Eurobishop

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...

The Caracol is blown to call the people to prayer In the Church of England, the Archbishop (of York or Canterbury) when consecrating a new bishop lays out the duties of a bishop including "joining together in the ordination of bishops". P articipating in the ordination of new bishops takes place, for me, most frequently in the Church of England. However, I was asked recently to be a co-consecrator for a new bishop in Mexico, and to preach at the consecration mass. It was a great privilege to do so, as the new bishop was an old friend, Fr Julio  César  Martin Trejo, now the Coadjutor Bishop of South East Mexico. I have known Fr (now Bishop) Julio for 30 years. He was still in seminary when we first met. The consecration was in the Anglican Centre in Tuxtepec, in Oaxaca state. (The diocesan centre is in Xalapa, while the largest city in the diocese is Veracruz). Bishops from Mexico, the USA and Spain were present for the service on St Matthew's day, as well as c...

Bishop Pierre hands the crozier to Bishop Mark (Photo courtesy of TEC Europe) On Saturday 6 April, a new Bishop in Charge of the Convocation of (US) Episcopal Churches in Europe, Mark Edington, was consecrated in the American Cathedral in Paris. Presiding Bishop Michael Curry presided, with another 35 bishops assisting. The preacher for the service was the Very Revd Dr Andrew McGowan, a well known theologian and liturgical scholar. In a stirring address, Fr McGowan declared that “Christendom is over, and this is not bad news. It’s good news. That’s over but the Jesus Movement isn’t over.” He turned to the bishop elect and said, “Welcome and go away, as God calls us to look out and not within". The ordination litany was sung in English, Spanish, Italian, French and German. The ordinary of the mass was a setting by Canadian composer Healey Willan! Unlike consecrations in the Church of England, the new bishop in the Episcopal Church receives a very impressive document cert...

Our dear Bishop Geoffrey Rowell, third Bishop of Gibraltar in Europe, died peacefully this morning. He had been struggling bravely with cancer, a struggle he kept very quiet as he did not want people to be alarmed or to make a fuss. We mourn the passing of a great and wise teacher of the Catholic faith, an extraordinary ecumenist, a warm pastor, one of the world's best networkers, and a beloved friend. May he rest in peace.   Posted with Blogsy

Archbishop Francisco de Asis presides at a mass for the bishops It has been an unusual few days, with a different rhythm from my day to day ministry. At the invitation of the Episcopal Anglican Church of Brazil and USPG I was invited to lead a spiritual retreat for the Brazilian bishops. It was an enormous privilege to be with my colleagues across the Atlantic and to accompany them in this time of profound reflection on their episcopal ministry and to work with them as they reviewed the life of their episcopal college. I have known practically all of them for 30 years, long before any of us were bishops, and it was a time of blessing to renew those friendships. The context of the Church's ministry in Brazil appears to be changing fast, and is very different from when I was first working closely with the Province. My colleagues were noting how in many ways the socio-political reality is going backwards, with the gains of democracy less certain than before, and an alarming signs that...