Eurobishop

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. A joyful, loving and peaceful Christmas to all!

  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 Sun...

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. In her closing sermon during the High Mass at which she laid down her crozier the Archbishop preached on “life together” as a description of what God wants for the people of the world:  “ 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”. Many testimonies and speeches were given recognising Archbishop Jackel...

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, an...

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 Shaw...

  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 frien...

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

From Reykjavik to Riga, from Trondheim to Freiburg, clergy and lay synod delegates gathered from the Nordic and Baltic Deanery and the Deanery of Germany for a joint meeting of the Archdeaconry in Stuttgart, the first of its kind in about 24 years. The meeting was held from 6 to 9 October.  The clergy gathered first for a chapter meeting and were able to share their experiences of the challenges from the COVID lockdowns and the current difficulties facing chaplaincies due to rising energy prices. There was much discussion about the effects of the war in Ukraine. Across the Archdeaconry not only has there been an influx of Ukrainian refugees, in many places being welcomed into our congregations, but also in places like Finland there are now complications arising from the influx of Russians fleeing conscription. Furthermore in Latvia, which has a sizable Russian speaking minority, the dynamics in the country are very complex indeed. The general mood in the countries bordering Russia ...

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. ¡Felicitaciones y bendiciones a los maravillosos candidatos!

  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.  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...

  Lambeth 1998 Bishops In the last few days the bishops going to the Lambeth Conference received the first information about decisions that may be before us. “Calls” is the term used, for declarations and affirmations that the bishops will be asked to consider and vote on. The Calls are largely non-controversial and many of them are, in my view, very good statements related to our work in areas of evangelism, reconciliation, Christian unity, environment, sustainable development and safeguarding among others. One particular reference in a section entitled Human Dignity has attracted some attention. The bishops will be asked to affirm: It is the mind of the Anglican Communion as a whole that same gender marriage is not permissible. Lambeth Conference I.10 (1998) states that the “legitimizing or blessing of same sex unions” cannot be advised. I am likely one of only a few bishops going to this year’s Lambeth Conference that was present in 1998. I was not a bishop then, but on the ...

The MES (Ministry Experience Scheme) is a programme largely funded by the National Church which places young persons, 18-30, who may be exploring ordination into parochial settings to get a sense of life in parish ministry. The MES programme of this diocese is one of the most successful across the Church of England. It is headed by Dr Clare Amos, our Director of Discipleship, with support from Fr William Gulliford our Director of Ordinands. Dr Amos at the Dome of the Rock One part of our diocesan MES programme which has not been able to be realised for the past two and a half years due to COVID has been a study-pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Finally this year we were able to restore this trip and so 10 interns spent from 7 to 15 July, visiting the Biblical lands, accompanied by Dr Amos, Fr Gulliford, the Revd Carolyn Cooke from the chaplaincy of La Côte, and myself. We were further very pleased that an intern from a similar programme of the Episcopal Church (TEC) in Europe, who is servin...