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ROME – Dissident theologian Father Hans Kung criticized Pope Benedict XVI for his recent opening to discontented Anglicans, charging the pope was “fishing” for the most conservative Christians to the detriment of the larger church. Father Kung said the invitation to traditionalist Anglicans to join the Roman Catholic Church went against years of ecumenical work on the part of both churches, calling it instead “a nonecumenical piracy of priests.” The pope’s basic message is: “Traditionalists of all churches, unite under the dome of St. Peter’s!” Father Kung wrote in an editorial Oct. 28 in the Rome daily La Repubblica. “Look:...

Two weeks ago I mentioned in my sermon that God grows Christians by feeding them his Word. One way he does this is by providing the church with teachers and preachers. This means that if we are going to grow we need to be sitting at the feet of reliable carriers of God's truth. This, however, begs the question: how can we identify a reliable carrier of God's truth? The Bible makes it clear that there are many unreliable carriers of so-called truth. Satan masquerades as an angel of light seeking to deceive. So we need a lot of biblical...

Larry David found comedy fodder in piety on the latest episode of his series, “Curb Your Enthusiasm.’ On the show’s most recent installment, which aired Sunday, David urinates on a painting of Jesus Christ, causing a woman to believe the painting depicts Jesus crying. … During Sunday’s episode, David, who created, wrote and produced “Seinfeld,” visits a bathroom in his assistant’s home and splatters urine on a picture of Jesus. Instead of wiping it off, David leaves the restroom. Minutes later, David’s assistant enters the bathroom and concludes that Jesus is crying. She then summons her mother to the bathroom,...

[UPDATE: Lambeth Palace has denied reports that there is to be an emergency meeting of Church of England bishops to discuss the Pope's offer tomorrow.] Here’s what I think Dr Rowan Williams is most worried about as the reality of the Pope’s offer sinks in: the prospect of the Bishop of Chichester and many of his clergy signing up to the new Ordinariate. Bishop John Hind put out a statement today which denies that he is about to become a Roman Catholic. Read between the lines, though. It doesn’t mean that he won’t join the new Papal structure in the...

As a former Anglican priest myself, I am profoundly grateful for our Holy Father’s generous proposal toward Anglicans, 'that they all might be one' (Jn 17:21).DALLAS, TX (Catholic Online) - On October 20, 2009, the Holy See made an unexpected announcement: the Holy Father will be issuing an Apostolic Constitution (the highest form of papal document) through which he will erect personal ordinariates for Anglican clergy and laity wishing to enter the Catholic Church. While rumors about this have been stirring since 2007, the recent decision came as a surprise to most Catholics and Anglicans. Those who remember their high...

Philadelphia, Pa., Oct 27, 2009 / 04:49 am (CNA).- A Pennsylvania Episcopal church which joyously greeted the announcement of a provision to assist Anglicans who wish to become Catholic could be among the first to take advantage of the church structure put forward by Pope Benedict XVI.The Church of the Good Shepherd, an Episcopalian parish in the Philadelphia Maine Line suburbs, is an “Anglo-Catholic” parish in the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania. According to the Rosemont Journal, its liturgy is celebrated in the “high church” style reminiscent of traditional Catholic churches: with incense, elaborate vestments, and a choir that may sing...

There are plenty of questions being asked in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America following a decision in August to allow pastors to be involved in committed, same-gender relationships. In response to the decision, there will be a series of meetings at churches in the ELCA's southeastern Minnesota synod during the coming weeks, including a three-week series starting Sunday at Zumbro Lutheran Church in Rochester. Bishop Harold Usgaard recently recorded a videotaped message to prompt discussion about the fundamental questions raised by this issue. The questions include: Who is welcome in ELCA congregations and who is not? Usgaard also wrote...

Sleepy Eye, Minn. - In addition to Halloween, this Saturday is also a special date of historical significance for many Christians. October 31 is celebrated by Lutherans as Reformation Day, for it is the date Martin Luther is believed to have nailed his 95 Theses, or grievances against the Roman Catholic Church, on the door of All SaintsÂ’ Church in Germany. This act marked the beginning of the Protestant Reformation, which ultimately led to Lutheranism itself. As many Lutherans look back to their Reformation heritage over the weekend, members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) are doing some...

