Anglican Parish in Costa Brava receives encouragement from Bishop of Girona

Bishop David, Bishop Francesc, the Revd Anne Jenkins, Mr John Copestake

The Diocese of Girona in which our new Anglican Parish of Costa Brava is situated takes its ecumenical vocation most seriously. The Bishop of Girona, Mons. Francesc Pardo i Artigas, has an active ecumenical officer, Father Joan Busquets, who states clearly that the divisions among Christians must be overcome as they are 1) contrary to the will of the Lord, 2) a scandal to the world, and 3) cause of difficulty in our work of evangelization in these secular times.

In this ecumenical spirit, on 27 October Bishop Francesc hosted a fruitful meeting with our new priest-in-charge of Costa Brava, the Revd Anne Jenkins, the parish Reader Mr John Copestake, Fr Joan and myself,  at his Episcopal Residence. John has built very fruitful ecumenical inks in Costa Brava and the Bishop was keen to meet our priest Anne who is the first resident Anglican priest in the area.

It was a very warm and engaging meeting. Bishop Francesc drew our attention to the fact that Catalunya is the most secular region of Spain, and Girona is the most secular area in Catalunya. “We need to support each other in our work and witness,” he said.

At present we have one congregation within the Anglican parish which uses the ancient Church of St Stephen in the village of Madremanya. The visit with Bishop Francesc gave me a chance to thank him for the continued use of the Church. He turned to Anne and said we can count on the hospitality of the Roman Catholic diocese as our work grows and extends in Costa Brava. 

St Stephen's Church in Madremanya

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Farewell to the Diocese in Europe

Image
Deacon Frances and I packed up our office yesterday and turned over our official files, emails and equipment. Thus a close working together for 22 years comes to an end. So it is hard to believe that today, St David's day, a new chapter begins, after 44 years of stipendiary ministry, 22 years as deacon then priest and 22 as a bishop.  Here are just a few memories from the last couple of months...   But now it is time to begin a new chapter.  O God, by whose command the order of time runs its course: forgive our impatience, perfect our faith and, while we await the fulfilment of your promise, grant us to have a good hope because of your Word,  even Jesus Christ our Lord. (St Gregory Nazianzus, 330 - 390)
Read more

Archbishop of Canterbury's Pentecost Letter: A European Consequence

Image
In his Pentecost letter, the Archbishop of Canterbury warned of certain consequences for provinces of the Anglican Communion which have failed to stand by the three moratoria . (No authorisation of blessings services for same-sex unions; no consecrations of bishops living in same-sex relationships; and no bishop authorising any ministry within the diocese of another bishop without explicit permission). One consequence would be that representatives from such provinces w ould not be able to participate in the formal international interchurch dialogues of the Communion. One of those dialogues is the Anglican-Old Catholic International Co-ordinating Council ( AOCICC ), the official instrument set up to deepen the relationship of communion established in 1931 between the Anglican Communion and the Old Catholic Churches of the Union of Utrecht . As the member Churches of the Union of Utrecht are all European, the AOCICC is effectively a European body. (I am one of the members, appo...
Read more

Bishop Austin Rios of California

Image
It was a joyful, colourful, multicultural three-hour liturgy. At Grace Cathedral, San Francisco, the Revd Austin Rios was consecrated the bishop coadjutor of the Diocese of California. I have known Austin from his time as the Rector of St Paul's Episcopal Church in Rome, where he was a great friend and collaborator with our own Church of England All Saints Chaplaincy in that city. The liturgy, appropriately, marked the multiculural make-up of the diocese, with prayers, readings, hymns and songs in English, Spanish, Tagalog, Tonga and Mandarin. The final procession was led by a Chinese dragon! I was told that there were about 300 in the procession and 2000 present in the beautiful gothic cathedral on Nob Hill San Francisco. My good friend and ecuenical colleague from Rome Fr Keith Peckers SJ was also in attenance, so the Church of Rome and the Church of England were both represented! Among the bishop friends present were Bishop Mark Edington of the Episcopal Convocation in Europe, a...
Read more