying alongside Roman Catholic seminarians, in the heart of Rome itself. I always advocate for maximum ecumenical input into the preparation of our future priests.
In the picture above the three are in the company of Fr Tony Currer, who was until last week, the Vatican Official responsible for relations with the Anglican Communion and a good personal friend and friend of this diocese. Fr Tony, after nine years in Rome, now returns to take up a parish in Darlington, England.
20 years ago today, the feast of St Ignatius of Antioch, Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey, assisted by Anglican bishops from England, Portugal, Spain, Latin America, Scotland and Canada, and Old Catholic bishops from the Netherlands and Germany, consecrated me a bishop.
It was deeply moving also to be supported on that day by the presence of so many ecumenical guests from the Roman Catholic, Orthodox, and Oriental Orthodox Churches.
Today I recollect, with a combination of humility and joy, the privilege of serving this part of God’s Church. The pastoral, multicultural and ecumenical dynamics continue to make this diocese an exciting context for episcopal ministry. I am deeply grateful for the prayers and generosity of so many, and for the wise counsel and warm collaboration of colleagues. And for the patience and love of my family that carries me through the challenges.
“We have not only to be called Christians, but to be Christians." -St. Ignatius of Antioch
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The Revd Canon Christopher Jage-Bowler |
A bit of a different experience for me last weekend.
People across the United Kingdom, the Commonwealth and our Diocese are is in the midst of the official mourning period following the sad death of Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. However, in parish churches everywhere much of normal church life also continues, including in a Spanish speaking parish in the Diocese of Southwark, San Mateo where I was invited by the Bishop of Southwark to preside at baptism and confirmations last weekend. The candidates had waited close to two years as the visit was necessarily postponed due to the COVID pandemic. They came from Ecuador, Colombia, Argentina and Uruguay.
It was a joyful celebration, and particularly good to be
alongside the parish priest, Fr Hugo Adán, a citizen of Spain, whose candidacy
for priesthood in the Church of England was handled through our Diocese in
Europe.
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Bishop Michael Ipgrave |
The Bishop of Lichfield, Dr Michael Ipgrave opened the Anglican Lutheran Society Conference in Trondheim Norway today, and introduced the opening speaker, Presiding Bishop of the Church of Norway, the Most Revd Olav Fyske Tveit. Bishop Olav both inspired us and challenged us in recounting his years of experience in the ecumenical movement, including being the General Secretary of the World Council of Churches of 10 years.
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Presiding Bishop Olav Fyske Tveit of the Church of Norway, |
The theme of the Conference is “A Pilgrimage Towards Hope” and we are blessed to have such a gathering of Christian leaders, pastors and laity, who are committed to our common pilgrimage as Anglicans and Lutherans world-wide, to manifest the unity which is Christ’s will for the Church.
The first day of the conference coincided with the feast of St James the Apostle, the patron of pilgrims. It is a tradition in the Nidaros (Trondheim) Cathedral to honour St James, one of the saints whose statues adorn the great west front of the Cathedral, with a wreath at the start of the pilgrim’s mass, at which our conference delegates received a warm welcome. A priest was raised up on a boom lift to bring the wreath to St Olav. Now that is a new definition of "high church".
Trondheim is itself at the climax of an ancient pilgrimage route, being the final resting place of St Olav. But the pilgrim mass was not merely a commemoration of the past, but reminded today’s pilgrims (and all Christians are pilgrims through this life, surely) of our need to tread lightly on our beloved planet, with the breathtaking model of our precious planet, just behind the nave altar with the image of our crucified Lord.
Our own Diocese in Europe has a presence in Trondheim with a vibrant community, part of the Anglican Church in Norway. Present at the mass were several members of our Anglican community, together with their Senior Chaplain, the Revd Canon Joanna Udal, who is attending the conference.