Interview With Msgr. Stetson of the Pastoral Provision By Karna Swanson HOUSTON, Texas, OCT. 26, 2009 (Zenit.org).- News broke last week that Benedict XVI will allow groups of Anglicans wishing to enter full communion with the Catholic Church to do so through personal ordinariates, while preserving elements of the Anglican spiritual and liturgical tradition.The provision for the ordinariates is the Vatican's response to Anglicans who have expressed wishes to become Catholic. It is estimated that between 20 and 30 Anglican bishops have made such a request. To understand how the personal ordinariates work and the significance of this move, ZENIT...

New Haven, CT Today a group of Anglican clergy responded to the Vatican's recent decision to open the way for disaffected Anglicans to enter into full communion with the Roman Catholic Church. Robert Hendrickson, the Director of Communications for the Society, released a statement acknowledging that for those Anglicans who disagree with recent developments within Anglicanism, “such a move may make some sense.” He went on to point out that for many in the catholic tradition of Christianity, “such changes are a natural extension of our understanding of the evolution of Tradition in the life of the Church.” Hendrickson also...

I can’t resist telling you about this. Tonight I was wandering around the nave of Westminster Cathedral in the interval of a stunning benefit recital by Stephen Hough. HE Cormac Card. Murphy-O’Connor was there and, God forgive me, I’d fished out my BlackBerry and was about to tweet: “Resisting the temptation to tease +Cormac about the Apostolic Constitution.” (Background: CMOC opposed and delayed the Pope’s marvellous offer to Anglicans because he’s [a] an old-style ecumenist and [b] wrong about everything.) And then… someone very tall grabbed my shoulder, and a familiar Father Ted brogue came booming down. “Damian Thompson! I...

We Will Serve the Lord October 27, 2009  "And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD." (Joshua 24:15)  As Joshua's death approached, he gathered the people around him for a final address and challenge. "Fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the...

October 27 Failure and Success: Status Symbols Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man.... --Revelation 1:12-13 In our time we have all kinds of status symbols in the Christian church--membership, attendance, pastoral staff, missionary offerings. But there is only one status symbol that should make a Christian congregation genuinely glad. That is to know that our Lord is present, walking in our midst!... No matter the size of the assembly or its other attributes,...

For many sitting in the pews of Saint Augustine's Anglican church in north London it was a particularly special Sunday. There were three confirmations and one man received his first communion. But amid the applause and smart outfits there was another sense of occasion, with people coming to terms with one of the biggest developments in Christendom since the Reformation. Last week's decree from Pope Benedict, announcing the creation of a special section in the Roman Catholic church for ex-Anglican communities, has aroused strong opinions among traditionalist clergy. It has cast doubt on the authority of the archbishop of Canterbury,...

A few years ago, I slipped into the back of a large Methodist church in the area to hear a sermon delivered by the pastor which had been advertised for several days on the marquee on the lawn in front of the handsome Neo-Gothic stone edifice. I really wanted to hear what he had to say on that particular Sunday. The occasion of this sermon was what Protestants celebrate as "Reformation Sunday," in remembrance of the sad, tragic rebellion against the Catholic Church. Of course, that's my take on what Reformation Sunday symbolizes. The pastor whose sermon I heard that...

October 26 October 26David TwellmanFormer United Methodist

Stockholm, Sweden, Oct 25, 2009 / 04:52 pm (CNA).- The Catholic and Orthodox Churches of Sweden have responded with “sadness” to the Swedish Lutheran Church General Synod’s decision to hold homosexual “weddings” in churches, saying the move departs from the Christian tradition and will widen the gap between the churches.Fr. Fredrik Emanuelson, head of ecumenical efforts in the Swedish Catholic Church, joined Orthodox representative Fr. Misha Jaksic in a statement that said the churches learned of the Lutherans’ decision “with sadness.”“It is a swing away not only from Christian tradition but also from the point of view on the nature...

