Eurobishop

Examples of items and children’s packs being collected by the Anglican Chaplaincy in Athens for a refugee/migrant camp close to Athens Since the closure of the Greek northern border with Macedonia a different response to the refugee/migrant crisis in Greece has had to be made. No longer are the needs of transient refugees/migrants the priority. Instead it is the 54.000 refugees/migrants now stranded in hurriedly erected ‘closed camps’.As a consequence the Anglican chaplaincy in Athens, in partnership with Us (formerly known as USPG), is reviewing the programmes it, until of late, has been engaged in and is making appropriate re-adjustments. Recently the chaplaincy has started a programme whereby, once a month, a collection of a limited number of easily obtainable things is made among the English-speaking community connected to the Church. These will help to make day to day life in a camp a little more tolerable. This month it is toothpaste, tooth brushes and soap. Next month it w...

On Sunday 24 April I was privileged to be invited by His Grace Bishop Hovakim Manukyan, the Primate of the Armenian Church in the UK and Ireland, to the Divine Liturgy at St Yeghiche Church, London. The occasion was the annual commemoration of the Armenian genocide. During the liturgy a replica of the icon of the Holy Martyrs of the Armenian Genocide was consecrated, the original having been dedicated last year in the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, when, on the centenary of the genocide, the martyrs were canonised by the Armenian Church. I was particularly moved when His Grace Bishop Hovakim asked me to join him in blessing the icon with Holy Myron (chrism). In his sermon Bishop Hovakim called his people to be united with their homeland, "where Artsakh once again struggles for its independence and its basic human rights". Artsakh is the traditional Armenian name for the region of Nagorno-Karabakh where in recent weeks conflict has erupted. His Grace reminded Armenia...

Nossa Senhora da Luz St Vincent's in the Algarve is an active and growing parish in the diocese consisting of three congregations in the southern end of Portugal. The Revd Mark Wilson was licensed as Chaplain last 16th February and recruitment is now under way for a colleague to join him on the team which normally consists of two priests and three Readers. On a recent parish visit I was able to discuss with the Church Council some of their priorities for the future, including deepening their giving and service in the community, continuing their excellent ecumenical relations with the Roman Catholic diocese, and building links with English language schools in the area. In the beautiful parish church of Nossa Senhora da Luz in Praia da Luz, the weekend visit was rounded off with a celebration of confirmation. The Revd David Kirby is serving as a locum priest on the team at present, and by happy coincidence had the pleasure of presenting to me one young man whom he had b...

Bishop Angaelos (rt) speaks to another ecumenical participant at ACC, Metropolitan Seraphim of the Patriarchate of Alexandria Canon Ulla Monberg, our delegate to ACC-16 which is currently meeting in Lusaka, Zambia, has let me know that Bishop Angaelos of the Coptic Church in the UK, who is an ecumenical participant at ACC, spoke warmly of our diocese's "trememdous work" with refugees to the ACC members from around the world. This work was also mentioned by staff members of the ACC in their reports and by the Anglican Alliance. Fr Tony Currer and Canon Monberg Canon Monberg has also spoken to another important partner of this diocese, the representative of the Vatican, the Revd Tony Currer, with whom I work on the International Anglican-Roman Catholic Commission for Unity and Mission. The opening service of ACC-16 took place with a congregation of 5000! Canon Monberg says "I have never experienced anything like it....the service lasted 4 hours with lots of...

Men's Breakfast From Friday 8 April until Sunday 10th, I was at Christ Church Vienna for a parish visit. This is a very active congregation, and a very international one. Among the many parish activities is a "Men's Breakfast". Some wonder about whether there should be single gender groups in the modern Church, and that is a good question. However this meeting every couple of months is not intended to be a type of secret den where men can plot together to keep hold of power! Far from it, it simply recognises that very often in the life of the Church, for a variety of reasons, many men seem to be less inclined to engage in the usual (mixed) study and fellowship groups. The Christ Church Men's Breakfast provides space for this encounter. It is a follow up from one of the aims of the parish mission statement: "To engage with one another through the shared experience of worship, education and social events". On Saturday I was pleased to be invited to the gro...

Canon Ulla Monberg in Holy Cross Cathedral in Lusaka where the ACC meeting is being held The Anglican Consultative Council (ACC) is meeting in Lusaka, Zambia. The ACC is one of the 4 instruments of the Anglican Communion (the others being the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Lambeth Conference and the Primates' Meeting) but the only instrument where laity and clergy have a full part to play. It gathers every 3 years. We are privileged that our own Diocese in Europe, although part of the Church of England which has its own delegates to the ACC, has a special co-opted member, the Revd Canon Ulla Monberg, our Diocesan Director of Ministerial Development. It is only right that we have a representative since 42 of the 164 countries of the Anglican Communion are in our diocese! Members of the ACC will be discussing some of the most pressing issues facing the Church's mission in the world, including the challenges presented by migration and refugees, climate change, violence in all its f...

St Mark's Versailles Many people are surprised to learn that the Church of England Diocese in Europe has 7 congregations in Greater Paris. There are two in the centre of the French capital, St George's and St Michael's. 5 others are located in towns on the periphery, St Peter's Chantilly, St Luke's Fontainebleau, Holy Trinity Maisons-Laffitte and St Mark's Versailles with St Paul's, Gif sur Yvette. It is to this last 2-point parish, Versailles with Gif sur Yvette, that a new Chaplain was licensed on Saturday 2 April: the Revd Ajit John. Ajit has moved into this diocese from the Diocese of Toronto, in the Anglican Church of Canada. The Archdeacon of France, the Venerable Ian Naylor, presided at the licensing service in St Mark's. This service at the start of a new ministry is a moving moment when the new priest receives, generally through the Archdeacon, his or her authorisation from the Bishop and accepts the solemn responsibilities to conduct di...

Fr Simon in Moscow, 2013 Canon Dr Simon Stephens OBE is a well known and much loved priest of our diocese. He first served as priest-in-charge of Sta Margarita, Menorca, then for many years as Chaplain of St Andrew's Moscow. He retired from that post in 2014. Fr Simon was honoured last Thursday in a ceremony at Lambeth Palace when he was given a Lambeth Cross for service to the Church's ecumenical life. I know from my own visits to Moscow how significant his ecumenical work there has been, particularly with the Russian Orthodox Church. Here is the full citation for Fr Simon's award:  Awarded to Canon Simon Edward Stephens for his significant contribution to ecumenism, especially with the Eastern Orthodox Churches. In June 2014 Canon Simon Stephens retired as Chaplain to St. Andrew’s Church and Anglican Centre, Moscow after fourteen years of outstanding service. He extended the work of the chaplaincy both geographically and pastorally, with visits to Mongolia for ...

Ian Carter, Diocesan Safeguarding Manager An anonymous comment was received by this blog (but not published) which may have been related to matters of safeguarding. It was passed immediately to the Diocesan Safeguarding Team for follow up. Our diocesan safeguarding norms specify that if an individual has a safeguarding concern then this is the course of action: The matter must be reported to Diocesan Safeguarding Team as soon as possible, no matter how trivial the matter may seem. The person to contact is Mr Ian Carter, the Diocesan Safeguarding Manager. His email is: ian.carter@churchofengland.org . Eurobishop blog is not the vehicle to relay such information.