Catholic Bishops Conference Statement on Reception of Former Anglicans

Now we know too:

The Catholic Bishops Conference of England and Wales have sent us the following statement this morning on the reception of a group of Anglican Bishops, religious and their families into full communion with the Catholic Church.

On 8 November 2010, five Bishops of the Church of England (three in active ministry, two in retirement) announced their intention to cease from public episcopal ministry and to resign from their pastoral responsibilities in the Church of England with effect from 31st December 2010.

Following this decision, John Broadhurst, Andrew Burnham and Keith Newton (the three former Bishops who had been in active ministry) were received together with some members of their families into full communion with the Catholic Church during Mass on 1 January 2011, in  Westminster Cathedral. In addition three former Anglican Religious Sisters were also received. Out of respect for the privacy of the individuals concerned and their families, no prior public announcement of the receptions was given by the Episcopal Commission responsible for organisation of the receptions.

With the  permission of the Holy See, John Broadhurst, Andrew Burnham and Keith Newton will be Ordained as Catholic Deacons in Allen Hall Seminary Chapel on Thursday 13 January 2011 at  5.30 pm. Their Ordination as Catholic Priests will take place at Westminster Cathedral  on Saturday 15 January 2011 at 10.30am.

The two retired former Bishops will be received into full communion with the Catholic Church and proceed to Ordination as Catholic Priests in due course.

Blood-splattered Jesus

This is a photo of a mural from the  Egyptian Coptic al-Qiddissian Church, attacked on New Years’ Eve after Mass:

How barbaric!

HT:    eChurch Christian Blog

Apocalypse now? Mystery Bird Deaths

I just want to ask one question here: Why is it always (or at least most of the time) that the end of the world should begin in or at the very least feature America? Is there some kind of inside information that they possess that the rest of us don’t?

Oh and on the birds:

Birds dropping dead from the skies and rivers flowing with tens of thousands of dead fish sounds like a cheesy Hollywood movie about the Apocalypse. Or the ravings of a Revelation-obsessed street preacher.

But residents of several US states are coping with the reality of mystery mass wildlife deaths, which have left officials scratching their heads and jumpy members of the public joking (nervously) about the end of the world…

More here.

How the Liberal Media Might have Reported the Birth of Christ

Indeed…

Anglican Ordinariate Must Be Seen in a Wider Contex

What is really going on with the Anglican Ordinariate? Why has Pope Benedict XVI taken such a bold and innovative step? This is historic. Never before has the Catholic Church opened its doors so wide to a group of Protestants in such a creative way. Essentially Pope Benedict is creating a little Anglican Church within the Catholic Church…

The Anglican Ordinariate must be seen in a wider context. The creation of the ordinariate is first and foremost an attempt to answer the repeated pleas for an Anglican-Catholic structure. Rome simply responded to those who were asking for a way in while still retaining their styles of worship and culture of religion. However, the wider context is the present re-alignment within all of Christianity. This re-alignment is not between Catholics and Protestants but between those who believe in a revealed religion and those who believe in a relative religion. It is between two different foundational philosophies. The re-alignment is between those, on the one hand, who believe that all religion is a human construction devised in particular historical circumstances and therefore flexible, ambiguous and necessarily adaptable, and between those who believe that religion is revealed by God in particular circumstances and places and times because those times themselves and those people and those places were the best and most propitious ways for the Almighty to reveal himself to his beloved race of men…

It’s Fr Longenecker, again, and he is helpful as always… More here.