Bishop John Broadhurst London, England, Oct 26, 2009 / 05:13 pm (CNA).-  Members of the traditionalist Anglican group Forward in Faith recently concluded their annual gathering, which was dedicated to discussing Pope Benedict's overture to Anglicans. The general impression left by the conference was the “Anglican experiment is over,” a mood that was reinforced by Bishop John Hind officially announcing he is ready to become Catholic.The 2009 National Assembly of Forward in Faith was held in the Emmanuel Centre, Westminster, London, October 23-24. The Assembly was originally scheduled before the Vatican announced its unprecedented move, but the issue dominated...

ELCA Vice President Addresses Dissatisfaction with Assembly Decisions 09-236-FI CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Carlos Peña, vice president of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), wrote an Oct. 23 letter to the church's 4.6 million members, asking them to consider actions of the ELCA's 2009 Churchwide Assembly "as a catalyst to further strengthen our church and our relationships with each other." Peña related his experiences of devastation after Hurricane Ike struck his hometown of Galveston, Texas, in September 2008. "One year later, I can see the benefits of this experience," he wrote. "Galveston is coming back stronger than before and welcoming...

Our Church of England bishops can be such flirts. They were at it again over the weekend, as traditionalists met to consider Pope Benedict XVI's bombshell decision to welcome disaffected Anglo-Catholics, even the married ones, into Roman Catholicism, while keeping some of their Anglican ways. Since the Vatican's announcement last week, Anglo-Catholic bishops and priests have been lifting the hems of their copes to show Rome a glimpse of silk-gartered ankle. But they're coy and demure, too; they make it clear that they'll want a decent dowry from the Archbishop of Canterbury before they throw themselves into the arms of...

The Church of England has survived the Spanish Armada, the English Civil War and Elton John performing “Candle in the Wind” at Princess Diana’s Westminster Abbey funeral. So it will probably survive the note the Vatican issued last week, inviting disaffected Anglicans to head Romeward, and offering them an Anglo-Catholic mansion within the walls of the Roman Catholic faith. But the invitation is a bombshell nonetheless. Pope Benedict XVI’s outreach to Anglicans may produce only a few conversions; it may produce a few million. Either way, it represents an unusual effort at targeted proselytism, remarkable both for its concessions to...

A senior bishop has attacked the former Archbishop of Canterbury as a “moaner” for complaining about the timing of the Pope’s offer to Anglo-Catholics in the Church of England to join Rome. The Bishop of Fulham, the Right Rev John Broadhurst, told The Times that the Church of England, including the current Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, had been aware for years of the Vatican’s plans to admit disaffected Anglicans. “The Archbishop of Canterbury knew that this was happening, but didn’t know when,” Bishop Broadhurst said. Asked about complaints by Lord Carey, former Archbishop of Canterbury, about the Pope...

ELCA NEWS SERVICE October 25, 2009 ELCA Presiding Bishop Urges Commitment to Strong LWF GENEVA, Switzerland (ELCA) -- In a report highlighting changing contexts of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and its respective member churches, the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, LWF president, urged the organization's council to make decisions that reflect commitment to "a sustainable and strong LWF going into the future." Hanson is also presiding bishop of the EvangelicalLutheranChurch in America (ELCA). In a wide-ranging report to the council Oct. 23, Hanson noted that, while the LWF had exercised responsible fiduciary leadership despite the global economy and serious changes...

More than two decades ago, some like-minded Lutherans merged to form the nation’s largest Lutheran body, optimistic that they could create a mighty ministry force. But unity among the 4.7 million members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is splintering over a landmark policy change. At its national assembly in August, ELCA members voted to give each church the option of blessing same-sex couples and hiring gay and lesbian clergy in committed relationships. For some of the 176 congregations in South-Central Texas, the change marks a long-awaited and just victory for their gay and lesbian members. But more conservative...

A growing national schism within the country’s largest Lutheran denomination is also being felt locally, with several area churches considering breaking their ties with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA). At least one church — Christus Lutheran Church in Clintonville — has already taken the first step in the secession process, following a congregational vote in which 85 percent supported leaving ELCA. A second secession vote must still be staged, after a minimum of three months has elapsed from the first vote, prior to making the move to secede official. The controversy stems from a vote by the ELCA...

