If this article is correct, the British parliament will demand that the Church of England vote again on women bishops, and this time approve the measure. This could provoke a very major crisis in the Church of England. If parliament forces them to contravene their rules and vote again what happens if the members of the General Synod resent the move and even more vote against the measure simply as a way to tell parliament to get lost? I thought this... Read more

I never in arguing should think of entering upon your question whether or not the Anglican Church was ‘in schism’ or whether or not it was in possession of an ‘Apostolical Succession’. These questions seem to me beside the point in dispute. I never indeed, as I think, have said, that its orders were certainly invalid; what I have said, if I have spoken against them is that their validity was doubtful, and that doubtful orders were unsafe . .... Read more

I first visited a Benedictine Abbey when I was a first year theology student at Oxford. I went to Douai Abbey near Reading in Berkshire. I was immediately struck by the ancient sense of order, peace and confidence. The monks took their faith seriously, but they didn’t take themselves seriously. Over the years I visited many monasteries and was eventually received into the church at the Abbey of Quarr on the Isle of Wight. One of the joys of visiting... Read more

I’ll tell you what I had in my fundamentalist Evangelical upbringing which the American Catholic church could use a hefty dose: It was the underlying mentality that we were “in the world, but not of the world”. We went to a little Evangelical fellowship. The families were close. We shared the same world view. We shared the same religion, and that religion taught us that we were a “royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people set apart.” We were committed... Read more

The other week we had a meeting at the local Catholic hospital to discuss its Catholic identity. In the present climate when the Catholic haters are in full swing and “Catholic” for many people means “sour, sexually repressed, legalistic, ignorant, fundamentalist, misogynistic, homophobic, dangerous child abuser” we can use all the positive PR possible. Our local Catholic hospital is not only top notch, but they are located in the heart of the financially and socially disadvantaged part of town. They’re... Read more