From what one hears, the Church of England should be shaking in its warm woolly socks by now. The Pope’s latest initiative, allowing ultra-traditionalist Anglicans to go over to Rome en masse while being allowed to preserve their traditional liturgy, is being portrayed as a devious Papist attempt to split and undermine our national Church. As a strong Anglican, I don’t buy into any of this. Many people may not think that there’s much difference between the churches, but that’s not how they see it in Glasgow, and that’s not how the Pope sees it either. These things are important....

Top Stories for Thursday, October 29th, 2009: The monastery of St. Thaddeus, according to tradition, was built by the Apostle St. Jude Thad­deus, “ the brother of the Lord” and the first missionary of the Armenians in 66 A. D. It is located in present- day Iran. According to the fifth- century Armenian chronicler Movses Khorenatsi, he is also buried here. If so, then this church is equal in rank with the Roman basilicas of Peter and Paul, the tomb in Compostela of the Apostle James, and the Madras cathedral of the Apostle Thomas, only much less known. It...

A number of valuable ecclesiastical treasures given to a former Archbishop of Canterbury have been found dumped in a river.A haul of 32 artefacts, including gifts from Pope Paul VI and a commemorative medallion presented to the bishop for the Queen's coronation in 1952, have been recovered from the River Wear in Durham. They had been in the possession of Michael Ramsey, the 100th Archbishop of Canterbury, who spent part of his retirement in the northern city where he served as bishop. One theory is that he may have cast the items into the water himself at various times, having...

The Rt Rev John Hind, the Bishop of Chichester, has announced he is considering becoming a Roman Catholic in a move that could spark an exodus of clergy. Bishop Hind said he would be "happy" to be reordained as a Catholic priest and said that divisions in Anglicanism could make it impossible to stay in the church. He is the most senior Anglican to admit that he is prepared to accept the offer from the Pope, who shocked the Church of England last week when he paved the way for clergy to convert to Catholicism in large numbers. In a...

Offering a new perspective on the reality of aging denominations, The United Methodist Church studied the death rates of Methodists and the general American population and found that the church is dying faster. The death rates for members of the nearly 8 million-member denomination are about a third higher than the national average, according to the "Pockets of 'Youthfulness' in an Aging Denomination" report. In 2005, the United Methodist death rate was 134 percent of the U.S. death rate among those 15 years and older. Among UMC's 62 annual conferences, or regional bodies, in the United States, 34 of them...

CHARLESTON -- Officials of the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina, which oversees more than 70 parishes along the coastal half of the state, meet today for a special convention that could significantly change the nature of the diocese 's relationship with the national church. Concerned over what many diocese officials say is the liberal trajectory of The Episcopal Church, they have proposed five resolutions to be voted on. Resolution No. 1 affirms that Holy Scriptures contain all things necessary to salvation; the creeds are a sufficient statement of Christian faith; the sacraments of baptism and Holy Communion are essential; and...

Group discusses the ‘rebirth’ of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Texas -- More exchanges of information are being planned as some Lutheran churches consider breaking away from the national group over differences of opinion, said organizers of a meeting held Thursday night . More than 120 people turned out for the program at Welcome Lutheran Church to discuss the “rebirth” of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Texas (ELST). “The people brought many questions,” said the Rev. David Klak, pastor of Welcome Lutheran Church and secretary of the ELST’s council. “I hope we were able to answer some of them.” Some...

Tears twinkled in Barbara Schmidt's eyes as she spoke of her church's decision to sever ties with the Evangelical Lutheran Churches of America. "I feel like we are now looking at the Bible as gray instead of black, like it is," she said, her voice breaking with emotion. Schmidt, a member of Zion Mission Valley Lutheran Church, was raised in the congregation her family helped establish. She was baptized when she was two weeks old by a minister who rode to her grandparents home on horseback. "I feel like we all have a purpose, and I think we're getting weighted...

Lord Carey of Clifton has called on his successor as Archbishop of Canterbury to complain to the Pope in person about not being consulted over plans to admit disaffected Anglicans to the Roman Catholic Church. Lord Carey warned that the Pope’s strategy could damage relations with the Vatican. Lord Carey, who stepped down in 2002, urged Dr Rowan Williams to protest strongly when he visits the Pope in Rome next month. Lord Carey was speaking after the joint press conference this week between Dr Williams and the Catholic Archbishop of Westminster, the Most Rev Vincent Nichols, to announce the move....

Bishop John Broadhurstvv London, England, Oct 23, 2009 / 12:22 am (CNA).- Hundreds of traditionalist Anglican clergy will meet this weekend in London to discuss whether to enter the Catholic Church in light of Pope Benedict XVI’s creation of an Anglican “ordinariate.”About 500 members of members of the group Forward in Faith will attend the meeting, the Times Online reports. Many of them are waiting for the Vatican’s publication of a Code of Practice, which will provide more detail about the proposed new church structure organized under an Apostolic Constitution.The chairman of Forward in Faith, Bishop of Fulham, England John...

Was Pope Benedict XVI inspired by Cardinal John Henry Newman, whom it is hoped he will beatify in England next year, when he suddenly threw open the gates of Rome to disaffected Anglicans on Tuesday morning? The official website for Newman’s Cause hinted as much when it greeted the announcement with a reminder of Newman’s support for a proposal to establish an Anglican Uniate Church for converts, similar to that provided for Byzantine-rite Catholics. The plan was conceived by Ambrose Phillips de Lisle and Newman rightly guessed that it would be unworkable. But if it could be made to work,...

How will the Vatican deal with disparate groups of the Anglican Communion that may now wish to go home to Rome?You may remember a game from childhood called 'Pick Up Stix'? A collection of colourful sticks that looked like big toothpicks would be dropped on the table and each player had to remove them one by one and place them back in the can. You had to pick up the stick in such a careful and delicate manner that you would not disturb any of the other sticks. This is not a bad analogy for the Vatican's attempt to pick...

For one area church, discussion of dropping an affiliation with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has resulted in a determination to leave. In others, it's stayed a discussion, church officials said this week. Both Singsaas Lutheran Church in rural Hendricks and Christ Lutheran Church in Cottonwood held votes over the weekend to determine whether to leave the ELCA. The vote passed at Singsaas, but narrowly failed at Christ Lutheran. Ending ELCA affiliation is a multi-step process. If a congregation passes a motion to leave the ELCA by a two-thirds majority, they must hold a second vote at least 90...

On Tuesday the Vatican unveiled a brand-new structure designed to facilitate groups of traditionally minded Anglicans entering into corporate communion with Rome, something many on both sides of the divide have aspired to for more than 40 years. On Wednesday the global primate of the Traditional Anglican Communion, Archbishop John Hepworth, gave Inquirer an exclusive interview.Inquirer: In place of conventional dioceses, the new arrangements envisage "personal ordinariates". Are they akin to the military ordinariates for dispersed groups of personnel in the various branches of the armed forces?John Hepworth: Yes, and they are at the heart of what the Pope proposes....

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Parishioners at Our Lady of the Atonement in San Antonio, the largest Anglican-use Catholic parish in the U.S., have plenty to talk about these days. "Everyone is excited, but they have lots of questions," said the pastor, Father Christopher Phillips, about the Vatican's Oct. 20 announcement of a special structure for Anglicans who want to be in full communion with the Catholic Church. Father Phillips -- once an Episcopal priest and now a Catholic priest who founded Our Lady of the Atonement 26 years ago -- doesn't have detailed answers yet for the parish's 500 families. He...

TAC Primate Archbishop John Hepworth Blackwood, Australia, Oct 22, 2009 / 02:57 am (CNA).- The Primate of the Traditional Anglican Communion has responded to the Vatican’s announcement of a new provision for Anglicans who wish to convert to Catholicism, saying his church is “profoundly moved” by Pope Benedict’s generosity. He added that the provision will now be taken to the national synods of his Communion.In an Oct. 20 statement published on the website of the communion’s The Messenger Journal, Traditional Anglican Communion Primate Archbishop John Hepworth said he had been speaking with bishops, priests and lay people of the...

CANNON FALLS -- The first southeastern Minnesota congregation to vote on whether to leave the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America after a recent churchwide decision on gay clergy has decided to stay. The Oct. 11 vote at Wangen Prairie Lutheran Church was close, falling just one vote shy of the two-thirds majority needed to start the months-long process of leaving the ELCA, said the Rev. Joy Gonnerman. The vote followed an August decision at the ELCA's Churchwide Assembly allowing churches to hire a pastor in a monogamous, same-sex relationship. The decision has raised the possibility of some churches leaving the...

The entry of anti-modernist Anglican dioceses and parishes into the Catholic Church has been announced. The ecumenism of Pope Ratzinger appears increasingly influenced by fidelity to tradition. That's the way it is with the Lefebvrists. And even more so with the Eastern Orthodox ChurchesROME, October 20, 2009 – Until yesterday, they were entering the Catholic Church one at a time, the priests and bishops of the Anglican Communion who felt more in agreement with the pope of Rome than with the "modernist" tendencies of Anglicanism. In the United States, to regulate these transitions, a "Pastoral Provision" had been in effect...

The welcoming of Anglican clergy into the Catholic Church highlights the differences, and difficulties, of approach Attack is the best form of defence. On the eve of another damning report on clerical abuse and cover-up in Ireland, that seems to be Pope Benedict’s tactic. His sudden invitation to Anglican defectors will certainly take the spotlight off a continuing child abuse scandal fed, for decades, by the masculine and intimidating structures of authority in the Catholic hierarchy. Words like “poaching” may seem harsh, but there is more than a whiff of power politics in this move. A “rush to Rome” would...

The villages of the ancient parishes of Broughton, Marton and Thornton nestle in a corner of North Yorkshire that is perilously close to the Lancashire border. And even closer to Rome.For the rector, the Rev Canon Nicholas Turner, editor of the traditionalist magazine New Directions, the Pope’s decree was the fulfilment of a long-held dream. But he must now decide whether to be reordained as a Roman Catholic priest. And if he does, what will happen to the churches and his parishioners?To visit the Church of St Mary the Virgin in Thornton is to enter a Norman building that gives...

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams and Pope Benedict XVI are both noted theological scholars leading flocks through complicated times. In recent days, Archbishop Williams's already tough mission became even more difficult. Archbishop Williams is the top official in the Church of England and the "first among equals" of the global church leaders that guide the 80-million-strong Anglican Communion. That puts him in the crucial position of holding the Anglican faithful together in the wake of the Vatican's surprise move this week to make it easier for disgruntled Anglicans to convert to Catholicism. For several years, Archbishop Williams has attempted to...

Broken Keys by Ian Wolfe — October 21, 2009 And when [Jesus] had said this, he breathed on [the disciples] and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.” John 20:23 The church has given to her ordained ministers through the gift of the Holy Spirit the power and authority to exercise the apostolic ministry to bind and loose sin.1 Traditionally Luther’s Small Catechism included a section on the Office of the Keys, although not written by Luther himself.2 I note...

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The relative ease with which groups of Anglicans can be welcomed into full communion with the Roman Catholic Church owes much to the unique history of the Anglican Communion. Even before the formal Anglican-Roman Catholic theological dialogue began working on ways to restore unity, the Second Vatican Council singled out the Anglicans when talking about the Christian communities born in the 16th century. "Among those in which Catholic traditions and institutions in part continue to exist, the Anglican Communion occupies a special place," the council said in its Decree on Ecumenism. Cardinal William J. Levada, prefect...

Speaking before the announcement of Pope Benedict’s decision to permit Anglican communities to join the Catholic Church as communities, a leading Anglican prelate predicted that his diocese would survive as a “small but wealthy cult.” Reflecting on why God might have permitted the diocese to lose 60% of its investments during the financial crisis, Anglican Archbishop Peter Jensen of Sydney said his diocese is “up against a large challenge and there is no guarantee whatever that we will survive except as a small but wealthy cult.” “The cultural mood is not flowing with us,” he added. “Immigrant numbers are not...

AUSTRALIA'S largest and most conservative Anglican diocese will tomorrow approve changes that would permit couples to marry in church, whether or not they are Christian. The change to be passed at the Sydney synod tomorrow makes the diocese the 14th of the country's 23 to approve the reform that would allow an unbaptised Australian to be married in church provided he or she meets the basic standards for civil marriage: a union between a man and woman voluntarily entered into for life. The change was first mooted at the Anglican general synod in 2007. It has since been put to...